What is a Drum Circle Facilitator?
A drum circle facilitator is a trained individual who guides groups through participatory rhythm-based experiences using percussion instruments. The facilitator seeks to focus the intent and improve the quality of the activity, making it easier for people to participate, while taking responsibility for the physical space, arranging chairs and instruments to optimize communication and connection in the group. The facilitator helps the group to get to know each other and the instruments, and to make music with increasing independence from instructions. Unlike a traditional music teacher or bandleader, the word facilitate means “to make easy”—the rhythm-event facilitator is there to help make it easy for the players to connect their rhythm contributions into rhythmical spirit sharing and make great “drum jazz” together.
The facilitator is constantly monitoring the music in the group, and generally being encouraging and accepting of participant ideas, taking on a role similar to that of a music teacher or drumming instructor whose goal is to empower the participants and encourage them to share their ideas. In the beginning, the facilitator directs the music through verbal and non-verbal cueing, often mirroring the movements of an orchestral conductor, which creates a leader/follower dynamic between the facilitator and the participants, with actions such as rolling, starting, stopping, raising/lowering the volume, accents, and when to play/not play often given by the facilitator.
Origins & Lineage
The origins of contemporary drum circles in North America can be traced back to Congo Square in New Orleans, a pivotal site in the history of American music. Congo Square was a unique space where enslaved Africans, free people of color, Native Americans and the allies of freedom would gather on Sundays to sell goods, often to buy themselves from slavery, which naturally led to drumming, dancing, and maintaining their cultural heritage.
When drum circles first began appearing in America in the 60s, they were the exclusive realm of freeform recreational drummers and culturally specific drummers, and these seemingly opposite rhythm cultures did not mix. Arthur Hull, father of the modern day drum circle, developed his unique approach to facilitating drum circles in the 1980s through an observation of the need that extended beyond percussion skill development.
In 1980 Arthur Hull founded Village Music Circles, instructing over 7000 students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, while bringing experiential team-building and leadership events to organizations internationally. Since 1990 Arthur has provided professional trainings for community drum circle facilitators, and has trained over two thousand facilitators internationally. A protégé of Babatunde Olatunji, Arthur originated and defined modern-day Drum Circle Facilitation.
The Village Music Circles (VMC) method became the defining standard for the profession. After 50 years of trial and error, Hull worked out a simple four-step drum circle facilitation protocol that guarantees success for both facilitator and playing participants, which helps guide a group of people of mixed ages and rhythmical expertise to a very high level of spirited rhythmical exploration and expression.
How It’s Practiced
Using the VMC protocol, facilitators are able to take a circle of drummers from a group-playing consciousness, to an ensemble-playing consciousness, and finally into orchestrational consciousness, where drum rhythm grooves are turned into music, using basic techniques that help people play together in a drum circle while making the best possible rhythm music that they can create.
The facilitator’s approach involves specific stages. As the “director,” facilitators use their skills to direct the group’s attention towards the elements that make “musicality” happen in a drum circle event through a facilitation process called “teaching without teaching”—actually doing “experiential training” by creating educational experiences of the different kinds of musical elements by sculpting out and showcasing those elements.
The circular arrangement is no coincidence—participants are able to observe all instruments, all sounds and all other players in the best possible way, and there is no hierarchy, with nobody sitting in front. Good drum circle facilitators stay out of the center of the circle most of the time, allowing the players to connect with each other to explore and express their collaborative rhythm and their musical spirit, called “GOOW”: Get Out Of the Way.
Drum Circle Facilitator Today
In the last 20 years, over 16,000 people in 29 countries have been taught how to facilitate rhythm-based events and drum circles—not all drummers and musicians, but school teachers, music therapists, kids at risk counselors, special needs professionals, corporate trainers, with rhythm-based events serving many specific populations that span rhythm-care-giving from prenatal to hospice.
Drum circle facilitation can be used by social workers, store owners, human resource managers, church leaders, camp leaders, nursing home activity coordinators—for anyone who wants to unify a group that will enjoy the benefits of participating in this simple activity. Therapeutic or wellness drum circles are facilitated with an emphasis on emotional release, stress reduction, and healing, with research showing that group drumming can lower cortisol levels, support immune function, and help release stored tension from the body.
The profession now has formal training pathways and international recognition. The Village Music Circles’ Facilitation Training is internationally recognized as the defining standard for DCF training excellence, with VMC Certification created to provide a standard that is identifiable, achievable and measurable by which a DCF can be evaluated. The VMC Global method is a clearly defined process of facilitating a group of individuals through the joys of participatory rhythmic music, in an inclusive and empowering way that maximises the groups musical potential, used by thousands of facilitators across the world in a wide range of settings, including community recreation programs, school music programs, aged-care wellness programs, mental-health support programs and corporate development programs.
Common Misconceptions
Since the late 90’s, other types of group drumming have been advertised incorrectly as drum circles, leading to confusion regarding what a drum circle is, and in some cases leading to real drum circles being banned by authorities who were under the impression that a drum circle is a commercial event.
Facilitated group drumming differs from unfacilitated drum circles—the experience can be thought of as group drumming with a leader as opposed to the more free-flowing and open Drum Circle. A drum circle facilitator is not the same as a ceremonial drumming leader. Groups that center around Native American Cultural drums and rattles primarily focus on the spiritual rather than the musical aspects of the culture, facilitated as a shamanic journey process rather than a musical event.
Drum circle facilitation is not traditional music instruction. Facilitating a drum circle is completely different to leading an ensemble—at its core, drum circle facilitation is an inner attitude, the will to accompany the group on its way without teaching it, with the intent to make themselves superfluous and make the group improvise music on their own without any help. No prior musical training is required for participants. While informal, drum circles might have a person who serves as facilitator or coordinator to lead the group through varied rhythm explorations, with participants not needing previous musical experience.
How to Begin
For aspiring facilitators, “Drum Circle Facilitation – Building Community Through Rhythm” is the most comprehensive manual on facilitating rhythmical events, written by Arthur Hull, and is a suggested prerequisite before participating in Drum Circle Facilitator trainings. The foundational training involves hands-on experiential learning. Village Music Circles’ 6-day Facilitators Intensive Training provides beginning and advanced Facilitators the skills needed to lead Rhythm-Based events for groups of all sizes and backgrounds.
No previous musical experience is necessary. Participants come from diverse backgrounds, professions and cultures, with over 5000 Drum Circle Facilitators trained in 15 countries over the past 20 years—many with no previous experience with music and some who are accomplished musicians. For those exploring the field, introductory one-day workshops provide exposure to the facilitation process, though these workshops do not provide an accredited level of expertise for participants, but aim to showcase the potential of the VMC Global model in a fun and enjoyable way.