By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times

Workshop participants put their newly created drums to the test.

COATESVILLE – Especially in the developing mind of elementary-aged children, music is always more than just music. During Thursday evening’s Roots and Rhythm Workshop held at Regency Park Community Center, the kindergarten through fifth graders got a chance to learn basic drumming rhythms, make their own drums, and learn how drumming can be an outlet for their emotions.

Sponsored by Arts Holding Hands and Hearts (AHHAH) and taught by Josh Robinson of Art-Reach, about 15 children got the chance to bang on objects for a few hours.

“My work has become about what can I leave behind and sharing that passion through the work, for the arts, for the drum,” said Robinson.

Robinson started the workshop using drumsticks to teach basic drumming patterns. Going with a Mexican food theme, participants combined the words rice, taco, sour cream, and quesadilla, tapping rhythms along with the syllables.

As their skills progressed, the children went from playing along with the group to developing routines in pairs. They identified the patterns that Robinson played and completed call and response exercises.

“The Mexican food thing is fun, and it’s catchy, and it’s kind of been my path to connecting it with language they understand,” Robinson said. “There are so many ties to music and language. I guess through wanting to connect to kids and their references, I’ve been drawing those ties to words more and more.”

Josh Robinson develops a partner drumming routine with one of the participants.

Robinson said he draws inspiration from his own childhood to create lessons. Drumming facilitates more than just musical skills, building the children’s expression and sense of character as they do something they enjoy.

“I want them to have the drum as an option to hit something when they need to hit something. They can create on that surface,” he said.

After practicing their playing skills, participants then created their own drums, making the shells out of buckets, heads out of packing tape, and decorating them with duct tape.

Robinson gave each drummer their own pair of sticks to keep, and then the group composed together. One person would start out with a basic rhythm, and then, one at a time, everyone joined in, adding to what those before them had already established.

“I like the way Josh worked with them presenting the drums as a way to get out aggression. Pick a partner helped them learn to work with another. Whether they drum or don’t drum, it’s still a fun activity. It gave them other life skills to apply it to, so I’m happy about that,” said Regency Park’s Social Services Coordinator Crystal Lowery.

As the evening came to a close with the new drummers barely being able to keep from playing their new instruments, each one shared a positive they took from the experience.

“It seemed like we felt free to do what we wanted with the drums. We could let our anger and energy go and just go with the drums,” said one girl.

The children were so keen on developing their skills and exploring the new avenue of expression that as Robinson moved his equipment out to his car, some of the kids brought their drums to the parking lot, providing rhythms for an impromptu dance party for AHHAH members.