{"id":5982,"date":"2014-05-18T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T13:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=5982"},"modified":"2014-05-18T09:48:16","modified_gmt":"2014-05-18T13:48:16","slug":"roots-and-rhythm-extends-well-beyond-drumming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=5982","title":{"rendered":"Roots and Rhythm extends well beyond drumming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regency Park youth express and create during workshop<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

By Kyle Carrozza<\/strong>,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Workshop<\/a>

Workshop participants put their newly created drums to the test.<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2013 Especially in the developing mind of elementary-aged children, music is always more than just music. During Thursday evening\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy work has become about what can I leave behind and sharing that passion through the work, for the arts, for the drum,\u201d said Robinson.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mexican food thing is fun, and it\u2019s catchy, and it\u2019s kind of been my path to connecting it with language they understand,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cThere are so many ties to music and language. I guess through wanting to connect to kids and their references, I\u2019ve been drawing those ties to words more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/a>

Josh Robinson develops a partner drumming routine with one of the participants.<\/p><\/div>\n

Robinson said he draws inspiration from his own childhood to create lessons. Drumming facilitates more than just musical skills, building the children\u2019s expression and sense of character as they do something they enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to have the drum as an option to hit something when they need to hit something. They can create on that surface,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019t drum, it\u2019s still a fun activity. It gave them other life skills to apply it to, so I\u2019m happy about that,\u201d said Regency Park\u2019s Social Services Coordinator Crystal Lowery.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d said one girl.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Regency Park youth express and create during workshop By Kyle Carrozza,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times COATESVILLE \u2013 Especially in the developing mind of elementary-aged children, music is always more than just music. During Thursday evening\u2019s Roots and Rhythm Workshop held at Regency Park Community Center, the kindergarten through fifth graders got a chance to learn basic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[3766,3767,3768,3769],"class_list":["post-5982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-arts-holding-hands-and-hearts","tag-josh-robinson-of-art-reach","tag-regency-park-community-center","tag-roots-and-rhythm-workshop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}