Private Lessons

	Mika with his Monday evening class, 6/17/02

Are you Interested in learning Hand Drumming, but unsure about kind of drum or style you want to play? Mika teaches a wide variety of hand drumming styles with a variety of different drums to adults and children of all ages and abilities in Marin County.

Mika offers lessons in Culturally Specific Drumming learning patterns and hand drum techniques from Latin America and Africa.  He also gives instruction in Community Drumming, assisting students in learning hand drum techniques to improvise and explore different ways of creating ones own musical expression.

For beginning hand drummers, who don’t have enough experience to know what style and type of drumming they are interested in, Mika provides a hands on drum tour, demonstrating and sharing djembe drums, conga drums, doumbek drums, and frame drums.

Mika also teaches drummers who want to develop the skills necessary to play in band settings including the Drum Set and Electronic Percussion & Looping.

Mika can also create drumming events for special occasions and parties. For more information about these services please visit the Community Events page of this web site.

Articles

The article below was featured in the artist section in of Open Exchange Magazine.

Fun And Transformation Through Drumming

After many years of teaching drumming in many settings, I've observed my students thriving most when given room to express themselves in a playful and creative way while also provided with patient, clear and challenging instruction. I believe that all the stages that we want to grow in as human beings can be reflected through drumming.

The first "free play" stage is about simply exploring different rhythms and sounds of the drum. In this way we learn to follow and trust our unfiltered and spontaneous impulses without being restricted by our criticisms and judgements. Gradually, we move towards the stage of "developing technique". By striking the drum with different positions of the hand, we can produce a wide range of different tones. By playing these different tones in patterns we start creating more intricate rhythms.

At this point we can begin the next stage of "community drumming" where we combine our individual patterns into group rhythms creating a unique shared experience. As we put into practice these different stages of development, we eventually create more complex arrangements, that integrate spontaneity and structure. Through this process we build confidence as we discover a language to express the many peaks and valleys of our internal landscape that can't be described in words.

Teaching Bio

Mika first studied drum set and began playing in bands as a teenager in Berkeley during the 70’s.  In  1981, he studied general music education classes at Cabrillo Community College in Santa Cruz, CA.  During this period he also began studying hand drums with Arthur Hull, Rick Walker and Jim Greiner.  Over the years he has brought joy instructing in many East Bay schools and given hundreds of classes and private lessons. He currently directs the music programs at Sunny Hills Gardens in San Anselmo CA and at Grace Patterson Elementary School in Vallejo CA.

For Mika’s full teaching resume, visit the Mika’s Resume section of this website.