On May 22nd we ran an African drumming workshop at Sunshine Beach State High School with the focus of the program being on success, resilience, self confidence and teamwork. This workshop was a part of their BAT program for boys.
There were 10 boys in the program. The students as always were very helpful in getting all the drums and helping us get setup. It was obvious from the very beginning that they were very hands-on and wanted to get into playing the drums.
Being a small group of students, we took a more personal approach to the workshop and spent time focusing on each student. Getting them to each play rhythms and parts and then getting into a group for call and response.
At the end of the workshop we got each of the boys to get up and have a go at playing the dunduns. They worked as a team to keep the rhythm going on the three big drums. The bigger drums always seem to fascinate the students when we do workshops. They are really are very big drums with a very big sound!
The highlight was at the end when I left only a few minutes for question time. The boys were hesitant at first but then they asked loads of questions. They were particularly interested in the drums and how they were made. We ended up going over time, answering all of their very keen questions!
It was such an awesome African drumming school workshop. This group of boys are definitely the type of group, we would love to get making their own drums! Another thing for the future perhaps! Thanks for having us Sunshine Beach High School!!
