Have questions? Here you go:
Classes are held on Tuesday nights, from 7pm – 8.30pm, at Morang South Primary School, 77 Gorge Road, South Morang Classes are 1.5 hours each and can be purchased in either 5-week blocks for $175 ($150 concession*) or 10 week terms for $250 ($200 concession*). Full payment for the 5 or 10 classes is required at the start of the first class of the block/term. * We’re interested in developing non-financial systems, so are open to other offers (ie barter/trade). Let us know! We run classes in 5 week blocks because this is the best compromise we’ve found between not having too much upfront investment for students who just want to try out African drumming, but still being enough time to enable students to get a decent feel for whether drumming is for you. More continuity is better, which is why we further discount the 10 week terms. We take teaching and learning seriously, and believe there must be some sense of commitment in order to get the most out of the classes. No, sorry. We have found that when students come and go from week to week, either: the new students are thrown in the deep end and over their head, which isn’t fun and makes the experience stressful; or, returning students end up going over the same material every week as we try to accommodate people coming and going from the class. While everyone learns at a different pace, 5 week blocks better allow the class to progress through rhythms together, and helps develop a sense of community. It happens – we understand! If you know at the start of the block or term that you won’t be able to make one of the upcoming classes, let us know and we’ll work it out – you don’t need to pay for classes that you miss if you let us know about it at the start of the block. If you fall sick and can’t make a class during the block/term, let us know ASAP and we’ll carry the cost of the missed class over to the next block/term. No, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never played drums before – no experience is necessary to join our classes. We have lots of experience teaching people who have never touched a drum (or any other instrument!). Everyone is different and everyone learns at a different pace, but we find the newest students are often those who are the most surprised by their new-found abilities… There will most likely be others in the class continuing from the previous block so, for the first class, we might ask you to come in a bit earlier (30 min) to help get you up to speed – this gives us a chance to go over the basics without there being any repetition for the other students who have built up a bit more experience. We’ll show you how to correctly get the main sounds out of the drum, help you understand some key things about how the African rhythms work – like how to know when to start and stop, and how to play together with everyone else – and introduce you to part of the rhythm we’ll be learning in the class so you know what to do. It also gives us a chance for us all to meet, and introduce ourselves. We keep it fun, low risk, and low stakes. Ultimately, we really don’t expect you to remember everything from your first class – experience has shown us that, while the first class is often a lot of fun and a whirlwind, it can be a lot to take in all at once. We encourage you not to stress about this – the knowledge and skills develop slowly, through repetition and experience! It shouldn’t be a problem. Let us know your experience level when you book, and we’ll work out the best way to accommodate you within the class. Again, we’re experienced at accommodating the different needs of students. No drum? No problem! If you have your own drum, please bring it along, but we can provide a drum for you if needed. Just let us know if you need a drum when you book. Yes, bookings are essential! You can book here now to secure your place for the next block of classes. Jacob takes our classes at South Morang: Jacob. Jacob first travelled to Ghana to learn drumming when he was 13 years old, and has been studying ever since. With years spent learning percussion in West Africa (Ghana, The Gambia, and Senegal), as well as undertaking formal music training on drum kit throughout his secondary and tertiary education, Jacob has a lot of knowledge to share. As a professional musician, Jacob has recorded as a session musician on ARIA award winning albums, film and TV soundtracks and more, toured nationally and internationally as a drummer and percussionist, and composes, produces, and performs his own music. Jacob first started teaching African drumming groups in his home town in East Gippsland when he was 15, and this continued when he moved to Melbourne in 2004. Jacob’s teaching experience covers the spectrum including weekly classes for adults and children, primary and secondary school classes and workshops, public community workshops, corporate personal development sessions, and private one-to-one and smaller group lessons. He also made African Drumming Online – an online tool for learning African drumming. For some testimonials from past students, see below.
Testimonials from Past Students:
I began classes as a novice drummer wanting to learn something different, have some fun, and start a new hobby. In my classes with Jacob, I found him to be an extremely skilled musician and knowledgeable about the rhythms. He was able to break any part of the rhythms down, simplify them or explain them/ demonstrate them in a different way which made it easier for me to grasp. He certainly helped my drumming skill improve. His ability to approach teaching from different angles, and to demonstrate the theory in different ways, made his lessons easy to learn, plus he’s a genuine, nice guy so lessons were also enjoyable and relaxed!
– Vic Evans
Jacob is naturally a very talented percussionist and a wonderful soul. He is an absolutely outstanding drumming teacher and makes the whole process of learning and playing a whole lot of fun. He has learned and played with some well-known percussionists and musicians and has a natural ability to share the wealth of his knowledge in a very easy way. His pleasing personality with subtle sense of humour made the classes even more fun for us 🙂
If you are thinking of learning drumming, Jacob is an exceptionally talented teacher to learn from. Djembe on…
– Ashwin Tyagi
Jacob has a great teaching style – fun and informative…Thanks so much for your expertise!
– Lee-Anne Organ
Jacob creates an enjoyable learning environment where all of his students are provided with practical methods of learning correct drumming techniques as well as individualised constructive feedback on areas for improvement.
Jacob approaches these lessons with passion and a sense of humour. His drumming classes are a lot of fun, a great space to meet like minded people with similar interests in your local area and also an opportunity to improve your drumming skills whether your’re starting out, at an imtermediate level or beyond.
The rest is up to you.
(Practice LOTS)
– Royce Light
I have never met someone with as much depth of knowledge, and knowledge of the history and origins of African Percussion as Jacob. Combined with an incredibly adaptive, patient and love-able teaching style. He really is a fantastic teacher and I cannot recommend him enough.
Going to Jacobs classes was the highlight of my week.
I have never looked forward to Mondays as much as I did when going to Jacob’s classes!
– Ben Young
Still Got Questions? Get in Touch Below:
Email: hello@southmorangdrumming.com
Phone or text Jacob on:
Or, use this form:
[wpforms id=”81″]
