Testimonials for Kim Atkinson’s Products

It's a great bateria CD with lots of different rhythms. It's the next best thing to being in Brazilian dance class. The music is clear and it's easy to hear the instruments to practice playing along.

I have been looking for a c.d. with music that i can use for dance classes when i don't use drummers and it is often hard to find stuff without a lot of vocals. so, your c.d, was perfect for me - i loved it!
It was actually better than the one i had bought that same day!

"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 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! "

"...the greatest benefit of your classes and CDs came to me as a salsa dancer, by improving my ability to hear and understand the Clave. ... this has made my enjoyment of salsa music and dancing that much better. Thank you again!"

"I just wanted to thank you for actually caring to develop a simple yet enormously powerful teaching method that has transformed my music playing, listening and also speaking ability. Coincidentally, its also helped me run further without being as tired....I think its due me being able to feel and attend to each step I take more like a rhythm than a battle, and maybe it's because I've been stepping the pulse - when I practice speaking the rhythms - in an oval around my room"

"I really appreciate the way you have broken it down and shown how all the parts interweave. It's a great way to get the whole rhythm into a non-left-brain part of my body."

WOW... Kim!! I spent about two hours enjoying and learning from your CD.. I was TRULY impressed with the format and success it gave me and will give others... YOU DID IT!

"I've had some great fun and learning from Kim Atkinson's CD's. Bembe, Makuta, Nigerian Highlife and others are great sets of rhythms I was glad to add to my repertoire. It was helpful to really get inside clave rhythms too. Kim knows his stuff, makes it clear and accessible... and he rocks!"

"The uses for this are vast. One thing that came to mind is how easy it would be to teach Afoxe' to an ensemble using this disk as a guide. Also this disk can be used by people of various skill levels. It's also is a great way to illustrate, from a culturally/historically point of view, how ancient rhythms have been passed down verbally as well as practically on instruments especially for non-music teachers."

"I often teach my students that if you can "say it", you can "play it".  In his Speaking of Rhythm series, Kim takes this concept to the next level. Using spoken syllables and playing drums, each part is explored separately and then in every possible combination with each other, and against both the underlying pulse and Clave. These highly effective CDs accomplish what could only otherwise be done by having a multi-track recorder available for every class. (Except of course they are MUCH easier to use, and work in your car!)

Another extremely useful feature is that a different syllable is assigned not only to each different drum sound, but also to each hand making the sound. Thus, by learning to speak the rhythm, students also learn the proper "sticking" at the same time.

I enjoyed the arrangements so much that I even adopted the Afoxe rhythms for use with my Brazilian Bateria. We now play the same Afoxe patterns on Surdos, Repeniques, and Caixas."

"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."

" 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."

"As some one who has played, studied, performed and recorded with Kim Atkinson for over 20 years, I can heartily recommend any thing that he puts out. His information is always impeccably clear and correct and he is one of the best teaching communicators I have ever seen. ...
I love his Clave Consciousness CD Volume one. It is a must for any serious player. And for the drum Circle facilitator it puts all universal rhythms into perspective."

"I got to see part of your Clave workshop in Seattle and it totally changed how I hear and teach drumming. "

"... your CD Clave Consciousness - Volume 2 is superb! I really enjoyed the learning experience. In fact, it led me to a greater appreciation for "Clave Consciousness - Volume 1" - Super material and instruction."

"Your CD is excellent. I'm beginning to understand Clave after all these years. Thanks!"

"I have been using Clave Consciousness for over two years with my conga students, and I highly recommend these CDs. By counting different ways and using the voice to make the accents, my students are able to both understand the clave patterns and learn the 'feel' at the same time."

"You're definitely a Gifted Teacher! … I've never been able to get any kind of music theory down when it comes to drumming, I've always just been able to pretty much play whatever rhythm you tossed at me. ... I listen to your Clave CDs on to my IPOD again and again and I'm gettin' it.  Thanks a bunch! "

"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! "

"The lessons on this disk will enable just about anyone to master son clave and the 12 bell pattern if they take enough time. I can think of lots of applications for this, i.e: learning clave and bell to be part of an ensemble, to teach, to understand cross rhythms. This disk can be useful for beginners in percussion, those new at music or more advanced percussionists who are new to clave. The possibilities for its use go on and on."

"...the greatest benefit of your classes and CDs came to me as a salsa dancer, by improving my ability to hear and understand the Clave. ... this has made my enjoyment of salsa music and dancing that much better. Thank you again!"

"It's a great video - very helpful and easy to follow. Thanks!"

"I really like your presentation because you include the history and the various learning methods, along with the booklet AND you talk about your teachers. I think that's very well done."

"Thanks so much for the terrific DVD and CD's. I'm already learning a lot and look forward to continuing study with them. All the best to you."

"Thanks so much for the terrific DVD and CD's. I'm already learning a lot and look forward to continuing study with them."