Big Beat have been delivering unforgettable experiences for many years and have travelled far and wide; across the UK, Europe and the Far East. They offer school music and music education in Samba drumming, junk percussion, world music, inset days and tailor-made workshops for music at schools.

Founder, Adrian Wiggins has 16 years experience working with thousands of children of all ages and abilities, providing music education with anything from a half day workshop up to a week long project. The structure of a day can be adapted to suit your specific requirements with school music programmes to suit all ages and needs, in many different formats and across all key stages.

Samba Drumming Workshop

Samba is one of the most accessible musical art forms available to all ages and is fun and easy to understand and a fantastic gateway to music for children.

Using a variety of Afro-Brazilian instruments a session can consist of short demonstration of the following: Surdo (large bass drum), Caixa (snare), Tamborim (small tambourine), Ago-go bell (double headed cowbell) and various other Samba instruments used in the Rio Carnival. In just a half hour, a whole class will be playing confidently as a Samba band.

Using some simple clapping games and conveying these onto the instruments, in a short space of time the group comes together in a cohesive sounding percussion group. Once the foundations have been learnt a series of simple structured musical breaks and ‘call and response’ drumming results in a finale of energetic and achieved satisfaction.

This straightforward Samba workshop can be tailored to suit any age or ability and can also be structured over a longer period.

A day can consist of:

• 4 classes x 1 hour workshops with up to 30 pupils or a morning and afternoon session with 2 classes.
• 3 x 1 hour sessions and then last period a performance from one of the earlier classes

All of the required instruments are provided and the sessions are run with energy and enthusiasm with a guaranteed positive finish.

Junk Percussion Workshops

Rubbish at music?

These workshops are designed to make not only the pupils think about what they throw away but the teacher too!

There is the possibility of project based sessions and ideas for the school to construct their own scrap sounds, so don't throw out that old filing cabinet it makes a great sound!

Workshops involve making music from re-used rubbish.

The children will get to play bins, lids, the 'clank-a-phone', car wheels, trolleys, the specially designed 'chain gang' and many wonderful 'things' that were never intended to be instruments, there is even an instrument that uses drainpipes too!

This highly charged workshop has been designed for a unique fusion of 'eco' awareness and music making. Breaking the barriers of music and rhythm.

World Percussion Presentation

An interactive session for assemblies and hands-on sessions for classes.

Learn about the:

Balafon from Ghana

Berimbau from Brazil

Dumbek from North Africa, 

Bongos from Cuba 

Pandeiro from Brazil

Garrahand from Argentina

And a lot more weird and wonderful instruments - a real journey through the sounds of the world.

Big Beat can deliver a whole school assembly demonstrating over 30 instruments from around the world and class workshops to follow.

Big Beats INSET Days

Even teachers’ need a break, so let us do it for you. This session can be used as a tool for learning the basics of teaching samba percussion to children or simply as a team building, stress busting session for the whole staff.

• Learn how to play Samba in a fun and informal session
• Include a scrap session with ideas on how to integrate it into school
• Why not try one of our mobile recording sessions and record your own CD! click here for more info
• More importantly re-connect with staff you may only see once a week

Everyone can benefit from banging a drum from time to time!

Key Information
 

• Community development
• Public liability – 5 million
• All ages and abilities
• Provision of junk kits for school