A Facilitated Drum Circle is a form of group drumming that is lead by an experienced facilitator. It is not a drum class, but instead the facilitator guides the participants to achieving their greatest potential making in-the-moment rhythms through a series of rhythmic games and interventions.
At Sustaining Rhythms we draw upon nearly 370 hours of training in four powerful facilitation techniques to prepare the best rhythm activity to meet your group or organizational needs:
Facilitated Community Drumming Circles
Using the Village Music Circles (VMC) facilitation model, the facilitator starts out being dictatorial, with commands such as stop, start, louder, quieter and possibly handing out parts. Over the course of the event the facilitator will progressively hand over responsibility for the rhythms to the group, until hopefully they are self orchestrating, listening closely to the rhythms they are playing, connecting with each other through those rhythms, and adjusting and transitioning the rhythms through group consensus without direction from the facilitator.
The (VMC) Facilitated Community Drumming Circles model is particularly suited to events with a focus on Team/Community building, a celebration or simply for the enjoyment of making music together.
Remo HealthRHYTHMS Group Empowerment Drumming
Remo HealthRHYTHMS® is a fun, evidence based Group Empowerment Drumming program, consisting of a series of 10 steps where participants are guided through to facilitate social connection, communication, personal expression, and ensures a healthy non-strenuous workout.
Among other benefits, HealthRHYTHMS sessions have been clinically shown to increase levels of Natural Killer (NK) immune cells that seek out and attack tumor and viral=infected cells, and also to decrease levels of Cortisol, the stress hormone.
As the name suggests, HealthRHYTHMS is particularly suited to events with a focus on Health and Wellness through drumming.
Rhythm2Recovery and DRUMBEAT protocols for Social and Emotional Education
The RhythmsRecovery® and DRUMBEAT® facilitation protocols use drumming as a therapeutic tool, or as a metaphor for exploring our system of values, beliefs and relationships with others, in a social or emotional development context.
DRUMBEAT is a protocol originally developed to engage at-risk youth during therapeutic counseling sessions, and later adapted for use in schools and drug and alcohol counseling. It is a structured 10 week program.
The RhythmRecovery protocol, from the author of the DRUMBEAT program, can be used to construct programs to address specific social issues such as bulling in schools, relationship issues, effective team work in corporate environments, domestic violence and addiction behaviors.
African Cultural Drumming
We can also provide a basic level instruction for African cultural rhythms, explaining some of the background and cultural significance of the rhythms, and the instruments.
This is the only time we actually teach specific rhythms, and usually only as an adjunct to other facilitation techniques.
If you are looking for a specifically African Cultural Drumming experience, we can recommend several masterful teachers and performers of African rhythm in Perth.
Sustaining Rhythms Music Circles 