Sally Goddard: On Saturday April 24, I made the very good decision to get myself down to "A Percussion Workshop with Bill Brennan." Once again, the venue was the strangely atmospheric Masonic Temple on Cathedral Street and, as instructed, participants turned up with their instruments. These were mainly African drums and bodhrans, although I did have my spoons (I kept them well hidden - for most of the time). We were a smallish group but with a good range of age and experience.

Bill's resume alone is enough to provoke thought on the range of possibilities for percussion. He is an award-winning percussionist/pianist, born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland, who began percussion lessons at an early age with Don Wherry. He spent three summers with the National Youth Orchestra studying with Alex Lepak, and in 1987 was soloist in Lepak's Concerto for Mallet Instruments with that orchestra. Bill has been active on the music scene for the last 20 years, performing with the National Ballet and the Canadian Opera Company, and backing up great musical heros such as Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie and Placido Domingo. He has played with many orchestral and new music groups such as the National Ballet and Esprit Orchestras. His interest in other cultures has led him to travel to Papua New Guinea and other areas of the South Pacific. Bill has performed on over 50 CDs, has toured extensively and continues to tour with marimbist Mika Yoshida and dancer Sarah Chase. He currently co-leads a band called Chesterfield Inlet, plays in Vuja De and plays regularly with many other musicians. He has performed at Sound Symposium in St. John's on many occasions. So we felt we were pretty lucky to have him back in town to get some of the benefit of his wide experience in the percussive world.

Back to the workshop. Bill started us off with a drumming piece hailing from Africa. We were given a variety of drums, and now I come to write this article, I realize I don't even know the proper names for them. One was a djembe (I remember that from working with Jim Fidler - thanks, Jim), and we had a range of metal bell-shaped instruments, but you will have to ask Bill what the rest were! It is interesting to find out just how little you know, and just how difficult it can be for someone brought up on jigs, reels, waltzes, etc to play a rhythm that doesn't stick to those patterns. We were challenged, all right, but we worked at it, and by lunchtime we had something pretty interesting and almost passable going on. In fact, the Court Room seemed to take on new mystic qualities as we pounded out the unfamiliar, hypnotic rhythms. Once we got into the new rhythms, it was a bit of a wrench to stop drumming and go for lunch - but we did.

After lunch, we were on more familiar territory, with traditional music of Newfoundland and the British Isles. Bill gave us tips (I got a great tip for accompanying waltzes), played recordings that he recommended, and gave us help with our percussive arrangements. To finish off the afternoon, Stan Pickett and Rob Brown came in to give us live music, and we tried drumming to a range of traditional Newfoundland rhythms - singles, doubles, slip jigs, waltzes, jigs and reels - and probably a lot else besides. When you are drumming, and having a blast, you can't take notes, so I'm sure I've left a lot out. But mostly I remember the great rhythms, the surprise at their complexity, the useful tips I got that will move my playing forward, and the fun. Thanks Bill - it was a great day!