Music Workshops

Are you looking for something fresh and new in your music class? Or want to find a fun workshop for your community or corporate event? Bandology is delighted to offer a new series of music workshops focused on everything from bucket drumming to composing to audition preparation.

Our workshops are suitable for kids and adults of all ages, and are run by qualified music educators. We can tweak our workshops to fit your curriculum or requests as needed!

We offer in-person music workshops in the GTA west, Waterloo region and Guelph areas, and online workshops across the country.

Sandy and the Bandology team were a pleasure to work with from start to finish. They offered clear and timely communication, accommodating our school’s schedule and needs. After a collaborative meeting, the Bandology team developed a program to suit the timeframe and current level of achievement of my grade 6-8 students. Seeing Sandy and the team run virtual bucket drumming workshops for five of my classes allowed me to appreciate their flexibility, adaptability and dedication to meeting the specific needs of each group they engage with. Thanks Bandology!

Hilary Cooper, music teacher, Hawthorne Public School, Ottawa, Ontario

Our workshops are designed by music professionals to be fun, educational and accessible. Booking a Bandology workshop enlivens private parties, school and community events or team building programs. We bring our workshops to you, along with all the necessary equipment and personnel.

All Ages

Bucket Drumming

Kids and adults alike love our Bucket Drumming workshops, where they get a fun, hands-on learning experience in rhythm and ensemble music. We start with the basics, but we can customize these workshops for a variety of skill levels. Designed by a professional orchestral percussionist, we can also offer a series of workshops to help participants develop progressive skills.

Great for any type of event!

Class Size: up to 20/session
Price: $150/hour

Ukulele Workshop

Our hand-on ukulele workshops provide a fun and engaging learning experience that will get participants playing as a group before they know it! Great for kids or teens (and adults of all ages), our workshops are designed by a professional ukulele teacher and can be customized for a variety of skill levels. We can also offer a series of workshops to help participants develop progressive skills.

Great for community and professional events!

Class Size: up to 15/session
Price: $200/hour

Grades 7-12

Rhythm Workshop

Our rhythm workshop challenges high school students using rhythmic variations, helping them develop time-keeping and ensemble skills. As they experiment and play together, they will learn to think cohesively as a group, improving not only their rhythm but their playing overall! This workshop has also been developed for progressive learning over a series of sessions.

Class Size: up to 25/session
Price: $150/hour

Listening 101

One of the key parts of ensemble playing is listening to one another. This workshop is aimed at students in music ensembles, and helps them build listening and tuning skills through improvisation and play. During the course of a workshop, students use their instruments (or voices) to play pitch and rhythm games and improvise around scales and chords, using their ears as guides. This workshop is designed for students in grades 7-12, and is adjusted to meet the grade level or ensemble requirements.

Pairs great with our  Rhythm Workshop!

Class Size: up to 25/session
Price: $150/hour

Drumline

Using the same drums you see in marching bands, this workshop is a step up from Bucket Drumming in sophistication – we amp up the volume and the energy! Participants learn a range of rhythms on bass and snare drums, and how they can be played in combination for amazing results. As with Bucket Drumming, these workshops can be customized for a variety of skill levels or for progressive development over multiple sessions.

Includes transportation of drums and stands. 

Class Size: up to 15/session
Price: $250/hour

Percussion Ensemble

Using the instruments you see in a percussion section, this workshop focuses on music that incorporates both melodic and rhythmic parts. Students will have the opportunity to play a few different percussion instruments and learn how these instruments work together. They will learn basic repertoire that can be customized for single session learning or progressive learning over multiple sessions.

Class Size: up to 8/session
Price: $250/hour (discounts available if some of the required instrumentation is provided)

Audition Training Program

Looking to audition for a school or community ensemble, or for university? Want some guidance on preparing and performing your best? Our 6-session program, aimed at high school students, covers the basics of the auditioning process, including picking repertoire and collecting information, tips and tricks for practicing and performance, and concludes with a mock audition for our panel of professional musicians.

Mock audition sessions may also be booked individually.

Class Size: Up to 10/program
Price: $250 per session. Mock audition sessions start at $350 for a complete panel with feedback.

Grades 1-6

Boomwhackers

Boomwhackers are plastic percussion tubes tuned to a musical scale. Our boomwhacker workshops teach kids the foundations of music theory, teamwork and creative thinking, all in the context of energetic collaborative music. Loud and lots of fun!

Class Size: up to 20/session
Price: $150/hour

Composing for Kids

Want to encourage your kids’ creativity in a fun, collaborative environment? Look no further! Our composing workshop is designed for students in grades 1-6, and takes them through the process of writing a short song from beginning to end as a group. Students will explore their own creativity, learn about composing as a career, and build foundational music theory skills. Each group receives a professionally-notated copy of their piece! This can also be incorporated into our progressive boomwhacker program, in which students then learn to perform their piece as an ensemble.

Class Size: up to 25/session
Price: $175/hour

Instrument Petting Zoo

Get hands-on with percussion and beginner wind instruments with our instrument petting zoo! Kids learn the fundamentals of playing percussion, wind and brass instruments, and get a chance to try out these skills with our collection. Our petting zoo incorporates a small selection of percussion instruments, our kid-friendly Nuvo wind instruments, our pBones and our pTrumpets. Note: This workshop works best with groups of up to 15 kids. An alternate version is available to incorporate multiple groups into a one-hour period.

Class Size: up to 15/session
Price: $200/hour

Percussion Petting Zoo

A detailed yet participatory session for kids of all ages, this program is a great introduction to the world of classical percussion. Our workshop leader, a classically-trained percussionist, will take you on a tour of the variety of percussion instruments, covering topics such as technique, mallets, history and musicality. Throughout the session, participants get a chance to try out these instruments, techniques and begin their percussion journey!

Class Size: up to 25/session
Price: $200/hour (discounts available if some of the required instrumentation is provided)

Kindergarten to Grade 1

Music for Young Kids Workshop

Our young musicians program is for kids ages 3-5, and packs multiple musical activities into one session! Kids will sing, move and drum, learning how to use boomwhackers and the basics of bucket drumming. This session is perfect for introducing kids to many ways of making music together!

The session begins with a fun sing/dance-along song, incorporating actions and words as we perform along to the song as a group. From there we add boomwhackers to teach them basic chord structures and play another song together. This introduces them into keeping a beat which is a perfect transition to bucket drumming. We then go over basic rhythmic techniques and playing together on the bucket drums.

Class Size: up to 15/session
Price: $175/hour

Book your Music Workshop Now!

Music workshops are typically one hour from start to finish, but we also offer longer workshops upon request. We offer in-person workshops for the Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph areas. For locations in Ontario beyond these areas, please contact us to discuss rates. Virtual workshops via Zoom are available across Canada.

Workshops range from $150-$250, contact us for more information on your booking!

Please email us today at info@bandology.ca and tell us the number of participants, your proposed date and the location of the workshop.

We can’t wait to make music with you!!!