Drummer Tommy, 15, is studying GCSE Music and loves composing his own beats. It’s a real change from a few years ago, when he had issues controlling his temper and was excluded from school several times. The Drum Works project has given him a creative outlet and helped him stay out of trouble.
Tommy attends The Warren School in East London, where Drum Works has been running fast-paced, high-energy drumming sessions for the past three years. He’s been involved in the project since he was 12.
“I was a bit of a troublemaker,” says Tommy. “But then I got invited to Drum Works, and it really helped me. It was like all my behaviour got hit into the drums.”
I expressed myself on the drums instead of taking my anger out on other people.
Developing as a musician
In the sessions, students drum together in groups of up to 25. The lineup of instruments is similar to a samba band, with each person playing a surdo, repinique or caixa (three different types of Brazilian drum).
Instead of playing a pre-arranged repertoire, the young people get the chance to create their own beats collaboratively, based on the styles of music they enjoy. “You can express your ideas,” says Tommy. “You get to make your own stuff, and you can spread it around the room.”
Tommy’s now a keen drummer outside the sessions too. “I used to play trumpet and trombone, but I got bored of it, and me and my friends started playing the drum kit,” he recalls. “But we didn’t know anything at all – we literally knew how to hit a drum.
“The Drum Works music leaders are really helpful – if you can’t play a beat, they’re not gonna judge you for it, they’ll teach you till you know how to do it.
“I picked Music for GCSE, and I’ve been doing compositions on the drums, writing my own beats. Drum Works has helped me get more ideas. In the group I play the snare, so I can adapt from that and turn what we play on separate drums into a beat on the drum kit.”
Gaining focus and confidence
The sessions are built into the school timetable, and Tommy’s certain that drumming has a positive impact on the rest of his day. “Coming here’s like a break,” he says. “It wakes you up, you’re ready for another lesson.”
Susie, a music teacher at the school, recalls the change she saw in Tommy after he found drumming. “His behaviour didn’t change overnight, but slowly Tommy’s confidence improved as he realised he was good at something.
“His patience and concentration span improved too as he spent the time trying to perfect patterns. He spent his lunchtimes in the music department practising and avoided the conflicts he’d previously been involved with. He enjoyed coming to school as that’s where the drum rooms were.
“He enjoyed making progress and getting better at something. He’d learnt that the only way to improve is to make mistakes and that it’s ok to make them.”
Tommy’s now in top sets for English and Maths and hasn’t been excluded in well over a year. His mum sums it up:
Drumming has transformed Tommy – without it I’m not sure if he’d even still be in school.
Teamwork and group performance
The partnership between The Warren School and Drum Works has grown stronger over the course of the project, as more and more teaching staff have observed the sessions’ all-round positive impact on students.
There are now 70-80 students from across years 7-11 now regularly involved in the sessions, split across three groups based on their drumming skill levels.
“Although we only have one session a week, you get to know everyone in that session,” says Tommy. “You always work together no matter what. I’ve made good friends with the rest of the group.”
The groups have also combined with students from other East London schools where Drum Works sessions take place, and have given end-of-term performances in venues such as the Barbican Centre and the Broadway Theatre in Barking.
“There’s about 150 of us in one big group,” says Tommy. “Managing to go out and play in front of so many people – I would say that’s been my proudest moment. When I first started drumming I had to play in front of the class, and I was so scared, I started sweating! I’m confident with it now though.”
If it wasn’t for Drum Works, I would have missed out on a lot of things. This is like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even when I finish school, I can use the skills I’ve learned.
Feature
Exchanging Notes
Exchanging Notes is a four-year action research programme pioneering new partnerships between schools and music education providers who normally work in out-of-school settings.