As many as you know Steiner/Waldorf withholds teaching drums until puberty. Because my family is Irish and we are active in the Irish-American community we have created a tradition of painting and playing bodhrans (a traditional Irish drum). In our band the Celtic Knots we take turns dancing and playing, my son plays the tin whistle and drum and my daughter plays the bodhran and medieval flute, we also join in with another Irish group called Shamrock Shore.
When my son turned 12 this year we decorated a celtic drum together as a way of ushering in the "sounds of puberty." It took us about a week with lots of planning and measurements-but the results were amazing. Originally, I used to design and sell bodhrans, with an example above with the triple moon. I used a waldorf lazuring method with watercolors. However, with this drum we used a mixture of watercolors and paint pens...wanting to take care not to disrupt the sound.
The bodhran that my son and I made together is very special it is a double skinned, beveled Waltons that I had shipped here from Ireland. When we are not playing it, we hang it in the music room to enjoy all year round. Check out some of our Irish dance and music videos on youtube, one is enclosed here!
If you like this blog be sure to check out my book "Beyond Natural Cures," my music program the AMHC and website beyondnaturalmedicine.com
Painting the drum is a wonderful ritual for your son! Thanks for sharing this, Aurore. :)
ReplyDelete