“When we drum together, it changes our relationships and helps us cope with life. It tames stress and creates a group version of the so-called ‘runner’s high.’ Energy swells as drummers share joyful bliss conversing through sound and rhythm. There is a natural high produced by a drum circle that you simply need to experience to believe.” — Arthur Hull
What is a community drum circle?
A drum circle is a fun drum and percussion jam, typically with players of varying musical levels, ages and ethnicities. Most commonly , a drum circle is an entry level event into the world of recreational music-making, as you need no previous musical experience.Music in general and percussive music in particular brings people together in a common, celebratory mood. At once, participants are released from constraints of language differing social or economic status, age or skill level, and any other trait which would tend to separate them. These constraints are replaced with endless possibilities for successful musical expression.The definition of facilitate is to make easy. Participants at a facilitated drum circles play rhythms in a group setting , with a facilitator who guides there musical direction when it is needed. The players have a spoken or unspoken agreement that the facilitator will guide them to their highest musical level. This cooperation enables both the advanced and the beginning drummers to play happily together. Participants experience tremendous freedom to play what they feel, rather than following a complex set of rules.
The same values we need for a strong community are nurtured and rewarded in a a facilitated drum circle:
Good listening skills.
Respect
Patience
CooperationEach individual is equally valuable to the whole. Everybody has a part to play, and no part is any more or any less important than any other part.
The modern facilitated drum circles is one prescriptions for fragmented parts of today´s society. Its unifying power can be an elixir to assist us with our common goals of both personal and community-wide health and well-being.
While playing together in a drum circle, a group often moves through several musical transitions. These changes are challenging, and often create chaos in a facilitated drum circle. With the help of a facilitator, a group is more likely to move smoothly through transitions. When they do this, they create both a new rhythm and a much deeper musical relationship. Their confidence in their ability increases and they play together much better than they would typically have been able to play alone. Attend one an feel it in your body.
Arthur Hull, Drum Circle Facilitation – Building Community.
The VMC model of Community Drum Circle Facilitation takes players through four stages of Dictation, Direction, Facilitation and Orchestration, as the facilitator guides the circle from noisy rabble to self orchestrating rhythm ensemble, with timely rhythmic games and interventions to adjust focus on the rhythm, and teach (without teaching) musicality and group self facilitation.
Sustaining Rhythms Music Circles 