FunkBucket is an interactive and accessible drumming workshop that is designed to help reduce stress, amplify feelings of connection, and tap into innate creativity. Led by Guelph-based drummer/percussionist/artist-facilitator and Art Not Shame collaborator Adam Bowman, FunkBucket provides its participants with a dynamic, interactive group drumming experience, where students engage with rhythm, improvisation, and musical arrangements in a low-risk, supportive environment, without the pressure of academic performance and evaluation.
Participants are guided through a call-and-response group rhythm-making exercise. Call-and-response drumming is a repetition of simple drum rhythms that are first played by the facilitator, and then repeated by the participants. This model works well for all levels of experience. As participants become comfortable with repeating back a rhythm, the group is divided into sections, and given different musical arrangements to play simultaneously. The result is a powerful layering of rhythms. By the end of the workshop, students will have actively explored a variety of rhythms and musical concepts, including: basic drumming techniques, call-and-response, musical arrangements, unison playing, retaining and performing complementary rhythms in small groups, music as a language, listening, trust, respect, effort, patience, cooperative ethics.
Facilitator
Adam Bowman (he/him), drummer and percussionist. Adam Bowman has been a mainstay in both the Canadian and international music scenes for more than two decades.
As a touring musician, Adam has been heard on stages across five continents with artists such as Juno-award winners Kellylee Evans and Carlos Morgan, Canadian independent music trail blazer Ember Swift, improvising guru VINX and country-folk songstress Dawn Langstroth, among many others.
In the studio, Adam has become the drummer of choice for producers and songwriters on a variety of recordings. 2015 saw Juno-nominations for Eccodek’s Singing in Tongues album, and Alysha Brilla’s Womyn album. In 2018, Alysha’s Rooted album received another nod.
Currently, Adam can be heard playing with Elise LeGrow, John Orpheus, Jeff Eager and as part of the Nights of Grief and Mystery ensemble featuring Gregory Hoskins and Stephen Jenkinson. Adam also provides percussive and electronic accompaniment for modern and contemporary dance classes with IMAGEO artworks & Dancetheatre David Earle.
As a teacher and facilitator, Adam works with several community organizations including the New Horizons Band for seniors, and the not-for-profit organization Art Not Shame working at the intersection of creative expression and mental wellbeing. He has spearheaded his own FunkBucket program, featuring bucket drumming experiences in high schools, universities, festivals, classes for adults and other private functions. Adam is currently the drumset instructor at The University Of Guelph.
Who can join?
All undergraduate and graduate students.
When and how do we meet?
The group meets in-person on Tuesday, June 6th – 12p.m. (EDT) to 1p.m (EDT) – SLC 2143/44 (Black and Gold Room).
Session date
Tuesday, June 6, 2023.
How to register
If you're interested in attending, please register on Portal.
