For serious musicians as well as beginners – instruments that are built to give a lifetime’s musical satisfaction…

Our musical instruments are made to the highest standards using top quality materials and traditional techniques, and are suitable for use professionally as well as in the home and community.

High Quality

Our instruments are high-quality and robust. They’re made from natural and sustainable materials and they’re a pleasure to hold and play.

Built to last

We use top quality, traditional materials and techniques to produce instruments that will last for years and years – guaranteed.

For Beginners

We specialise in instruments that are easy to learn, and which will give immediate satisfaction even to complete beginners.

& Professionals

And because they’re so beautifully made, Drums for Schools instruments will also give long term delight to professional musicians.

Djembe Drums
Shaman Drums
Percussion
Ukuleles

And our instrument sets are perfect for community groups

Drums for Schools sets combine carefully selected instruments with teaching and learning resources designed specially for players who don’t have a musical background – everything your community group, drumming circle, care home, youth club, church or club needs to get everyone playing together quickly and enjoyably.

Selected instruments

Our music sets contain instruments that are the right quantity, size and quality for the job, whether for drum circles, clubs, schools, or outreach activities in the community. And there’s a set for every budget.

Teaching resources

Each set also includes our acclaimed teaching resources, which will enable any enthusiastic player, even if they’ve no prior music experience, to lead their group from scratch to first performance.

Everyone together

Our approach is all about bringing everyone together by having fun learning and playing together. And in the process everyone magically develops their social, emotional and life skills, empowering individuals and community.

Rapid results

Using the approach in our teaching resources, and with just one session per week, you should be able to get everyone to performance level in just 10 weeks. And you’ll see improvements in togetherness and wellbeing even quicker.

Instrument Sets
Teaching Resources

The approach works because . . .

School children playing djembes

The instruments are easy to play

So it all sounds great from day one, boosting self-confidence, and ensuring rapid progress. The instruments are specially adapted for the modern world – they’re easy to look after, quick to set up and built to last.

People of all abilities playing music together

The styles are intuitive and fun

So everyone is engaged right from the start, and looks forward to playing, whether individually or in a group. For groups, the collaborative approach means that everyone learns together, and the styles are new to everyone so no one has a head start or is left behind.

It’s easy to learn

The approach is highly intuitive and players and leaders are supported every step of the way by resources designed for non-musicans, so no prior music experience is needed. Teaching guides, Schemes of Work, Lesson Plans, Video and Audio clips, Cultural background . . .

It’s affordable

Our djembe drums for adult players cost less than £100, as do our Group percussion sets. Shaman drums start at less than £50.

Egg Shakers natural Bag of 100 main

It boosts wellbeing and life skills

Learning these musical instruments by yourself develops a wide range of mental and physical skills. Learning collaboratively in a group is even better and results in a rapid increase in togetherness and wellbeing. At the same time everyone acquires a wide range of social, emotional and physical skills, and it all happens naturally and enjoyably.

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Making a difference all over the world

Drums for Schools instruments are in use homes and schools in the UK and all over the world, helping tens of thousands of groups and hundreds of thousands of individuals to empower and transform themselves through the power of music.

  • I’d not only purchased drums from you at my last school, I’d also bought drums for the feeder primary schools to use and share (which worked out realy well), so I had no hesitation to use you again when I moved to my new school. Everything went swimmingly and we have just been using the drums as part of our summer school activities – thank you very much. No doubt I’ll be ordering something again soon!
    Charlotte Ecclesfield School
  • The drums are great – the pupils love using them in their music lessons and we have started a djembe club on a Wednesday lunchtime as well.The quality of the drums is better than I had expected and they are excellent value for money. Thank you very much for your service I will not hesitate to recommend you to other music staff I know who may be interested in purchasing African drums.
    Ruth Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School
  • I had people of all shapes and sizes, young and old and more touchingly 2 severely disabled participants all taking part in my impromptu drum circles. One lady, unable to speak and confined to a wheel chair led a call and to see her laughter and hear her squeal with delight when we followed with the response beat everything I have ever done in my years of drumming.
    Ian Beating Heart Promotions
  • The drums we’ve purchased from you are wonderful. They were a great price, they look great but most importantly they sound great. They’ve had a lot of use this past half term with visiting African drummers who used the drums with every class in the school (300 children+) as well as a visiting music teacher who did a drumming project with the Y6 children – the children and their parents have loved them!
    Kelly Bielefeld School
  • The drums are fantastic, the children are very much enjoying using them. It is amazing what even very young children can achieve in a very short space of time with African drums. Our Year 2 children are loving it.
    Emma South Petherton Infants
  • Thank you very much for all your help and support. The instruments have arrived and the children are fascinated, Year 6 can’t wait for their lesson on Monday! The Gamelan is a great addition to our department and adds greatly to our steps to becoming more culturally aware and diverse.
    Emma Belmont Grosvenor School
  • We love the instruments and they are already getting a lot of use, the children responding ever so well to the different styles of music. The teaching guides to accompany both are also very helpful.
    We have been delighted with the service from everyone we have dealt with at Drums for Schools.
    Emma Marshall Havelock Academy
  • I’m making good use of the drums with my Year 5 and 6 children at the moment but the plan is for everyone to use them. Everyone can do it so it’s inclusive and engaging. Even my head teacher joined our drumming circle yesterday and loved it!
    Teacher St Thomas of Canterbury School
  • The children love the African rhythms and are never absent on drumming day.
    Paul St Pauls Primary
  • We received the drums and they are fantastic, I have already put them to great use with years 3,4,5 and 6 classes.
    Gary Stanley Grove Primary Academy
  • The kids absolutely love drumming and has built confidence and put smiles on faces which is fantastic!
    Joanne Wikidz Workshops
  • Our drums are amazing and the children love them. We are just about to start a drum club and plan to perform to parents at the end of the summer term. Thank you for your support.
    Jude The Learning Academy Trust
  • I am absolutely delighted with the drums and so are my Form V pupils who have been the first to try them! I am particularly impressed by the storage cases and the book that you sent as it has enabled me to begin teaching techniques even though I have only attended one drumming workshop before.
    Lesley Seaton House School
  • The instruments were for two ethnic minority groups for a course that we delivered to enhance their health and wellbeing by meeting together to sing. It was a huge success and they are sustaining the courses by using the instruments and singing what they learnt in the course.They have enjoyed it so much that they are sourcing extra funding to employ a tutor. Thanks!
    Linda Southampton City Council
  • “Thoughts from our Year 5 children on playing the Gamelan:-
    • It’s good because you get to experience what people play in other countries
    • I feel special when I do it
    • It calms we down in a way, makes me feel happy and special and I like doing it
    • It makes you forget everything and concentrate on the sound”
    Mary King Edward’s Junior School
  • We are very pleased with our Samba kit and it has been used a lot since our purchase in KS3 class music lessons as well as a Samba band parade at our School Sports day.
    Samantha The Petersfield School

The Drums for Schools approach is completely different

Inclusive

Based on accessible world music instruments and styles, and a learning approach that has evolved naturally over hundreds of thousands of years.

Engaging

The instruments are pick-up-and-play and the styles are intuitive and fun, so everyone is engaged right away.

Transformative

By developing players’ social, emotional and life skills, the approach empowers and transforms individuals and community.

Affordable

Percussion instruments start from less than £10, shaman drums from less than £50 and djembes for adult players cost from £100. There’s no better social or educational investment.

Andy Gwatkin & Faye

And it’s all backed by Drums for Schools, a completely different kind of supplier

We’re a small, family firm and our speciality and focus is inclusive group and whole class music making. Our mission is to make the power of music available to everyone.

Ready to take things further?

Browse solutions

Have a look at our ready-to-go musical instruments and sets. There’s something for every age, ability and background, and for individuals and groups.

WORLD MUSIC

Read more

Download this pack of insights, articles and reviews to find out more about how you can use the power of music to include, empower and transform individual players and groups.

DOWNLOAD

Talk it through

Book a chat with our founder, Andy Gwatkin. He’ll be happy to answer your questions about the practicalities of implementing this approach.

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