We had a great rehearsal last night, in preparation for our annual trip to Claremorris to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
This year, we have been focusing on the Rio-samba style ahead of our national holiday, and have slowly cranked up the pressure (and the speed) over the last few weeks, as well as developing some technical inputs to improve swing and strengthen ‘the kitchen’. We can say that we’re pretty happy with the results, and there is great excitement and anticipation ahead of the big day.
Last night’s rehearsal was also ‘overseen’ by Board member Derek Bolger. Derek is the chief percussion instructor for the Armed Forces School of Music, and is a real expert on rudiments, and other elements of technique. Derek has been helping us to develop a system to improve the overall playing quality within the group, while still ensuring that we have an open-door policy for anyone who is interested to give samba drumming a try.
This ‘Open Door’ has always been a principle of MaSamba’s work, and we hope to be opening the door to some new members immediately after St. Patrick’s Day, some of whom have drumming experience directly from the roots in Brasil. More about this later, but for now, it’s time to pack the stick bag (and the cooler bag)!