
Sandy Abalos and Alan Havir gave a musical version of the 4-Way Test and members are at the ready to practice some rhythms with their new drumsticks
Conductors lead orchestras, but for rock bands the drummer is the lead and timekeeper. Past District Governor Alan Havir (he served District 5510, which in 2017 merged with District 5490 to form District 5495, covering Arizona) visited our club with his wife, Sandy Abalos, to talk about the history of Rock and Roll drumming. Alan has been a professional drummer himself for over 60 years. He demonstrated some major rhythms used by famous bands and how they evolved from ¾ time and the shuffle (e.g., Bill Haley) to more complex rhythms like Brubeck’s Take Five (5/4 time) and Led Zeppelin’s 12/8 and 17/8 time. Alan brought presents: a set of drumsticks for everyone to drum their own rhythm on the tables.