HAND DRUMMING CLASS SCHEDULE 2007!
The New Session of Hand Drumming Classes at DRUMZ begins on January 17th! Please join us and learn to play the drums in a supportive and nurturing group setting. Drumz has the largest selection of hand drums, hand percussion, and world instruments in the city of Austin( probably even in the state of Texas!) and here we explore the possibility of creating in-the-moment music together in our classes in the closing rhythms, as well as learning the fundamentals of rhythm and drumming, hand technique, drum circle ettiquette, how to select "your" drum, as well as learning a wide range of Traditional West African and Afro-haitian, Afro-Cuban rhythm songs and patterns. Classes are available for a range of skill levels! Everyone is welcome, regardless of musical background. If you have a heartbeat, you have rhythm! Group drumming brings us together and teaches us about BE-ING in community with one another in a healthy, cooperative and open way. In these classes we come together in a spirit of cooperation and community rather than competition. Everyone is honored and encouraged to BE WHERE YOU ARE in your development as a drummer. Repetition and commitment, practice and playing, and moving to the next level only when you are relaxed and ready and truly accepting of where you ARE, are all part of the process of learning to drum, and of living life. Open the channel to your creative spirit and liberate your inner musician as you play these beautiful and magical West African hand drums! Enjoy a new level of listening, and self-expression as you play these amazing rhythms in a group of enthusiastic and open-hearted new friends. Drumming provides us with a gateway to our own spirit and the spirit of a community. What the world needs now is drums, sweet drums!

Wednesday evening, The Magic of Hand drumming for Beginners, starts January 17th, 2007. This class is for those of you just embarking on the drummer's path, as well as those of you who have taken a session or two and still feel this level is the appropriate level for YOU! This is not PASS/FAIL, this is about learning! Learning to drum, and learning to honor your own unique rhythm in this life as well as honoring your learning style and tempo! There are TWO beginner class times this session.
WEDNESDAYS from 8-9pm (Beginners) Starts Jan. 17th
THURSDAYS from 6:45pm-7:45pm. (Beginners)Starts Jan. 18th.


Wednesday evening, BEYOND BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE Class meets from 6:45pm-7:45pm and is for those students who are ready for a faster paced class, have learned and practiced hand technique on West African djembe, are relaxed and playing with ease in the beginner level classes and feel comfortably ready and able to move on to the next level with their playing. More complex rhythm patterns and more bell/djun combinations will be added in these classes.Begins Jan. 17th.

THURSDAY evening INTERMEDIATE level, will meet from 8pm to 9:30pm. The first 30 minutes of this class will be focussed on Djundun/bell playing. Djembe focus will begin at 8:30pm. This class will be $95 per six weeks session. For students who feel they are Intermediate level who wish ONLY to participate in the djembe portion of this class and cannot make the Wednesday evening class, this class will be available for the regular $75 per session for 8:30-9:30pm class.*Begins Jan. 18, 2007.
*I strongly encourage everyone to come for the whole class because the relationship between the djunduns and the djembes and the understanding of that relationship is so crucial to the understanding of these rhythms and this music we play! This music is intricate and incredible and filled with magic and we are only scratching the service of what it holds for us!


THURSDAY MORNING WOMEN ONLY CLASS "Remembering Rhythm" 10:30am-11:45am This is an on going all-level class for women only. Please join this very spirited and enthusiatic group of women in playing the rhythms and singing the songs that open our hearts and free our souls to soar! *This class rocks! Begins Jan. 18th, 2007.
* I urge the women who take this class to first take a beginner's session as we do not cover the fundamentals of rhythm and the beginning instruction on hand technique in this class. If you feel you should be considered as a possibility for an exception, please call Sherry at Drumz at 453-9090 and we'll talk!
I look forward to sharing a rhythm with you soon! Please remember that ALL of our current popular music in the United States has it's roots in this amazing music from Africa.
It is out of great love for this music and with great honor and gratitude for my teachers, the makers of these drums, and the rich and beautiful traditions from which this music has evolved that I humbly teach what I know in these classes at Drumz. You, the students, have made them most remarkable and I thank-you!
In Peace,
Sherry Gingras


Please call DRUMZ at 453-9090 to register. Call early to insure a space as these classes usually fill to capacity early. MC/VISA accepted. Sessions are all six weeks in length and classes are one hour each and the cost is $75 per session or $15 per class drop in ( with the exception of intermediate class which is 1 1/2 hours and is $95)