Charlie Keil held a workshop for students at Winter Hill Community School yesterday morning and garnered excitement for samba beats and the HONK! Parade on October 12. It was the first of several school appearances he will be making to get kids involved with HONK! Dr. Keil, along with trombonist Kevin Leppmann and drummer Ian Gendreau, met first with a group of seventh graders and showed them different beats for the surdo drum, bell, and shakers. Before giving out instruments, Dr. Keil showed the kids how to beat the rhythms on their legs, arms, or in the air to mimic the motions they would be using with the instruments, and showed them some basic dance steps. When the instruments came out, there was certain excitement. Everybody got an instrument so they could play all together, and they each got a chance to try each different instrument with its corresponding beat. By the end of the session, the kids were getting a hang of the beats and getting a sense of the group pulse.
Next Dr. Keil met with a group of fifth graders to teach them the samba beats. While most of the students practiced the rhythms for the surdo, bell, and shakers, a couple students who brought their instruments went aside with Somerville Schools music supervisor Rick Saunders and Kevin Leppmann to practice some riffs. The fifth graders playing percussion established a solid feel for the beats, and when the melody of the saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and flute were added, things got really exciting. There was such a great groove going on, that one Winter Hill teacher was pulled from the hallway and danced into the room with some great moves. Dr. Keil pointed out that this phenomenon is exactly the reason we play samba or any music: to make people want to dance. Good music brings good dancers and good dancers make musicians even better. The session ended with some joyous dancing and drumming as the kids practiced some of the breaks they learned with great spirit and energy. It is incredible what these kids could learn in less than an hour. Every kid should get the chance to discover his or her talents for rhythm and that’s exactly what Dr. Keil and the HONK! team are setting out to achieve!