Drum Circle

With funding to education being cut nationwide, most schools are focusing on reading and math as a consequence of the Center on Education's policy, No Child Left Behind. Because funding overall is limited, money that had previously supported programs in physical education, the arts, and other areas of study is disappearing in favor of state-tested subjects.

However, schools are making a mistake when they cut funding to their music programs over their math or English programs. As reported by the College Entrance Entrance Examination Board, students who have studied music score at least 40 points higher on each section of the SAT - 44 points above their peers in math, 63 points above in verbal.

These findings are reflected in the average American's views as well, as a Gallup poll by NAMM (the trade association of the international music products industry), show that almost all Americans, 94%, believe that studying music increases intelligence.

NAMM has also shown that music studying can help in other avenues of life as well. Students who have undergone music training are better adjusted, and work well in groups. They also exhibit a higher level of confidence than their less musical schoolmates, and later in life, turn to academia rather than alcohol, cigarette, or drug use.

A study performed in 2003 backs up these views: researchers in Hong Kong analyzed the effect of musical training on ninety students over the course of five years. Half of students were given lessons on traditional instruments and played in the school's orchestra, while the other half took no lessons. After five years, students who played with orchestra showed a greater increase in verbal memory than their nonmusical peers.

In fact, learning to play music has been linked with increased development of brain tissue, which leads to a better sense of proportions and verbal skills. This helps in an increase in intelligence that helps not only the SAT test, but in life as well.

Virgil Griffith, a CalTech grad student, recently charted his peers' taste in music against their average SAT score. During this test, he found that students who listen to music, like Beethoven, scored around a 1300 SAT score, while his peers who listened to music forged on a less classical tradition, like reggaeton or country, scored between 900 and 1000 on the SAT. By cutting funding to arts programs, schools are limiting their students abilities and their opportunities to exceed.

The First Lady has begun a program from the White House that teams professional musicians with music students in order to foster their interests and provide a positive outlet for creativity. This program, which began in June, is planned to continue during Obama's term of office. Although changes have begun in the White House, they're taking hold elsewhere as well.

In Boston, schools are struggling to hold on to their music programs. Despite cuts to music programs, 70% of Boston students are still enrolled in some variety of a music program. For students in other states, there are a number of programs outside the classroom you could try.

X8 Drums is proud of the relationships we have developed with school districts and music teachers across the country. We have worked with state boards of education, school principals and private drum instructors to develop complete drum circle packages for a variety of classroom environments. Find out more about integrating drum circles at your school.

Labels: Learn Music, Mozart, music, Music Education, music.therapy, NAMM, Pagan Drumming, the.healing.power.of.the.drum

You can hear the sounds coming through the trees in the clearing; a low, rhythmic drumming catches your ear, and you can hear the music carrying through the forest. Getting closer, you smell incense and feel the warmth of a fire. People are dancing to the beat of a circle of drums; each person keeping tune and rhythm with those around them. The throb of the drums pounding together makes the ground vibrate under your feet. Even if you have never experienced one before, the electric feel of a Pagan Drum Circle can leave your spirit charged for hours.

Paganism, or Neopaganism refers to a polytheistic religion such as Wicca. Rather than worship Jesus in the way that Christians do, those who practice Wicca worship a Goddess and a God. In Wicca, the God and Goddess are ever around you and manifest themselves in nature. Wiccans believe in the power of magic or sorcery, and often evoke such power in magic circles. As air, water, fire, earth, and spirit are united, a Wiccan is in touch with the power of the Universe. Magic circles are cast to so that Wiccans can cast spells or perform rituals.

Rituals are vital to any religion, and Wicca is no different. Catholics baptize their babies in holy water inside a Church. Wiccans baptize their babies through Wiccaning, in which it is asked that the child be under the protection of the God and Goddess. It is rituals such this that require magic circles, and the sights and sounds of nature are a major part of any circle. Singing, clapping, poetry, and most importantly, drumming, all become part of the magic.

A Pagan drum circle is very much a part of Wiccan ritual. A magic circle of purity is drawn around a fire, and each djembe drum converges around the fire or off in a corner so that they may all sit together. A drumbeat is started, and each drummer beats to the rhythm. There is no one leader to this type of drum circle; the spirit simply takes everyone away and a rhythm is kept from each contributing. Ritual singing and dancing occurs around the fire, as each individual gives themselves up to the beat of the drum and the connection to their God, Goddess, and each other. Often these types of drum circles last until dawn, and are considered a ritual or part of a spell.

Why a drum circle to invoke a connection to a higher power? Drums have often been thought of a way to connect to your own spirituality. For thousands of years, people have been drumming to connect to themselves and others around them. The consistent beat of a hand drum can allow you to enter a level of relaxation that will bring upon a new level of consciousness. Drumming, in a word, calms a restless soul. It is no wonder that Wiccans widely incorporate drumming as their main choice of sound for a magic circle, spell, or ritual.

Although Pagan Drum Circles are very different from the average gathering of drummers, it is with the same spirit and love of rhythm that one becomes involved in a drum circle. Wiccan, Christian, old or young: the sound and spirit of the drum surrounds you and gives you a connection to the world that you may have otherwise been missing.

Labels: Djembe Spirit, Drum Circle, Pagan Drumming, the.healing.power.of.the.drum