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This 7 week course will shift how drummers think and play the drum set. Students will be encouraged to move beyond just playing beats and grooves to thinking more compositionally. If you are able to play the drums, we will not completely ignore rhythms, however,learning how the drum set can be a melodic and harmonic instrument is one of the directions students will explore. Students will explore a variety of approaches using but not limited to, found objects, membranophones, ideophones, electronics, and the human voice.

Viewed from the outside, the French-speaking world offers enticing images of beauty, pleasure, and freedom. From the inside, however, it is a complicated, often contradictory world where implicit codes and values shape the most basic aspects of daily life. This course will give you an insider’s perspective on a cultural and communicative system whose ideas, customs, and belief systems are surprisingly different from your own.

This course provides a vibrant introduction to the traditional West African rhythms and movements of the Mandingo and Wolof communities. Students will embark on a journey through both drumming and dancing disciplines, mastering intricate rhythms that will expand their musical vocabulary and enhance their dance techniques.