Information about the classes at Drumz Austin

Saturday, January 06, 2018


NEW WINTER SESSION OF HAND DRUMMING CLASSES BEGINS JAN. 16, 2018 AT DRUMZ! Celebrating community , creativity, connection, and Communication through RHYTHM!

Please join us for a six week session of classes in hand drumming and enjoy the benefits that come with learning this exciting new language, the language of the drum! These benefits include: energizing and healing  the body, mind , and spirit, releasing stress and tension, raising your spirits, opening your heart, awakening your creative juices, honing your listening and communication skills, discovering a new creative pathway for the expression of your most brilliant SELF, igniting your passion , and meeting a truly wonderful group of folks who, like you, are drawn to the drum and to rhythm! Validate that musician that lives inside you and begin to really shine. Music is our Universal language and making music together is our birthright- not for a select few , for all of us!  And if you have a heartbeat, you have rhythm! Please call to reserve your space as classes do fill up! You may pay the first day of class. MC/VISA accepted.

TUESDAY NIGHT~6:45pm-7:45pm
DRUMSISTA CLASS for Women…starts Jan. 16th from 6:45pm-7:45pm ! This is a Beyond Beginner/ Intermediate level class and will be a four week class this session….more or less a primer for the Performance class slated to begin on Feb. 13th in preparation for our big Public Benefit Concert on Saturday night June 2nd at Unity Church of the Hills.
The excitement and fun and camaraderie of the Drumsista experience definitely takes you to a new level in your drumming and in your living! Join us and soar!

TUESDAY NIGHT~8-9pm
KRIN CLASS from 8-9pm on Tuesday evenings. This will be a six week class and you must have your own krin for this class. The African Log Drums are stick drums and they have an amazing and wonderfully  bright and powerful and unique wood sound!  Please talk to Sherry if you are contemplating this class for the first time! It’s incredibly fun and exciting to play krin!  Sticking experience is very helpful!

WEDNESDAY NIGHT~ 8pm-9pm
BEGINNER/BEYOND BEGINNER West African Ensemble style CLASSES- Wednesday evenings from 8-9pm ( starts January 17th) and also a SATURDAY MORNING BEGINNER/BEYOND BEGINNER CLASS meets from 10am-11am, beginning on January 20th.This class covers the FUN-damentals of hand drumming and is called “Discovering the Magic of Hand Drumming” . Drumming enhances the flowering of the human spirit! Join us! Cost:$100 for six week session .

WEDNESDAY NIGHT~ 6:45pm-7:45pm
BEYOND BEGINNER DJUNDUN CLASSES- Wednesday evenings from 6:45pm to 7:45pm. Begins January 17th!
These are classes designed for those students who have already acquired an understanding of the fundamentals of playing on bass drums with sticks and have a commitment to developing good technique and practice, and are ready to move beyond the beginner level classes offered  and on to more complex rhythms and patterns! ! Drumming is not about competition, it is about being where you are and being comfortable and content in that place! We play rhythms in this level that are more complex than the Beginner level classes and bring in djundun ( bass drum) with bell pattern combinations.Cost:$100 per six week session.

THURSDAY MORNING~ 10:30am-11:30am
All Women’s “REMEMBERING RHYTHM”  ALL LEVEL DRUMMING CLASS , Djembe and the West African Ensemble . Class meets from 10:30- 11:30am beginning Thursday , Jan. 18th.

THURSDAY MORNING~11:30am-12:30pm
All Women’s Beginning DJUNDUN Class begins Thursday mornings following Djembe class from 11:45am-12:45pm.
Please bring your own djuns if you have them! Several djunduns will be available to play if you do not yet have your own!  The djuns are powerful bass drums played with sticks and they add the POWER to the Ensemble which includes djembes, shakers, bells, often balafons and krins as well!

THURSDAY NIGHT`6:45pm-7:45pm
INTERMEDIATE CLASSES-Djembe and djundun Thursday evenings from 6:45-7:45pm beginning Jan. 18th,. These classes are for students ready to move to the next level. Practice is an important part of  learning to play any instrument well and this level does require practice! Practicing your drum is FUN and deeply gratifying so for most folks practice is hardly an issue and can be prioritized even with the busy lives we lead in the modern world. This class is for students who have been playing West African-style rhythms and working on developing good hand technique  for at least a minimum of five years with  traditional solos included and the necessary memorization skills and practice to carry off these longer compositions. Please talk to me first if you are new to this class and we can decide together which class would be your very best match.


SATURDAY MORNINGS~10am-11am

BEGINNER/BEYOND BEGINNER DJEMBE & DJUNDUN CLASS meets Saturday mornings from 10am-11am and the new session begins Jan. 20th.This ”Discovering the Magic of Hand Drumming!” class is suitable for all levels of players.  Drumming ignites the human spirit and inspires the seeds of creativity within to awaken and blossome! Come and meet new friends, explore rhythm roots, learn a new language and enhance your communication skills, connect as a community, hone and deepen your listening skills, release tension and relieve stress, heal and energize your body, mind, and spirit! Simply celebrate the JOY of being alive!

SATURDAY MORNINGS~11:15am-12:15pm

BALAFON CLASS-Saturday mornings 11:15-12:15 starting Jan.20th, 2018! Come and learn the mesmerizing rhythms and melodies of the beautiful and unique West African  Balafon ….The balafon, similar in appreance to a Europran Xylophone, dates back to the courts of the Mandinka Empire and is still a popular West African instrument today.
 The Mandinka balafon, also called the bala or the balphone, is a kind of idiophone (an instrument which creates sound by vibrating. In the West, instruments like this are called xylophones. The balafon is associated with the Griot, an hereditary musicianship tradition of West Africa.

I look forward to sharing a rhythm with you soon! WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR! As 2017 has just drawn to a close may we each reflect with gratitude and reverence on the many gifts we have received and the many doorways that have opened for us throughout this last year….some with ease and some with anguish and many gracefully in between.  May we trust that they all bring us closer to the knowing that contentment with what IS , may be the greatest gift of all. May our oft times hard-earned growth in this past year move us closer to lives lived in balance, in peace, and in harmony within our selves and with each other and our world in the new year to come! And may our families, friendships, and our communities support us in gathering the courage and commitment we need to face and transmute the weight of the many global challenges we face into a collective presence of promise, creativity, and the illumination of powerful solutions.
Axe Axe…so be it…
Always love, Sherry