Easter Beats & Sunshine Dance

The group began with an assortment of rhythmic activities where group members played a variety of drums and percussion instruments. Participants had the opportunity to play a short 'drum solo' one by one while the group supported on steady quarter note beats. Group members laughed as they tried different rhythms and tried to stay on beat within the complexity of each rhythmic pattern. After the different rhythmic exercises the group members were invited to select a melodic instrument. The options were a ukulele, kalimba, xylophone, piano, guitar, and tone bells. Once group members had their instrument of choosing, we all engaged in a group improvisation while recording the music on a device. After we finished playing, group members were asked how long they thought we had played for - guesses ranged from two to 15 minutes. We had been playing for about 4.5 minutes. We all discussed how engaging in music making can extend or reduce our sense of time because we are all so in the moment. After we listened to the recording, participants remarked on how they were able to pick up each person's musical parts. Group members discussed their emotional reactions when listening back. We then decided to create another improvisation and record it, this time with ideas shared ahead of time to describe the music created. The words shared were upbeat, energetic, momentum, pride, and dance. As we were listening back, group members were invited to give each song a title. The final titles were Easter Beats and Sunshine Dance. To close, group members were asked to share a word or idea that they wanted to carry with them throughout the day from the session. The words shared included energy, appreciation and togetherness.