Bedford Djembe Group

Practitioners Involved: Malcolm Smith

Venues Used: The Birch Room

Date / Time: Tuesdays 7:00pm to 10:00pm

Price: £10 per week (discounts for paying monthly) £1 for drum hire

High-energy African Drumming and songs are now regularly available at the Clophill Centre!

At last there is now an African drumming group near Bedford, where you can learn traditional rhythms from West Africa and sing the joyous songs they accompany. As well as djembe we play dun duns, Ghanaian drums and percussion. You can drop in any week, but you'll get the most out of it with regular attendance.

Suitable for Beginners (7pm-8:15pm), Improvers (7:30pm-9pm) or Intermediate-Advanced (8-10pm). Newcomers should arrive at 7pm, as the pace of learning starts easier then gets more advanced through the evening; our performing group rehearse for the final hour from 9-10pm.

Before coming to the group please read this page for more information: www.drummingisfun.co.uk

The group leader Malcolm Smith from Drumming Is Fun has been studying percussion since his college days, and specifically djembe since 1992. After forming the Canopus Percussion Ensemble in 1995 following intensive studies with master drummers in London, he began teaching African drumming in 1999.

In 2005 he extended his learning to embrace dun duns, the bass drum heartbeat of African rhythms. He has since embarked on field trips to Africa to study with master musicians in their native villages, to experience directly the vibrant culture of West Africa, which he is committed to bringing to a wider audience, sharing the joy and unity it creates.