TTM Winston-Salem is a branch of the world’s first international school of West African drumming,
Tam Tam Mandingue, founded by world-renown Master Drummer Mamady Keita.
We are dedicated to preserve and transmit Mandingue musical tradition as a tool to promote tolerance, understanding, equality and international peace.
The Masters say the djembe has no borders. If we all thought like the djembe, then we would not have so much trouble in the world. This is our mission.
The Masters say the djembe is an instrument that teaches us. What the djembe teaches us is about ourselves. This is our mission.
The Masters say the djembe is a traditional instrument invented by the Mandingue people of West Africa. It is the way of the djembe to give thanks to those who passed the spirit to us. It is our way of thanks to pass the spirit to those who will come next.
To all those who came before us, and all those who will come after . . .
And especially to Mamady Keita . . .
Our mission is dedicated in gratitude to you.
Actually, it’s not just about the drum. It’s about using drumming as a vehicle to produce outcomes beyond the scope of drumming and music. Drumming is a vehicle for creating community, joy and celebration. Drumming is a way to preserve tradition and culture. Drumming is way to build bridges of human understanding and cultural harmony. Drumming naturally tends to move people in the direction of having a life that is healthy, fulfilling and fun. Drumming is a wholesome activity for bringing communities together. Drumming is for everyone – you don’t have to be of any particular religion, subscribe to any philosophy, or be of any gender, age, race, or socio-economic background. Ultimately, it’s not about the drum, it’s about the experience of being alive!
It is our goal to create a natural and accessible experience of drumming that engenders success within the traditional art form of the instrument, and fosters the growth of a long-term relationship with the drum as an everyday tool for joy, health, and community. It is the goal of TTM Winston-Salem to create an experience of drumming that is powerful, musical, expressive, accessible, and joyful.
To learn more about our approach to drumming,
read the article “The Drum as Instrument and Tool” written by Bill Scheidt.
In 1969, at the age of nineteen, he was awarded a gold medal at the Pan African Festival in Algeria and pronounced “Best African Drummer.” Between 1989 and 1999 he released six CDs and a major book. In 1991 the documentary film about Mamady Keita’s life, Djembefola by Laurent Chevallier, became an international success. He soon became a very popular teacher and established his international drumming school “Tam Tam Mandingue” which currently has 17 branches in Europe, Japan and the United States.
To read more about Mamady Keita please click here.
To read more about Tam Tam Mandingue, please click here.
Bill Scheidt picked up a djembe for the first time more than 25 years ago, having studied a variety of Western instruments from age five. Since then he has traveled to Africa six times, spent more than a year and a half living in rural African villages, and studied percussion at Berklee College of Music. Today he is the Director of Tam Tam Mandingue Winston-Salem.
Bill spent more than 15 years as a close personal student of Mamady Keita, and was among the first group of students to ever perform on stage with Mamady Keita both in the U.S., and in his home village of Balandougou, in Guinea, West Africa. Bill is a Senior Certified Teacher in Mamady’s international school of the djembe, the Tam Tam Mandingue Djembe Academy (TTMDA). In earning the TTM Senior Certified Teacher qualification, Bill joins a small handful of drummers from around the world who have been commissioned by Mamady Keita to preserve and teach the music, culture, spirit, and traditions of the Mandingue djembe.
Other teachers Bill has learned from include Famoudou Konate, Bolokada Conde, Daouda Kourouma, Sékou Konaté, Fode Camara, Mohammed DaCosta, Mahiri Keita, Kikala Olaré, and Joe Galeota. Bill also studied Afro-Cuban percussion with Ricardo Mendoza and Egguie Castrillo, percussionist for Tito Puente.
Bill regularly travels throughout the US leading workshops, clinics, and performances. He has received multiple awards from state and local arts councils and has been an instructor at institutions such as the North Carolina School of the Arts and Wake Forest University. Bill has recorded and performed with a number of groups playing everything from Latin jazz to traditional West African music to rock-and-roll.
Only a small handful of people around the world have earned Mamady Keita’s certification as Professors within the Tam Tam Mandingue school. These select few have been personally commissioned by Mamady Keita to preserve and transmit Mandingue musical tradition.
To earn this honor, each professor has studied closely with Mamady for a number of years, then passed an examination in which they were required to know 60 traditional rhythms and the 12 Solo Originals (traditional solo techniques.) Beyond this, each has demonstrated their respect for people of all cultures, and their continuing commitment to being of service in the world. These professors are certified to teach as a representatives of Mamady Keita and Tam Tam Mandingue.
TTM Winston-Salem offers an intensive two-year training program to train associate drumming instructors in the curriculum of TTM Winston-Salem. The intention of the program is to create associate instructors certified under TTM Winston-Salem to teach the tradition of the djembe. This program leaves trainees deeply and powerfully related to drumming in a way that they are easily and naturally able to share it with others. Our instructor trainees gain a high level of proficiency with a variety of skills and abilities, from teaching traditional rhythms to beginners to refining technique and sound with experienced players.
Our current associate instructors and instructor trainees are a caring and dedicated group of people. For them, teaching is a natural way to share how much they’ve gotten out of their experience with drumming. You’ll often see our team volunteering as assistants in classes and helping with various school functions. To contact any of our instructors or trainees, or for more information about the TTM Winston-Salem Associate Instructor Training Program, please call us at 336-774-3898 or send us an email: info@ttmws.com.
Photo Credits: Bernd Geh, Masato Kubota, Bill Scheidt, Manfred Schweda, Simply Southern Photography, Joti Singh
© Tam Tam Mandingue Djembe Academy Winston-Salem