Classes
"You make drumming fun: your competence is inspiring, your knowledge reassuring, and your energy infectious. Just playing – playing, being encouraged, and having fun what a great way to learn! You are a superb teacher."
02/01/2017
"While I've learned so much about the technique and rhythm of music rooted in Brazil, what I often reflect back on is how you communicated and projected the feel of the music. You have a wonderful ability to break down very complex rhythms into understandable components, and project how those components are merged together to form the organic nature of the music. Communicating this information to others is very difficult (having tried myself), and you are simply blessed with a gift for teaching this music.
As I now help lead a group of drummers for Amy's new Brazilian dance class in Santa Rosa, I so often think back to how you lead the baterias I was part of, and the classes we played together. I'm now at a place where I'm trying to extend my abilities, and I reflect back a lot to what you've taught and demonstrated. I'm now trying new things myself, relearning what I know in new ways, and trying to express the music for myself. I do enjoy playing for dancers, and helping Amy with her class gives me tremendous satisfaction and joy. I owe so much of that experience, and the skills and understanding to be myself in the music, to you. Thank you so very much." -
As I now help lead a group of drummers for Amy's new Brazilian dance class in Santa Rosa, I so often think back to how you lead the baterias I was part of, and the classes we played together. I'm now at a place where I'm trying to extend my abilities, and I reflect back a lot to what you've taught and demonstrated. I'm now trying new things myself, relearning what I know in new ways, and trying to express the music for myself. I do enjoy playing for dancers, and helping Amy with her class gives me tremendous satisfaction and joy. I owe so much of that experience, and the skills and understanding to be myself in the music, to you. Thank you so very much." -
"Kim is a creative an open teacher, he meets you where you're at, incorporates your concept with his, making it work for you. Kim is good to be around, he is there with you, playing music with you, sharing what he really enjoys doing. You feel good and comfortable while you learn. Kim is a growing musician, he's alive and experimenting, yet has grounded and solid enthusiasm."
"You are a gifted musician and teacher which is rare... you have a gift for being able to call up the memory of the way it feels to be drumming for the first time. You make your students feel comfortable, encouraged and are so playful. Your learning approach appeals to all forms and makes one feel successful. "
"Kim is a born teacher with a tireless enthusiasm and deep conceptual understanding… Whether your a beginner or advanced drummers, he has that rare ability to challenge and usher you to your next level. I never felt judged or negatively criticized. In a relatively short time I went from novice to performer, Kim taught me a conceptual framework I can use to understand varied music from different parts of the world."
"... I am learning things on many more levels than I ever thought. It truly is the highlight of my week. You are a gifted teacher Kim, and it is very cool you have found your calling."
"I never cease to marvel at how much brightness and enthusiasm you bring to each class - the energy you bring and the obvious love of the music is a great turn on and encouragement to really get to the soul of what we do."
"Kim is is very enthusiastic about drumming and equally talented in all types of drumming and related instruments. Every class leaves me smiling and a feeling of wanting to learn more."
" Yesterday I heard thunder and saw lightning when you were talking about clave... Your teaching inspires stuff like this. This a way beyond normal teaching-learning. This a becoming spiritual exchange. It's big time and I'm ready."
"I have already noticed that simply tapping that three part rhythm on my body brings about a greater sense of calm, centeredness. So I just do it for a few minutes at work all throughout the day when I am feeling scattered or negative and it definitely changes my state."
"I want to thank you for all you've shared with me. Before I studied with you I could barely clap my hands consistently....."
"I cherish the drum classes I have had with Kim. I am constantly impressed with his teaching style(s) -- if someone doesn't catch on from one perspective, he will present another, and another, until you can literally see it click on the student's face. And, he does this with such a gentle, positive energy. No matter what mood I come into class with, I find myself starting to smile after a while and end up totally uplifted as well as more confident with my drumming skills and knowledgeable of various rhythms and all the sacred geometry that creates them. Kim is a master, not only of drumming, but of how to share his extensive experience with us in a seriously, playful way."
"... the glimmer of understanding that there is something that I am wandering into - a profound place... thank you for teaching and showing me where the doors are."
"Kim's great gift to us is that he make what seems complex fun and accessible, One finds oneself suddenly doing the 'impossible', because the learning was like play."
"I am so happy that you showed up in my world & my life! A truly wonderful transformation is taking place inside of my heart and our drum class, your perspective & energy & the rhythms are all magical influences, helping it to happen. What joy! Gratitude."
"Thanks for being an inspirational person, as well as having taught me allot of things that have stood the test of time."
"... I like your direction, passion and energy. You bring out the best in people."
"I"ve really been enjoying all that you've brought to our camp. Your talent and energy helped kick the week into high gear..."
"I’ve been involved in music throughout my life, but there’s nothing quite like drumming—especially the way Kim teaches it. He brings so much knowledge, energy, and joy to our classes—meeting us where we are, but encouraging us to try new things. This is a safe, inspiring place to learn drumming and one of the favorite parts of my week."
"Your explanation of body dynamics and musculature is the clearest of anyone I've worked with or read. The advise on slaps has helped tremendously!!!"
Your enthusiasm radiates upon your students. We admire your love of music ....
"The students were were so engaged in you presentation and the effects of your teachings are far reaching. Your work is so necessary and important for the students".
Your class was the best music class I've ever been in. Thank you...
Thank you for all the rhythms you have taught me and all the wisdom you gave, I really appreciate it.
"Your teaching has helped the students develop pattern connections, and cross-hemispheric brain neural paths that have encouraged their abstract thinking to blossom. I have seen the kids taking off in their spelling and math skills since we began. I do attribute a good deal of this to your program."
Thanks for teaching me to drum. It got me to reach my Zen.
"I know that you are very sensitive to energy and that you pay attention. I appreciate your sensitivity. I am grateful to know people like you and to have the opportunity to move moods in a joyful way. Thank you so much, once again, for offering your healing art in the way that you so freely seem to do. Learning from you and creating music together has transformed my life in immeasurable ways and I'm filled with gratitude in knowing you."
"Thank you for sharing your love, knowledge and enthusiasm in the realm of awaking the primitive soul through the rhythm of percussion."
"Thanks! You're a continuing inspiration to me, and so is the music I've learned from you and from others who've learned from you! "
"My 9 year old son has been taking lessons with Kim Atkinson for the past two years. What is so wonderful about Kim's teaching is that he brings not only his tremendous skill and so much experience to the lesson, but also the history behind the instrument and the people from which a certain rhythm has come from. He makes it seem effortless and the lesson's are so much fun for my son. He has cultivated such musical confidence in my son's playing. I am so fortunate to have found Kim. I highly recommend him for your child's music teacher."
College Seminars
"... the glimmer of understanding that there is something that I am wandering into - a profound place... thank you for teaching and showing me where the doors are."
"Kim has presented on West African Drumming to my Santa Rosa Junior College World History Classes twice a year for the past 10 years” …He brings expertise, knowledge and respect for West African traditions and he traces those influences in modern and popular music. Students love and look forward to this class each semester because Kim involves them in the drumming and shares his absolute joy in the art."
"I consider you a master and am honored I was able to be in your presence to learn what I could. Your skills, determination and the serious degree of respect you have for the music is inspiring to me. You are a wonderful model of the drummer which I hope to become."
"You make drumming fun: your competence is inspiring, your knowledge reassuring, and your energy infectious. Just playing – playing, being encouraged, and having fun what a great way to learn! You are a superb teacher."
02/01/2017
"I was in your rhythm and samba classes at Lark who couldn't keep her feet still. I wanted to say how very much I enjoyed your sessions, and how much I learned about rhythm from you, both intuitively and intellectually. Your teaching style is inspired and joyous, and I so appreciated how much you brought the wonder and magic of the universe into the musical experience. I loved hearing you talk about all the mathematical, sacred connections in rhythm...as someone who is ineluctably moved by music myself, it felt like attending a master class with the best intentions. I also think that it is an invaluable experience for you to expose us Westerners to the deeper world rhythms that move so much of the planet, and which create important alternative thought and feeling patterns that we mind-bound white folks need to join up with the whole. It was always a pleasure to get up in the morning and drag my sorry butt over to the fire circle. You are really a gifted teacher, and I hope you get to touch many more lives with your gifts. Kudos and continued grace to you."
"I learned so much in Kim's drum classes that I attended, wow - now over 30 years ago! He was patient, generous, and skilled in teaching me beginning and complex African rhythms that I was having a hard time learning with an African teacher. His combination of left and right brain and body training provided me with rock solid BEING the rhythms unshakably. I have so often been complimented on my playing in many diverse bands for this skill. He really helped lay down the groundwork for all my later study with others, too. I highly recommend him as a teacher for those who want to learn a little or for those who wish to dive deeply into a whole world of rhythmic expression, where his vast knowledge is invaluable."
"Experiencing Kim working with members of the One Heart Choir is like watching the earth reach inside the body of 65 singers, grab their feet and root them into rich soil. His ability to teach others how to embody rhythm is transformative and yet is delivered with a mix of gentle play and ancient wisdom - as if he carries Africa in his pocket and pulls it out in a song and word game.
He is provocative, gentle and encouraging to the inexperienced musician and at the same time can challenge even the most advanced to reach for new skills. But what I really love, is watching Kim work in the magic space between the beats, where the silence lies, and where his heart lives."
He is provocative, gentle and encouraging to the inexperienced musician and at the same time can challenge even the most advanced to reach for new skills. But what I really love, is watching Kim work in the magic space between the beats, where the silence lies, and where his heart lives."
"...what most inspired me and so many others was your open joyousness of what you are teaching. It's clear - you love making music, dancing and building community. As a teacher myself, you have provided a great inspiration and reminder about teaching my joy. I hope my students feel as fortunate as I, in being a student of yours."
"I am very excited to have a group of students coming to the festival this year specifically to look for your class. My students all loved your class and I am certainly on my way to an even greater understanding of the Afro-Cuban music we love, thanks to your CDs! Thank you Kim! "
"I very much appreciated both your immense skill in presenting the rhythms and historical context of music from the African Diaspora as well as your professionalism prior to, during and after the event. The participants gained immense insight into the depths of African rhythm through your clear and concise presentation. You were able to coalesce a great deal of information into two days of presentations, giving music teachers more than enough material to present in their classrooms for years to come. Prior to this experience, I felt you were a solid educator; now I believe you are one of the very best rhythm educators in the country. Thank you for your wonderful contributions to the 3rd Annual Seattle Summer Rhythm Institute."
"Thank you again for a high level entre into the world of drumming! I very much appreciated having you as a teacher; your talent and expertise."
" Thank you for sharing your uplifting energy and inspiring work with with us. Our Conference is a richer experience because of you and your work. "
11/18/2008
Drummunity
"I have been to a few other drum circles/classes and nothing even comes close to what you are trying to do in Drummunity. You and Kim are clearly coming in through the Spiritual Door and other people are not offering that. Thanks for creating that space -- there are moments when it really does work so beautifully and it is so awesome! And every time I have come I have experienced healing on some level. I know this is true for my daughter as well. We have talked about it a lot. I hope you guys will hang in there and keep offering it! Peace and love!"
"Drummunity: Kim Atkinson always delivers the grooves with his amazing ability to create a full drum circle that not just sounds like a "drum jam"; but an actual drum collage of beautiful musical textures that move the rhythmic soul. As a community drum leader and teacher, Kim is one of Sonoma County's most revered musical treasures..."
"I cannot imagine more wondrous, enchanting, and fulfilling group experiences than your sacred Drum circles. Your gift of unifying hundreds of folk, most of them unknown to one another, in a cohesive, life-affirming exploration of community-through-rhythm is truly awe-inspiring.
Your PulseWave website alludes to your training in group dynamic psychology and 'tribal' spirituality. Your healing capacity transcends even this evident life quest. By experiencing your playfulness, acceptance, and pure joy in the moment, I believe every person who participates in your Spirit circle is encouraged and empowered to open the door to her/his own heart realm. This is inspiration at it's finest."
Your PulseWave website alludes to your training in group dynamic psychology and 'tribal' spirituality. Your healing capacity transcends even this evident life quest. By experiencing your playfulness, acceptance, and pure joy in the moment, I believe every person who participates in your Spirit circle is encouraged and empowered to open the door to her/his own heart realm. This is inspiration at it's finest."
"Being there was such a soulful, heart-uplifting experience!
Your playful, bright spirit and rhythmic skill and enthusiasm had us all tapping into the pulse of joy of making music together. Everyone was rockin! It was so much fun! And we sounded great, too! What a wonderful gift you gave to the community! Bless you!"
Your playful, bright spirit and rhythmic skill and enthusiasm had us all tapping into the pulse of joy of making music together. Everyone was rockin! It was so much fun! And we sounded great, too! What a wonderful gift you gave to the community! Bless you!"
"I attended the New Year's Eve drum circle and was really quite amazed at the experience. When it first began it seemed like chaos and I was wondering just how this might unfold. This was my first participatory experience of you, also.
I loved the way you used your intention, your sense of rhythym, your musical/rhythmic vision and your body/communication to guide and shape and coordinate the forces. As a singer/songwriter, and percussionist/multi-instrumentalist, and also classically trained musician, and having studied composition and conducting, I loved this experience in all of its traditional and new-age dimensions, and also as an experience of creative expression in the moment!"
I loved the way you used your intention, your sense of rhythym, your musical/rhythmic vision and your body/communication to guide and shape and coordinate the forces. As a singer/songwriter, and percussionist/multi-instrumentalist, and also classically trained musician, and having studied composition and conducting, I loved this experience in all of its traditional and new-age dimensions, and also as an experience of creative expression in the moment!"
"I feel like I got a part of my life back. It was that community feeling, like an instant loving community that I immediately felt a part of."
The drum circle made yesterday's special event even more special.
Thanks so much for enhancing our Family Get-Together.
It was a treat for me, and everyone agreed.
Thanks so much for enhancing our Family Get-Together.
It was a treat for me, and everyone agreed.
"I know that you are very sensitive to energy and that you pay attention. I appreciate your sensitivity. I am grateful to know people like you and to have the opportunity to move moods in a joyful way. Thank you so much, once again, for offering your healing art in the way that you so freely seem to do. Learning from you and creating music together has transformed my life in immeasurable ways and I'm filled with gratitude in knowing you."
"It was just fun playing and being in touch with our inner child. I had a blast!"
"I enjoyed having fun with every one, I really enjoyed the drumming circle!"
"The drumming circle was amazing, communication without speaking. Everyone was so in tune with each other, the rhythm just flowed!"
Elementary Schools
"The students were were so engaged in you presentation and the effects of your teachings are far reaching. Your work is so necessary and important for the students".
"Your teaching has helped the students develop pattern connections, and cross-hemispheric brain neural paths that have encouraged their abstract thinking to blossom. I have seen the kids taking off in their spelling and math skills since we began. I do attribute a good deal of this to your program."