Beat it
An African drumming class is a big hit at the Worship & Music Conference
MONTREAT, North Carolina — Daniel Otu learned to play the djembe drum growing up in Ghana. At the Worship & Music Conference offered this week and next by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, he’s teaching more than 30 students what drumming can do for them as well.
“For me, drumming refreshes your soul. It brings people together and bridges every race, every creed, every religion — no matter what,” he said following a class session this week. “It’s a workout, and it builds your blood flow.”
Otu first came to the United States from Ghana in 2003 to attend the Worship & Music Conference. He was invited back in 2005 and 2008 to lead classes in African drumming. Since moving to the U.S. and making his home in Douglasville, Georgia, where he works as an insurance underwriter, he has continued his drumming and is the proud father of two children.
Otu arranged students in a large semicircle in the classroom on the grounds of Montreat Conference Center. Even with the windows and doors closed, the drumming can be heard across a large swath of Montreat.
Otu reviewed a couple of drumming patterns he taught the class earlier in the week and discussed their appearance in worship on Tuesday. “They asked me, ‘Can you play something while people are leaving?’” he told the class. “But people stayed and listened.”
His classroom style this week is to use familiar hymns from the Glory to God hymnal and apply patterns the students know to those hymns. This day, students are alternating between “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love,” which is based on a folk tune from Ghana.
“I’ll play and you follow me. You have to keep the flow going,” he said during the first time through “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Periodically, Otu would stand up and move among the students, clapping and singing and air-drumming, always encouraging.
After a few times through “Jesu, Jesu,” he had drummers “bring it down a little” by asking half of them to quit playing for a verse. After that, the other drummers took a break too.
When Otu joins the drumming, he bangs his drum forcefully to augment the students’ rhythm. The typical ending to the hymns was eight straight beats on the drum followed by a satisfying flourish.
“I’ve liked learning the rhythms and having the tactile experience of touching the drum,” said Daryl Mullee of First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Florida. “It’s holy and spiritual, kind of an awakening.”
“I feel a real connection with the other drummers. It’s a visceral feeling,” Mullee said. “It gets to my heart and soul, and it doesn’t require age or gender. Anyone can play.”
After a break — for many students, the drumming proved to be quite the workout — Otu returned to “Jesu, Jesu. “I know it’s difficult to sing and play at the same time, but it helps you to keep up your rhythm,” he told students. “When you are playing, let your body move. It helps your nerves.”
Indeed, as more students sang along, they stayed together more readily.
“It keeps me young,” he said once the 40-minute class had concluded. Students have expressed their appreciation, telling Otu, “it’s awesome” “it’s great,” “it’s different” and “we love it.”
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