About
PulseWave Percussion – Drum Classes and Workshops offers drum circles, private and group lessons, and interactive drum clinics that include group clapping, speaking rhythms, and group drumming conducted in the manner of a drum circle. The program includes classes and workshops in conga drumming, djembe/dundun, cajon and percussion, Brazilian and Cuban percussion, hand percussion with sticks, bells, shakers, and drums, as well as EmBody Rhythm, World Music Survey, Time Counts, and Rhythm Fitness, which involves learning rhythm while walking. PulseWave Percussion also offers DrumDance parties and performances with various ensembles and styles, Sacred Sound Lab, rituals, healing retreats, and rhythm-based events for businesses and family gatherings, along with downloadable lessons and instructional DVDs and CDs.
• Schedule: Workshops and lessons are offered in private and group formats and can be tailored to particular audiences and locations.
• Price: Price information is not provided in the available facts.
PulseWave Percussion is led by Kim Atkinson, who has been teaching drumming since 1976 and has fluency on more than 30 percussion instruments, along with knowledge of their history and traditional use. Kim has taught World Percussion at Credo High School, a Waldorf-oriented public charter high school, from 2013 to 2024, and previously taught body rhythm and percussion in 15 classrooms at 5 grammar schools in Sonoma Valley through the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation from 2004 to 2008. Kim’s experience also includes work with emotionally disturbed teenagers at Journey High School in Sebastopol, co-creating the Rhythm and Motion program with dance/yoga instructor Leah Weiss, and a residency at Calistoga Elementary School in 2001 teaching all ages of kids, forming a percussion band, and leading a parade and festival. Kim has taught at California Brazil Camp as part of a lineup of master artists, accompanied dance classes there, and led workshops at the Seattle World Percussion Festival, as well as presenting master classes for the Percussive Arts Society in Brazilian percussion and Mozambique styles. Kim’s work at Credo High School was recognized as college prep material by UC Berkeley.
The PulseWave percussion method states that it seeks to describe, teach, and impart music using both micro (pulse) and macro (wave) perspectives, including the use of both nonwestern additive and European divisive rhythmic concepts. The program includes interactive drum clinic presentations that combine lecture, demonstration, performance, and audience participation, with specific demonstrations such as conga solo performance, shekere and clave, and guiro, along with group clapping and speaking rhythms. Workshops are described as being based in rhythmic education and tailored to particular audiences and locations, and the program offers percussive entertainment to festivals, corporate events, and parties, as well as community drum circles and rhythm-based events for family gatherings.
Community involvement includes Kim presenting on West African drumming to Santa Rosa Junior College World History classes twice a year for 10 years, teaching in Sonoma Valley grammar schools through the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, and leading parades and performances with students at Journey High School and Calistoga Elementary School, as well as a similar program at an elementary school in Stockton. Testimonials describe Kim as a superb, patient, generous, and creative teacher, a “born teacher” with “tireless enthusiasm” and “deep conceptual understanding,” and refer to his CDs and DVDs, such as Clave Consciousness, as clear, helpful, and useful for learning clave, bell patterns, and Brazilian rhythms. Several testimonials state that his teaching makes complex rhythms feel accessible and that his presentations include history, various learning methods, and acknowledgment of his own teachers.
Last updated May 15, 2026.
• Schedule: Workshops and lessons are offered in private and group formats and can be tailored to particular audiences and locations.
• Price: Price information is not provided in the available facts.
PulseWave Percussion is led by Kim Atkinson, who has been teaching drumming since 1976 and has fluency on more than 30 percussion instruments, along with knowledge of their history and traditional use. Kim has taught World Percussion at Credo High School, a Waldorf-oriented public charter high school, from 2013 to 2024, and previously taught body rhythm and percussion in 15 classrooms at 5 grammar schools in Sonoma Valley through the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation from 2004 to 2008. Kim’s experience also includes work with emotionally disturbed teenagers at Journey High School in Sebastopol, co-creating the Rhythm and Motion program with dance/yoga instructor Leah Weiss, and a residency at Calistoga Elementary School in 2001 teaching all ages of kids, forming a percussion band, and leading a parade and festival. Kim has taught at California Brazil Camp as part of a lineup of master artists, accompanied dance classes there, and led workshops at the Seattle World Percussion Festival, as well as presenting master classes for the Percussive Arts Society in Brazilian percussion and Mozambique styles. Kim’s work at Credo High School was recognized as college prep material by UC Berkeley.
The PulseWave percussion method states that it seeks to describe, teach, and impart music using both micro (pulse) and macro (wave) perspectives, including the use of both nonwestern additive and European divisive rhythmic concepts. The program includes interactive drum clinic presentations that combine lecture, demonstration, performance, and audience participation, with specific demonstrations such as conga solo performance, shekere and clave, and guiro, along with group clapping and speaking rhythms. Workshops are described as being based in rhythmic education and tailored to particular audiences and locations, and the program offers percussive entertainment to festivals, corporate events, and parties, as well as community drum circles and rhythm-based events for family gatherings.
Community involvement includes Kim presenting on West African drumming to Santa Rosa Junior College World History classes twice a year for 10 years, teaching in Sonoma Valley grammar schools through the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, and leading parades and performances with students at Journey High School and Calistoga Elementary School, as well as a similar program at an elementary school in Stockton. Testimonials describe Kim as a superb, patient, generous, and creative teacher, a “born teacher” with “tireless enthusiasm” and “deep conceptual understanding,” and refer to his CDs and DVDs, such as Clave Consciousness, as clear, helpful, and useful for learning clave, bell patterns, and Brazilian rhythms. Several testimonials state that his teaching makes complex rhythms feel accessible and that his presentations include history, various learning methods, and acknowledgment of his own teachers.
Last updated May 15, 2026.
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