Groups like STOMP and the Landfill Harmonic have shown us that you don’t need much to make beautiful music. Both groups use trash and common objects to make fantastic rhythms and percussive sounds. They show that anything you can hit with a stick or brush against something else will make a noise, and with a little creativity you can turn that sound into something performance worthy.  

In Ghana, music was a part of daily life, even government ceremonies began with drumming, music, and dancing (the politicians were dancing too). Music and drumming can be a wonderful way to celebrate Black History Month. With so many unbelievable rhythms and sounds from many different cultures, drumming is a great way to bring together people from different histories and backgrounds. You don’t need much to get started.

What you’ll need:

- Pots, pans, wash boards, graters, wooden spoons, shakers, any objects you can find at Goodwill that will make interesting noises. Or, even a balloon stretched over and taped onto a container with a wide opening will make a pretty good drum.

- YouTube, friends who play drums, an imagination, or a drumming course.

Invite friends over and with a collection of noise making items from Goodwill at the ready, start experimenting with different ways to make sound. You might find a few rhythms you like on YouTube, or better yet, take an African drumming course at a local college or cultural center. Or, invite over friends who play drums! Start off simply, maybe everyone plays the same beat with a different instrument, and begin to wander off into a variety of rhythms. You can record this onto your computer and make loops, or entire tracks. Once you’ve laid down your tracks, your up-cycled instrument parts can be returned to your kitchen or garage and used as they would be normally. You’ve got nothing to loose, but plenty of music to make (all the better if you have friend with great voices.) Even if you don’t make anything share-worthy, the experience of fumbling along together is always a good one. So go ahead and make music for the sake of it with help from Goodwill!