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Remo Inc Comfort Sound Technology

Exploring Music Therapy: Group Drumming, Drum Circles

Group drumming and drum circles are valuable tools often used by music therapists to help a variety of individuals heal and improve their quality of life. So how is group drumming used in music therapy, and what are a few of its remarkable benefits?


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In a 2007 study, researchers from UCLArts & Healing set out to determine if group drumming could help reduce stress in children. Those leading the study combined activities of group drumming and group counseling designed to build a variety of skills, ranging from self esteem to stress management.

“We found significant reductions in all sorts of problem behaviors related to such things as inattention, withdrawal and depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress,” said UCLArts & Healing Founding Executive Director Ping Ho. “These are actually regular school children, and I think that’s what made our study so amazing.”

Since then, Ho has partnered with the Santa Clarita-based drum manufacturer  Remo, Inc. to incorporate group drumming into more of UCLArts & Healing’s programs, and with continued remarkable results.Remo Inc Comfort Sound Technology

By transforming her initial study program into a scripted program called “Beat the Odds,” Ho has seen the program adapted to fit a variety of different populations, with ordinary people (rather than drum experts) acting as group facilitators.

“That’s really the beauty of group drumming, is that anyone can participate,” she said. “Drumming is such a big part of so many cultures that it enables all of us to connect to it and be together when we might otherwise be separated, and it’s an organic way of building empathy and building community.”

Those with sound sensitivity, such as individuals with autism, Alzheimer’s disease or PTSD, may benefit from group drumming through the use of a new drum technology developed by Remo, Inc., Comfort Sound Technology.

Related: Alabama Musician Uses Passion For Drumming To Help Others

“(Comfort Sound Technology) is a lower-pitched drumhead to facilitate rhythm without overstimulation, especially for people with sound sensitivity,” Ho said. “We find that not only is that effective, but people with sound sensitivity actually really enjoy listening to that rich sound that the Comfort Sound Technology provides.”

Group drumming utilizes a process called “embodied learning,” which involves learning about others through a connected live experience both in mind and body. Drum circles in particular help build empathy among participants by simply being together and connected through rhythm.

“Everyone is safe behind their drum, they can participate at whatever level they’re comfortable and they’re still part of the group,” Ho said. “Drum circles are in a circle for a reason, so we can all see each other and connect and that seeing is part of empathy development. And we listen to each other and we play back what we hear, and that’s also an element of empathy.”

Remo Inc Comfort Sound TechnologyBecause there are no expectations of skill during group drumming sessions, self judgement and performance anxiety can also be reduced, leading to greater self expression and participation in classroom and other activities.

“Once a young person has an opportunity to experience free creative expression without judgement, they (can) start participating more fully in other things … because the principle transfers over,” Ho said.

The lack of judgement during group drumming also often creates more opportunity for feelings of joy and laughter, which Ho said “is especially meaningful for people for whom joy and laughter is absent in their lives, especially children and adults who’ve experienced trauma.”

In academic settings, group drumming can help children communicate and even create relationships nonverbally.

For example, after training a division of Los Angeles Unified School District counselors, one counselor reported back to UCLArts & Healing officials that integrating a drum circle into a group of children who didn’t get along helped them build bonds and reduced bullying on the playground.

“She intentionally put kids who didn’t get along with each other together in a circle, and she would have them share something verbally and she had a little tiny frame drum … and she would pass it around the circle so that as each child shared something verbally they would also play something, and the kids grew to love that so much that they actually formed a group identity and they stopped fighting with each other on the playground because you don’t beat up a member of your group. I think that kind of says it all right there.”

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Santa Clarita hometown manufacturer Remo Inc. has partnered with leading neurologists and drum education experts to develop evidence-based wellness programs that use rhythm as a tool to support better living.  Music therapists often use these tools for their music therapy work. Sometimes people refer to this as drum therapy. One such program, called HealthRHYTHMS, utilizes drumming as a tool for communication and personal expression by guiding participants through a 10-step process. Other Remo wellness programs consider the needs of people with autism who drum, and people with Alzheimer’s and PTSD who also use the drum to improve the quality of their lives. Remo, Inc. is one of the leading drum manufacturers, making drums with recycled material.

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Exploring Music Therapy: Group Drumming, Drum Circles

One comment

  1. Looking to facilitate drum circles and share the love of creating music.

    In the past few years I’ve had the privilege to share with the students at the school on Walpole Island, my percussion based Performing Arts Music program, that I designed and tweaked. By chance I stumbled across the therapeutic aspects of drumming and dancing, and how greatly beneficial it is for those with, ADHD, ADD, Autism, Anxiety, Depression, and neurological disorders. I’m willing to share with other groups my methodology behind a well designed program.

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About Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch

Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch has been writing for KHTS since Feb. 2014. She currently writes “Community Spotlight” and feature stories, and coordinates all aspects of both the”KHTS Adopt a Pet” video feature series and “Top Things to Do in Santa Clarita.” She is the creator of “KHTS Adopt a Pet” and acted as News Editor from 2019-2020, as well as Features Director and Newsroom Manager from 2016-2018. A former Valley Publications Staff Writer, Melissa was a contributor to the Santa Clarita Gazette and Canyon Country Magazine from 2015-2016. She has published feature stories with Pet Me Magazine, The Pet Press, The Signal, COC's Cougar News, and KJAMS Radio.