Teaching the beats
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on December 10, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Joel Burks plays his Latin percussion conga drums as he waits for his next student in Herman Park. Burks spends his days in the park teaching children, and some adults, to play the drums free of charge. His groups have increased from 15 to 65 students some Saturdays.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Adrian Mayes, 3, gets lessons from Joel Burks in Herman Park. Before being offered a lesson, Adrian said "Look at that" as he pointed to Burks as he was filling the air with a beat coming from his drum.
Adrian Mayes' feet swing above the ground as he tries to straddle the drum.
His eyes light up as he looks at the conga, an unlimited noise maker -- a 3-year-old's paradise.
"Can you copy what I do?" Joel Burks asks him, while he straddles the other conga.
Adrian nods shyly as the two begin to drum.
Even at his young age, Adrian is able to pick up the basic rhythms and patterns.
There is no age requirement for Joel's percussion lessons.
There is no charge.
You just have to be in Herman Park when the weather is nice.
"I'm out here all the time," Joel says. He sits on a bench by the playground with his two tall conga drums. The drums provide a exotic soundtrack of hollow taps and hits.
On Saturdays, Joel teaches drums from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., though he will never go home until everyone has had a turn.
"It's not about what you can do, or what you can't do, we're going to have fun," he says.
First he teaches simple taps, working his student up to simple sequences, before teaching them beats. Eventually he tries to advance them to playing on two drums.
"I'm not a music teacher," he says. "But I've been teaching conga for some time."
Joel is mostly self-taught. He learned his drumming techniques from videos online and copying other musicians. He has been drumming for over 20 years.
"Once I picked up the techniques, it was working it into a routine where it would be my own style," he says.
Inspiration can strike him anywhere.
"If you play the drums long enough, you can listen to different types of music and the rhythm comes to you," he says. "Rhythms are everywhere. Somebody could be bouncing a basketball, or you can hear someone's feet. I get sounds from anywhere.
"People think they don't have rhythm, that's when I show them they've got more rhythm than they think."
His Herman Park lessons started as a way for him to practice and gauge his audience's response as he tried out different cadences. Soon, children began to approach him, watching in awe as his hands danced across the drums.
"The biggest thing I enjoy is seeing the joy on the kids' faces," he says.
He stops his practicing if he sees someone watching. He smiles and offers them a lesson. Some of his younger students are bolder and climb onto the bench next to him, ready to play.
"They'll follow exactly what I do," he says. "Some aren't ready to do that, so I just let them play."
Joel is working with the Arts Council to start a drum circle. They are searching for djembe drums, which are usually reserved for African music, but Joel says they are drums for showing off on.
In a drum circle, one musician starts a beat, and it is repeated back to original drummer from around the circle.
"After a certain amount of time doing it, you do a beat, and everyone is following but doing their own rhythm," Joel explains. "A lot of people really love this stuff."
He says might offer lessons through the Recreation Center. But for now, he sits on a bench in the park, allowing anyone to play.
"It's soothing," he says. "It's very therapeutic when you're doing it. It takes away the stress you might feel from day to day."
He does not concentrate on anything when he plays. He says he gets into a groove and just tries to feel the music.
"I can teach you everything I know about the congas, but I can't teach you the music," he says. "That's something that's born inside of you. You've got to be able to feel the music."