What Is A Drum Circle?

The term Drum Circle can often mean different things to different people.

Short answer... a gathering of people who are playing percussion instruments for recreation, personal enrichment and/or group bonding. Playing percussion instruments is one of humanity's oldest and most universal communal activities. Group drumming is an outgrowth of our innate drive to collaborate with, to entrain with, and to have fun with other people in our communities.

I refer to my work with using percussion instruments for corporate and conference team-building, ice-breaking and celebrating as Rhthym-Based Activities, rather than Drum Circles because the term Drum Circles has come to mean a completely unstructured jam session to the general public.

While free-form Drum Circles can be a lot of fun, effective corporate activities should be designed to serve the goals and needs of each specific group in a focused, fun and accessible way.

"Facilitated" Drum Circles are one type of rhythm-based activity that I do use in my work with events that are open to the public, such as community celebrations.  I facilitate a Drum Circle by helping the group to get into a solid Groove together, to listen to each other and to keep the energy alive.  

Drum Circles do have their roots in the many drumming styles and traditions that have spread worldwide by the peoples of Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil and other drumming cultures. I personally believe very strongly that it is important to acknowledge and honor the peoples and their traditions who have originated the instruments we use in Drum Circles and other rhythm-based activities.

When I conduct my own interactive rhythm-based activities, whether they be for corporate, community, school, therapeutic or private groups, I introduce each instrument with a short history and a brief demonstration of some fundamental playing techniques. This shows respect for the people who originated the instruments, helps the participants to play together and reinforces the realization that they are part of the rich, age-old, worldwide tradition of community drumming.