The African djembe drum originated in West Africa – ‘Dje’ means gather, and ‘be’ means everyone, which gave the drum used in these calls to order, its name. It resonates tradition, and is at the heart of many ceremonies and celebrations.
Similarly, the rhythmic drumming at Southern Cross Schools (SCS) runs through the ‘school’s blood’. On most days, if you are anywhere near the SCS premises, you will hear the sound of the drums reverberating through the surrounding bush.
Towards the end of 2004, Glynis Brooke and her husband made the ‘Great Trek’, leaving their farm on the outskirts of Johannesburg, and moving to Hoedspruit. Shortly after their move, Glynis was approached by the then headmaster, Jumbo Williams, to teach music at the school.
Although she had studied music at university level, Glynis had no teaching experience of any kind, but happily jumped into the deep end, and took up the position of part-time music teacher.
She was just beginning to find her feet teaching ‘normal’ music when Jumbo called her and presented her with a djembe drum, and asked her how much she knew about traditional ethnic drumming practices. Her answer was short and to the point. “Nothing!” Jumbo had plans and wanted to establish a core of musical practice at the school, strongly centred around ethnic music. A whole new challenge lay ahead.
The First Beat
Glynis went to visit the ‘Drum Café’, in the old Bus Shed complex near the Market Theatre in Johannesburg and it was here that the lessons really began! Here she set her mind to learn as much as she could.
“It’s simple,” they told her. “Nothing to it – this is how it works …” and they proceeded to demonstrate how to play djembe drums. The rules are simple – establish a beat, then break it up, get louder and softer, syncopate and innovate. There really is nothing that you can do wrong. In short, anything goes as long as you work within the beat.
Armed with her newly acquired insights, she began working with a small group of learners at SCS. There were only eight drummers to begin with, and what they lacked in experience and technique, they made up for in enthusiasm and energy.
Slowly the reputation of the drummers began to build, and today they were asked to perform at banquets, weddings, lodges, music eisteddfods, and regularly at Founders day and end of term functions.
The drummers became the idols of the school, and it was incredibly special to see the way the younger children looked up to them and aspired to be part of the drumming squad.
The SCS drummers began to earn a reputation in the area for their skilful drumming. They were always well received at performances and competitions where they shared the great rhythms of Africa with enthusiasm and passion.
The squad continued to grow as the school grew, and soon there were two squads, one in the Prep School and one in the College, with the senior College team retaining a somewhat celebrity status amongst the learners.
Passing on the Drum
Mrs Sandy Schulze took over the senior drumming squad in 2011, and suddenly it grew from a mere five drummers to as many as twenty one drummers. Their talent, passion and pure determination for perfection was contagious – something that filtered through from one drum leader to the next.
It grew so much that soon it was time to split the College drummers into two groups: junior drummers and senior drummers.
The reality is that the SCS drumming squad is a prestigious ‘club’ to belong to. Auditions take place, and the best candidates became part of the senior squad where they develop from bass players to intermediate and finally to the centre seat, as leader.
Today, our brilliantly talented senior djembe drummers are a squad of fourteen, with a total of twenty eight in the College, and forty three up and coming drummers in the Prep School. Graeme Wuth, who was once a professional drummer himself, is now overseeing the senior drummers and focuses on pushing the technical aspect of the squad.
The traditions that were started almost 20 years ago remain deeply instilled in all the drummers, and they continue to grow and learn.
Amongst great excitement, they are about to embark on their first tour of Johannesburg where this story all began. Now is the time to share their beat beyond the bush.
