“Unexpected Instruments”

Kemit Price and his group, TRANSFORM, at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland worked hard to learn both the intermediate and advanced parts to The Little Drummer Boy and performed the piece at their Christmas celebration on December 23. Check out the video at the bottom of the post! He was assisted by adult leaders Leette Greene, Richard Norvell, Jessie Norvell and Jenni Kee.

“The kids were really excited about that, just being able to complete the piece and combine those two parts together,” Mr. Kemit said. “It was pretty complicated but they eventually got it.”

Mr. Kemit said the bucket drums were a perfect fit for his group because they were inexpensive, allowed the students to practice anywhere and also matched the unique style of Bridgeway Church with its graffiti walls, unconventional approach to outreach and focus on inclusivity.

“Our motto is to glorify God with unexpected instruments,” Mr. Kemit said. “[Our church] is very accepting of different types of people and it’s very unorthodox so the bucket drumming fit right into that.”

Mr. Kemit has played drums and keyboard for nearly 30 years and also has a background as a choir director. He said bucketdrumming.net videos helped teach his students music and percussion skills as well as leadership skills.

“[Students learned to] lead, calling out the different cues,” he said. “I found it very rewarding helping kids become leaders and teaching them skills they can use both in the church and outside as well.”

TEACHER SPOTLIGHT FAST FACTS

Teacher: Kemit Price
Students: TRANSFORM group at Bridgeway Community Church, Columbia MD
Teacher loved: Tips on cues and methods for calling students back to attention
Student’s loved: Copycat (exercise) and Sammy’s sense of humor

TRANSFORM PERFORMANCE OF LITTLE DRUMMER BOY