Mande Music School

Drum­ming is cul­tur­ally rich and edu­ca­tional fun

Beat­ing out rhyth­mic pat­terns is some­thing that chil­dren do nat­u­rally whether drum­ming on their bod­ies, the kitchen table, or their desk at school. The Mandé Music School (MMS) is designed to har­ness that child-like impro­vi­sa­tional energy and give it a jenbé drum focus. The jenbé is a tra­di­tional West Afrikan drum that since the 1950s has become the world’s most rec­og­nized and pop­u­lar hand drum played from Aus­tralia to Brazil, China to Chicago, and through­out Afrika.  

At TRIAAC the Mandé Music School (MMS) for chil­dren 4–5, and 6–12 years old meets once a week, on Sat­ur­days. Four to five years meet from 10:00AM to 10:45AM, and 6–12 year olds meet from 11AM to 12:30PM. Stu­dents learn the basic tech­niques of ensem­ble jenbé and dunun drum­ming, and how to play together in ensemble—simulating tra­di­tional learn­ing styles that use ear train­ing and melodic rela­tion­ship place­ment. The tuition to MMS is scaled to serve the chil­dren and par­ents of our community.

Dur­ing their MMS years chil­dren grow their self-esteem and self-efficacy, hone skills in lis­ten­ing and lead­er­ship, learn tech­niques for work­ing har­mo­niously with their peers and elders, and form trust­ing rela­tion­ships in a tra­di­tional lov­ing, struc­tured, multi­gen­er­a­tional, mul­ti­eth­nic extended fam­ily setting.

The ses­sion begins with Checkin and the Pour­ing of Liba­tion. The checkin is used for a gen­eral ground­ing of the children’s, and liba­tion is a cen­ter­ing rit­ual remem­ber­ing fam­ily. Drum­ming, song, and art follow.   

MMS has adopted the time-honored way of tra­di­tional Afrikan cultures—Singing, Danc­ing and Drumming—as ways to engage chil­dren in learn­ing and cel­e­brat­ing them­selves, their cul­ture and his­tory. The schools tra­di­tional village-style drum­ming offers chil­dren a tan­gi­ble link to Afrikan cul­ture, and prac­ti­cal, fun way to learn about them­selves, while mak­ing music in ensem­ble with their peers.  

Par­ent par­tic­i­pa­tion is essen­tial to stu­dent suc­cess!!! The MMS requires par­ents to be active vol­un­teers to TRIAAC so that we can facil­i­tate the col­lec­tive well being of our chil­dren, fam­i­lies and the institute.

If you would like to enroll your child in the Mande Music School, please fill out the appli­ca­tion that lies behind the blue but­ton and return it to TRIAAC. We look for­ward to hear­ing from you and serv­ing your child’s cul­tural needs.

 Mande Music School Enroll­ment Form

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