Classes & Workshops

Classes

At the moment we are teaching 3 classes a week: a class designed for complete beginners, an on-going class for beyond beginners and intermediate students, and then our class for our troupe members.

We also teach specialty classes geared toward after school and summer programs as well as classes tailored to your specific group or function.

We are always available to give private and semi-private lessons. Contact us for details

Beginner Classes

Here we learn traditional, beginner, West African folk rhythms on djembe and dunun. These rhythms are often popular in drumming circles and will give any beginning student the confidence to join their first drumming circle outside of class. We cover proper drumming techniques for both djembe and dunun, learn basic djembe accompaniment patterns in 4/4 and 6/8, and work on full ensemble rhythm pieces for djembe and dunun drums. The class is relaxed, non-competitive and up-beat and we go at a pace appropriate to those in the class.

We rent djembe drums to students for the duration of the beginner session, so if you don’t have a drum but would like to take classes, please know this in an affordable option to start your drumming lessons. All dunun drums are provided in class.

On-Going Classes

This class is multi-level and we are constantly learning from each other in here. We move at a bit of a faster pace but still take time to break down full rhythms on both djembe and dunun, and we are constantly working on our technique. The focus is still ensemble rhythm heavy with most classes encompassing instruction on both djembe and dunun. We also add in working with rolls, the ideas of soloing on djembe, the off-beat in 6/8, and we start to work on more complex rhythms that we’ve learned directly from West African masters. Once again, we foster an atmosphere of non-competitive good will, and people often say it’s the best two hours of their whole week.

For this class, while we still rent djembe drums to students, we strongly urge you to have your own djembe drum. All dunun drums are provided in class.

Troupe Class

Enrollment in this class is by audition only. Students in Troupe Class are committing to a strong level of polished excellence as this is the performance group, Kulu-Ba, for our Resounding Rhythms school. In here we focus not only on technique and learning new ensemble rhythms, but committing rhythmical arrangements to both intellectual and muscle memory. The primary focus is playing as an ensemble unit and performing traditional West African rhythms as much as possible throughout the year. That means lots of prep time behind the scenes, a dedication to at-home practice, as well as patience and a sense of humor toward both ourselves and our fellow troupe members.

Troupe members may be called on to record with the group, perform at both private and public events, and do live demonstrations throughout the year outside of class time.

Workshops

Workshops typically focus on a particular rhythm, taught in a block of 3-4 hours.  We try to teach the entire rhythm, including djembe and dunun patterns, the song (if known), and any solo lines we know.  The workshops tend to be multi-level, unless otherwise specified.

Other workshops that we teach focus on djembe technique and dunun technique.