Face to Face live classes will start from January 18, 2021

Fitzroy classes

Costs are $120/$100 conc. for a 4 week course. Costs include access to video content of material taught.

Intermediate African Drumming Classes – Fitzroy/Northcote/Brunswick

Next Course Starts 2024

Monday Nov 11
Monday nights 8pm to 9pm
Location: Uniting Church Merri St Brunswick.

Beginner African Drumming Classes – Fitzroy/Northcote/Brunswick

Next Course 20024

Starts – Monday Nov 11
Monday nights 6:30pm to 7:45pm
Location: Uniting Church Merri St Brunswick (Just off Sydney Rd near the Town Hall.

Ray Demonstrating Djembe technique

What can you expect from African Drumming classes with Ray?

High quality, personalised teaching
Learn great technique on a range of percussion instruments
Learn how to hear, play and feel rhythms
Learn a number of West African and Afro Cuban rhythms and their accompanying parts
Experience of how rhythms relate to dance and songs
Many opportunities to learn perform and extend yourself at your own pace
Ray’s technical expertise and 30 yrs of experience in different genres of music
Very reasonable prices (classes are $25/$20con)

Benefits for students

Learn from one of Australia’s most experienced and respected musicians.
Have fun learning in a non competitive environment.
Challenge yourself to improve and learn more about the rhythms, songs and culture of the music being played and the goal of stepping up to an intermediate class as you improve and gain more experience.

Ray Teaching His Beginner Class

Fitzroy Beginner Class

Ray runs his Beginner African Drumming and Intermediate African Drumming classes in Fitzroy on Monday nights.
His Beginner class is for new people who want to try out African Drumming for the first time and for those who may have played a few times before.

Ray will guide you through the basics of African drumming and show you how to get good sounds from the drums. You will enjoy learning about African Drumming, African Drumming rhythms and enjoy playing these rhythms with other people in a small group. You will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you can improve under Ray’s expert guidance.

There is no need for previous experience and you don’t need a drum. Ray will provide you with one for no extra cost.
So just come along and find out why African Drumming classes can be so much fun.

Kpanlogo Drum Class

Fitzroy Intermediate Class

After you have done a few of Ray’s Beginner classes and if you want to improve and be challenged you can join his Intermediate African Drumming Class, which is also held on Monday nights right after the Beginner Class. All those attending Ray’s African Drumming Intermediate classes have been playing for a year or more and have been through Ray’s Beginner classes or have had experience drumming somewhere else.

The intermediate class will build on the rhythms you have learnt already and Ray will teach you some variations to these rhythms. You will also learn new rhythms and start to learn how play some simple solo phrases.

Ray’s Intermediate classes will challenge you to improve your playing and prepare you to progress to more advanced levels of playing.

If you have not drummed with Ray before and want to join the Intermediate Class then please call Ray to discuss how much drumming you have done and how much drumming experience you have. Ray will then advise you on the appropriate class to join.

Ray Explaining to Intermediate Class how the rhythm starts and finishes

"I started drumming with Ray in Feb 2019, and have been looking forward to the Tuesday evening classes since then.

He balances between challenging us with new rhythms and also helps us to learn by breaking it down to parts that are easy to pick up.

Ray has a wicked sense of humour so there’s never a dull moment. He also takes a moment during classes wow us with his drumming mastery, which is always a treat!

What’s really special is that he’s a top human being who uses his art and generosity to bring people together in his gigs for students, while also helping out families in Sri Lanka and Ghana. So glad to have crossed paths with him!"

"Ray is fantastic! A phenomenal percussionist, he teaches the most delicious rhythms and breaks them down in such a way that they're easy to pick up.

He's a cool guy – funny, encouraging – and is really attentive to the technique of each individual.

I've learned so much from him already and it's only been a couple of months. Highly recommended teacher, I feel very lucky to be learning with him."

"Joining Ray’s drumming class has been one of the best things I have ever done for myself. Over the past year the Brunswick drumming class has become an important part of my week.

Ray’s passion for teaching and his mastery of rhythm, along with that of his teaching staff, is truly inspirational.

Not only has he helped build confidence in my evolving drumming skills, but a confidence that extends to the rest of my life. Thank you Ray for creating such a special community, a feeling of camaraderie, that I am honoured to be a part of."

"I had a good friend ask me to attend his drumming concert last year. I was excited to attend the concert to see how he was doing in his classes. I was so blown away when I saw the concert. Turns out this teacher Ray doesn't just teach djembe classes, looks like he fosters a community of people to share with themselves and others through rhythm and dance.

I was so happy seeing everyone perform I just couldn't stop smiling. I thought, this Ray guy, I want to learn from him too. So I signed up for his drum classes the following year.

Turns out I was right, Ray is a master teacher of djembe and rhythms, but he's also a master of letting you know how to see the most within yourself and having confidence to improve. Not just with the drum, but also within yourself.

A great mentor with a big heart. You can tell a great teacher by the community they foster and love, with patience and sharing. I found mine."

"If you're a music lover this is the drumming class for you.

You won't just cover African rhythms and techniques, you'll also touch on Sri Lankan, Cuban, Brazilian and more. Great teachers and supportive groups."

"I've been drumming here for a few months now. The classes are great, we learn a lot about music from different parts of (mostly West) Africa and play the djembe as well as other African percussion instruments.

Ray is a very experienced and knowledgeable teacher and there's a great group of students too. We always have fun in our classes.