Rich Holly's Percussion Place

Assorted ramblings and occasional updates in the world of percussion.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

KOSA Festival this coming August


I recently accepted an invitation to be part of the faculty for this year's KOSA percussion festival in August. KOSA is in its 12th year, and will be held on the campus of Johnson State College in Vermont August 6-12. Check out their website, particularly the list of faculty - a pretty amazing assortment of percussion and drumming greats. I'll be there for the opening concert on the 6th, and I'll teach 4 classes on the 7th and 8th. I'm sure it will be a great week for the students as well as the faculty - the concerts are sure to be amazing with that list of faculty!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

DRUM CIRCLES

Today my two sons and I facilitated 2 drum circles for the participants of the DeKalb County 4-H clubs at their annual "Super Saturday" event. I hadn't done that for younger students (ages 8 to 12) in probably 7 or 8 years! It was a lot of fun to watch these children -- about 1/2 of whom said they had no prior drumming experience -- just having fun and paying attention and getting into the circle and rhythmic games we did.

And, it was the first time I did a gig with my sons! That was really great, watching them as both participants and leaders in the circles, a really proud and fun moment for me. They already said they're looking forward to doing it again next year!

If you've never participated in a drum circle, don't be shy! It's not really about the drumming, it's more about being a participant in a group/team activity, and there have been several studies conducted which demonstrate the health benefits of drumming. You can check out some resources online:

The great percussionist Kalani has a great deal of drum circle experience and some excellent resources on his site; Arthur Hull is a highly respected drum circle facilitator and "teacher of teachers"; and Bob Bloom has made a very successful career facilitating drum circles in many settings. For some great information about health and drumming, the website of the Remo company has tremendous information.