There has been a fantastic response to our Brazilian samba workshops. We now have three samba bands performing regularly throughout the area. The goal in a samba workshop is to produce a good performance of a simple piece of music.  Everyone who takes part will be playing on authentic Brazilian instruments from our samba school. These workshops can take place on a single day or as a weekly unit such as an afterschool club.

Workshops are based around the following format

1. •An introduction to the basics of samba
   

2. •Call and response rhythms within the group
   

3. •Smaller groups learning individual rhythms        
   

4. •Smaller groups combining to create the groove of a samba beat
   

5. •Learning visual and whistle signals to start or stop the music
   

6. •Learning a ‘break’- when a different theme is introduced
   

7. •Learning two or three different rhythms
   

8. •Performance of the piece
   

Children find striking a drum a very accessible and fulfilling experience, producing an acceptable sound almost immediately. Spending a few hours learning to play unfamiliar rhythms, on instruments you may never have seen before, and then performing, is enormously rewarding.