Marla Leigh
Do you miss feeling playful, expressive, and fully present in your life?
Through guided frame drum practices, music meditations, healing frequencies, and movement, you can support nervous system regulation, brain health and neuroplasticity — while building musical confidence and awakening your natural creative joy and vitality.
When days are filled with routines, screens, and obligations, it can leave little space to feel, play, or fully express yourself.
Under the expert guidance of musician Marla Leigh, CEO of the Frame Drum Academy, you’ll find that frame drumming offers a surprisingly accessible path back to joy and rhythm — one that helps keep your mind sharp, your system calm, and strengthens your mind-body coordination.
Rooted in ancient traditions and practiced across cultures for centuries, the frame drum’s vibrations, similar to a heartbeat, have long been used to ease stress, uplift the spirit, and awaken listening and focus in daily life.
Join Marla for a soul-nourishing 7-week journey that blends ancient drumming traditions, global rhythms, healing frequencies, and guided music meditations into an enjoyable practice that fosters nervous system regulation, mental flexibility, and joyful vitality.
After more than three decades of teaching and practice, she’s developed a holistic way of practicing music that invites anyone — including complete beginners or those who don’t believe they’re “musical” — to reconnect with music as a way to build confidence and cultivate creative growth.
Whether you have previous musical experience or have never touched an instrument, Marla will show you how drumming can be both meditation and celebration — a way to release tension and ignite energy — bringing a sense of wonder into your life.
You’ll learn engaging practices that help strengthen cross-brain coordination — which can enhance concentration and neuroplasticity over time.
As rhythm becomes embodied, you may notice it’s easier to shift between tasks, stay present in conversations, and respond to stress with greater clarity and awareness.
During this enlivening course, you’ll also learn how to combine drumming with the voice, two of the world’s most ancient forms of musical expression — to help support open communication in music and in your life.
Marla will also teach you various frame drum playing styles where technique, rhythm, and movement come together to help open the chakras and unlock your imagination and organic flow.
As your mind and body become accustomed to finding rhythm and balance, you may notice your days looking and feeling different — calmer mornings, steadier focus, and playful creativity.
Each session concludes with a guided drum meditation to help integrate what you’ve learned into your body. You’ll also receive supportive PDF handouts so you can continue your practice and enjoy drumming between sessions.
Not only will you learn how to drum , you’ll develop new rhythms in your hands, your soul, and also your life — creating a sense of flow that transforms daily routines into playful, focused, and inspired action.
Note: If you don’t have a drum, don’t let that stop you from joining, Marla will be providing ways for you to purchase a drum.
During this illuminating course, you’ll:
- Learn accessible frame drum techniques across the 3 playing styles (lap, upright, and free hand)
- Create music that is playful and fully your own as you develop your expressive voice
- Explore music practices that help awaken and balance your energy, supporting confidence, focus, and emotional flow
- Develop improvisation and composition skills that help spark creativity in your music and your life
- Learn special neuroscience-inspired drumming practices that help regulate your nervous system and increase mental clarity and neuroplasticity
- Integrate drum, voice, footbells, and movement to help develop timing, listening, and mind-body coordination
- Build a daily practice that supports sustained focus and musical confidence
- Participate in weekly meditations and guided practice sessions that integrate rhythm, focus, and embodied awareness.
- Access PDFs, notation, and resources to continue your practice long after the course ends
- And much more…
— Music Therapist and Shift Faculty Christine Stevens:
“I Really Value How Empowering and Encouraging Marla Is”
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Modules
In this 7-week transformational course, Marla will guide you through the skills and competencies you’ll need to successfully practice frame drumming techniques that reduce stress, sharpen mental clarity, and promote balance in daily life.
Join the Livestream — or Stream Later to Watch at Your Convenience
You’ll connect with Marla and experience her teachings through livestreaming video via any connected device. This connection is easy to use and will enhance the impact of Marla’s transmissions. Can’t make it live? After each class, you can stream the video and audio recordings to enjoy anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Course Sessions 2026-03-17 9:00:00 am.
This course will feature LIVE teachings, interactive sessions, experiential practices, and Q&A with Marla. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to incorporate drumming and rhythm into your day for nervous system regulation and a steadier, more grounded presence.
Module 1: Discover the Roots of Frame Drumming & Learn the Freehand Style for Enhanced Learning & Brain Health (2026-03-17 9:00:00 am)
This opening stage of your journey will begin with creating a holistic relationship with rhythm — easeful, expressive, and deeply personal. You’ll set intentions for what you hope to experience, supported by a gentle release ritual that helps clear your old beliefs about what it means to be musical.
Marla will share the ancient lineage of frame drumming, historically associated with women’s spiritual traditions and carried forward by players of all genders. She’ll also guide you into a place of reflection and the possibility that rhythm can serve as both healer and creative ally.
You’ll explore her Off Paper (OP) method, where rhythms are absorbed through embodied practice rather than read directly from the notations
— an intuitive approach that supports healthy brain function.
Additionally, you’ll investigate the freehand style, and experience how grounding rhythms can help awaken your root chakra.
Marla will also introduce her neuroscience-inspired “takaBDE” exercises — simple and engaging drumming practices that help the brain integrate rhythm through coordination and presence.
In this session, you’ll:
- Experiment with neuroscience-inspired bilateral drumming exercises, designed to support coordination and brain health
- Practice Marla’s OP method for a whole-body approach to learning music
- Discover the freehand frame drum playing style using fundamental techniques and notation
- Explore traditional and non-traditional rhythms focused on grounding and supporting the root chakra
Module 2: Open the Solar Plexus & Enhance Coordination With Lap Style Drumming (2026-03-24 9:00:00 am)
In this next stage of your journey, you’ll experience flow and fun as you explore lap style drumming — a playing style where the drum rests on your lap and its resonance is directed toward your heart center.
Marla will demonstrate a series of traditional and non-traditional rhythms that help activate and open the solar plexus and heart chakras, inviting confidence, warmth, and emotional ease.
She’ll also introduce simple footbell patterns (a percussion instrument designed to be worn on the foot) that layer beautifully with what you’re playing. This is your entry into the world of polyrhythm — two or more rhythms happening at the same time — a practice known for enhancing coordination, focus, and the overall stability of your musical foundation.
In this session, you’ll:
- Learn about fundamental playing techniques and notations for the lap frame drum playing style
- Experience an integrative playing style that helps support coordination, focus, and cognitive flexibility
- Play traditional and non-traditional rhythms focused on opening the solar plexus and heart chakras
- Discover how to add simple footbell patterns to the rhythms, introducing the musical concept of polyrhythm
Module 3: Explore the Ancient Upright Style Along With Movement & Voice for Expanded Awareness and Whole-Body Integration (2026-03-31 9:00:00 am)
One of the first recorded styles of frame drum playing involved standing while holding the drum upright. Marla will introduce foundational techniques unique to this posture, along with traditional and original rhythms to help open the throat, third eye, and crown chakras.
You’ll also get a glimpse into ancient imagery from Layne Redmond’s book When the Drummers Were Women, deepening your connection to the unique lineage behind this form.
Further immersing yourself in music, you’ll engage in gentle drumming and movement practices inspired by Marla’s mentor Glen Velez’s “Handdance Method” that blends together drumming, vocalization, and stepping patterns.
This approach weaves rhythm, movement, and voice into a single practice, offering a playful way to experience music as a full-body awakening.
In this session, you’ll:
- Explore the upright (standing) style — the earliest documented style of frame drumming
- Experience how combining rhythm, movement, and voice supports whole-body, integrative practice
- Discover original and traditional rhythms focused on opening the throat, third eye, and crown chakras
- Practice simple movement and stepping patterns inspired by Glen Velez’s “Handdance Method” to support mind-body coordination
Module 4: Experience Sweet Sonic Alchemy Through Rhythmic Entrainment & Healing Frequencies (2026-04-07 9:00:00 am)
Rhythm and frequency interact to support healing, presence, and inner coherence as Marla introduces you to rhythms from her original composition Grounding, played on drums tuned to 432 Hz — a frequency beloved in sound healing for its calming, heart-centered quality.
As you listen, play, and feel the vibration, you’ll begin to sense how sound moves through the body in a tangible, relaxing way.
You’ll be guided through the principles of rhythmic entrainment — discovering how steady tempo and repetition can gently organize the nervous system, while supporting focus and embodied awareness. The idea is to feel first, listen deeply, and let the rhythms resonate within you.
In this session, you’ll:
- Discover the power of sound frequencies and how different tuning systems shape your listening experience
- Study rhythms from Marla’s composition Grounding, tuned to 432 Hz — often called the “Love Frequency”
- Explore how steady rhythm and repetition — known as rhythmic entrainment — support focus, regulation, and embodied awareness
- Experience how sound and rhythm can naturally organize your nervous system, helping you shift out of stress and into a more regulated, centered state
Module 5: Discover the Medicine of Moroccan Trance Rhythms for Focus, Joy & Nervous System Renewal (2026-04-14 9:00:00 am)
This is your chance to immerse yourself in the hypnotic world of Moroccan trance rhythms. These uplifting, cyclical patterns have been played for generations as tools for healing, celebration, and expanded awareness.
Marla will introduce their cultural and historical roots, offering context that deepens your connection to the music and its lineage. As you learn about these traditional rhythms, you’ll feel how sustained repetition begins to shift your inner state.
Moroccan trance drumming is often played for long stretches of time. Through this steady, continuous pulse, you’ll experience how rhythm can sharpen focus, quiet mental noise, and help regulate the nervous system.
These polyrhythmic patterns are energizing, joyful, and shareable — ideal for personal practice or bringing into community spaces.
In this session, you’ll:
- Explore the history and cultural context of Moroccan frame drumming
- Practice healing and uplifting traditional Moroccan trance rhythms
- Study techniques for maintaining focus by repeating rhythms for extended periods of time
- Experience how sustained rhythmic repetition — known as trance rhythms — supports brain health, nervous system regulation, and endurance
- Discover ways to teach and share these joyful rhythms with your community
Module 6: Cultivating the Art & Power of Listening Through the Joy of Drumming & Singing (2026-04-21 9:00:00 am)
Here you’ll explore the deep, ancient connection between drum and voice, guiding you to expand your skills in listening, presence, and musical flow.
Marla will introduce simple vocal practices — including breath-supported singing, toning, her signature Sing Your Rhythm (SYR) practice, chanting the Ganesha chant, and a Middle Eastern-inspired niggun (wordless song) — all paired with drum rhythms played in your preferred style of lap, upright, or free-hand.
Through these exercises, listening, singing, and drumming are woven together to cultivate a fully integrated, joyful musical expression. The focus is on awareness, play, and the pleasure of creating with both body and voice, inviting a deeper connection to rhythm, resonance, and your own sonic expression.
In this session, you’ll:
- Explore simple vocal exercises and listening skills to open your voice portal
- Discover Sing Your Rhythm, Marla’s inspiring drum-voice practice that supports embodied learning
- Feel the ancient and powerful relationship between voice and drum through various practices
- Repeat a Middle Eastern-inspired niggun paired with a traditional rhythm
- Practice the Ganesha chant with accompanying meditative drumming rhythms
Module 7: Awaken Your Creative Fire Through Improvisation, Solkattu, and Composing Your Own “Drum Alive” Song (2026-04-28 9:00:00 am)
In this supportive space, you’ll experiment with and enjoy the process of musical creation — while incorporating everything learned in the course.
Marla will guide you through improvisation, composing, and rhythm exploration, drawing inspiration from journaling, vocal toning, and Solkattu (a South Indian vocal rhythm practice).
You’ll also explore her signature Seed Rhythm technique, which provides a simple framework to discover the seed or root of a rhythm you want to develop into your own drum song.
In the process, you’ll have time to craft your own “Drum Alive” song — a unique drum song that reflects your growth, creativity, and playful expression throughout the course.
In this session, you’ll:
- Explore Solkattu, a powerful South Indian vocal practice that deepens your understanding of rhythm
- Discover your personal seed rhythm for composing
- Learn about techniques for using listening, singing, and journaling as sources for improvisation and composition
- Be guided through a step-by-step process to create your own “Drum Alive” song
- Have an opportunity to share your “Drum Alive” song with classmates — optional but highly encouraged!
SPECIAL BONUS OFFER
When you register by 2026-02-28 11:59:00 pm , you’ll receive special bonus offerings designed to complement Marla’s transformative 7-module course — and deepen your understanding and practice even further.
Shamanic-Inspired Drum Meditation/Song
Two Video Trainings, PDF, and Music Video From Marla Leigh
Learn to play the sacred beats in Marla’s shamanic-inspired song, HeartRhythms. Step-by-step guidance will teach you a simple trance-style drumming pattern, and invite you to experience it as a meditative practice. When used as a personal ritual, this practice supports relaxation, grounding, and inner connection — cultivating deep presence and an open, receptive heart through rhythm and drumming.
OM~TAKA — Yoga Stretches for Hand Drummers
Video Teaching With Marla Leigh and Guest Yoga Teacher Annmarie Soul
Guided by Marla Leigh and yoga specialist Annmarie Soul, these gentle yoga and Qigong–inspired stretches release tension in the hands, wrists, shoulders, and back. Designed for drummers, while also supporting musicians, and those affected by excessive computer use or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), these stretches release tension in the hands, wrists, shoulders, and back. The practice supports injury prevention, increases mobility, and helps ensure that drumming always feels comfortable and kind to your body.
Plus... you’ll receive these bonuses too!
Ditzah Drum Meditation
Video Training From Marla Leigh
Learn a hypnotic, beginner-friendly 18-beat rhythm called Ditzah, designed to calm your nervous system. This longer cycle rhythm invites spaciousness, presence, and deep focus as you settle into the pattern. It’s a simple, grounding practice you can return to anytime — ideal for stress relief, evening unwinding, or moments when you need a gentle reset.
Zarafat Rhythm Training Program
Music Downloads and Video Teaching From Marla Leigh
Designed to help you savor your joy of music, you’ll receive two tracks from Marla’s debut album, Rhythms of Tof Miriam: Awakening and Longing. You’ll also receive a special gift to deepen your rhythmic practice beyond the course — a mini-training suitable for all levels, consisting of eight videos teaching the Zarafat rhythm featured in Longing, so you can play along.
What People Are Saying About Marla Leigh …
— Rabbi Tamara Kolton: “I’ve Had the Pleasure of Learning How to Take My Hands and Use My Mind and My Heart and Draw Forth Rhythm and Sound With This Drum”
— Kathy Sommer Buss: “I’ve Been Able to Use the Drum as an Extension of Myself, as a Way of Creating and Expressing”
— Suzanne Garand: “I Was Immediately Taken in With Marla’s Beautiful, Professional, Warm, Caring Style of Teaching”
Movement instructor, Los Angeles, California
Yoga teacher, Ohio
Harpist, Washington
Singer and composer, Taiwan
Connecticut
Join the Global Community
The Joy of Drumming offers some of the most transformational online teachings available, within a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join fellow students and practitioners to support and inspire each other as you integrate the teachings and practices Marla Leigh will share in this powerful program.
You’ll join an international community on the leading edge of manifesting a world grounded in the principles of cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Class Sessions With Marla Leigh
Experience a unique opportunity to be mentored by and learn from composer and musician Marla Leigh, CEO of The Frame Drum Academy — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a livestreaming video option and will guide you to engage in rhythms that ground your energy, spark creativity, and increase your capacity for joyful living. Course sessions are on 2026-03-17 9:00:00 am.
Seven Video Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the video will be available for you to stream in a high-quality format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can watch anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to stream. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Transcripts of Class Sessions
You’ll also receive the entire class transcription after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Three 30-Minute Interactive Group Practice Sessions
With live class attendance, there will be a 30-minute optional interactive practice session directly following the 1st, 4th, and 7th class. You’ll be placed in an intimate group with several other participants on the Zoom call to interact, share, and do additional practices to help you further integrate the weekly lessons. Practice sessions are not recorded for playback; if you’re unable to attend the live sessions, the online community group allows you to connect with each other and find alternative times to interact.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive online community is the perfect place to continue your discovery process after each class. Here, you can continue the discussion about your course materials and interact with your fellow students to take your exploration to an even deeper level.
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Online Course, The Joy of Drumming
We feel honored that Marla Leigh has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online course. This is a unique opportunity to interact directly with the CEO of The Frame Drum Academy, composer, and musician whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about learning to use the frame drum as a tool for presence, flow, and resilience, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind program.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your own evolution, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
If you don’t absolutely LOVE The Joy of Drumming — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before March 31, 2026 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Marla Leigh
Founder of UpBeat Drum Circles
4-time Grammy Award-winning percussionist and Marla’s mentor
Founder of the School of Voice and host of the Voice Rising podcast
About Marla Leigh
EDIT
Marla Leigh is an internationally recognized frame drummer, flautist, composer, and founder of the Frame Drum Academy (est. 2015), the first online school for frame drum education.
Drawn to music from early childhood, she began studying piano at age three and flute at eight, later earning a BFA in Flute and an MFA in Percussion from The California Institute of the Arts. She studied extensively with master percussionists, including in-depth frame drum training with Glen Velez and John Bergamo, and North Indian tabla with Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.
With more than three decades of teaching experience, Marla’s approach blends technical clarity with creative freedom, guiding students toward confident musicianship and expressive artistry. Her work centers on drumming as a foundation for listening, mind-body coordination, and musical expression.
As a composer, Marla creates globally inspired music that weaves ancient instrumental voices with contemporary textures. Her debut album, Rhythms of Tof Miriam (2020), was praised for its earthy grooves and evocative melodic textures. Her forthcoming 2026 release, Rhythms of Illumination, expands this vision, blending Eastern and Western instrumentation with subtle electronic elements.
Marla’s compositions have reached beyond the stage, with commissioned scores for the film Bold Native (2010), the documentary The Kid Officer (2026), and the ballet Sounds of the Sun for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She also developed a signature line of frame drums in collaboration with Cooperman Drum Co.
At the heart of her work is a simple conviction: music is a universal language for peace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a virtual course?
Can I still benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
Can you tell me about the private online community group?
Are there scholarships available for this training?
Please note: Scholarship applications must be submitted before the refund deadline, as we are unable to accept applications after that point.
What’s your refund policy?
If you’re within the refund period, the deadline to receive a full refund is March 31, 2026. To request a refund, please complete this refund request form and submit your request. Qualifying refunds will be processed within five business days, and you’ll receive an email confirming the refund.
We’d also love the opportunity to address and resolve your concerns directly. If there’s anything we can assist with, please get in touch with us at [email protected] — we’re here to help!
Please note: Refund requests are not accepted after the deadline or for courses purchased with scholarship awards.