Drumming Workshop

Blue Sky Harmony is a small ensemble, and while that sometimes has challenges, it has plenty of advantages too! We don’t need a lot of equipment, we carpool to most events in 2–3 cars, we can engage in all-member discussions when needed, and we are constantly developing our independent singing skills. Another advantage of being small is that we are able to run activities at rehearsals that might prove challenging for a larger chorus. Recently we took part in one such activity – a drumming workshop!

Our facilitator/drum expert was Marco, who has been friends one of our baritones (Sharon) for many years through past drumming ensembles. In the workshop, we had the opportunity to try a range of drums, from djembes to darbukas and congas. We heard about how drums are made, learned the basics of drumming and played some common rhythms from different styles of music.

The workshop involved games, intense focus at times, plenty of laughs and a whole lot of grooving! Our choir already incorporates body percussion into some of our repertoire songs and we have previously utilised the skills of members who can drum, so this workshop has helped us to expand our pool of potential accompanists!

You can check out some our drumming via the videos on this Facebook post. Please follow our page while you’re there! We’d love to connect with even more music-lovers from across the country.
 

Marco explaining how the different types of drums are made