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Ghana Goods specialises in skilled tuition and workshops teaching African drum and xylophone techniques, run by renowned teacher Ben Lawrence.

We sell professional musical instruments and traditional craft products from Ghana, working directly with the instrument makers to ensure that our products are of the best quality, Fair Trade and from sustainable sources.

Ghana Goods is dedicated to promoting and celebrating Ghanaian traditional music & dance, and sharing it’s rich culture & history in Ghana and the UK.

Shop:
We provide a comprehensive range of drums, xylophones, bells and shakers from some of the most respected instrument makers in Ghana. We ensure that all our instruments are of the highest professional quality, fully tuned and fair traded. Take a look at our shop and see our large range of baskets, beads, games, clothes, CD’s shea butter and black soap.

Workshops:
Ben Lawrence runs drum and xylophone workshops in Bristol and across the country, teaching a wide variety of skills to schools, teacher training, business & community workshops.
His students include: professional musicians, toddlers, people with learning difficulties, bankers and people from all backgrounds.
Audio Tuition by Ben is available on Cd, DVD and download.

Learning Resources:
Learn about the basic rhythmic foundations for playing drums, percussion and xylophone. Free downloads, rhythms and lessons on the basics.

Maintenance:
Visit the Maintenance pages for advice about how to maintain, tune, and re skin your instruments and take care of your own body when playing them. We also offer an instrument repair and re-skinning service.

Ghanaian Culture:
Discover the Culture, History, Dances, Musical Instruments, festivals, religion and the social structures behind the music of the many tribes of Ghana. Learn more about the Ashanti, Ewe, Ga, Dagaare, Sasaala, Dagomba, and Kasena Nankeni tribes.

Ghana Music Scene:
Find out about the current Ghanaian traditional music scene, how
It evolved into its current style, looking at a brief history of the last 100 years of music in Ghana.

UK Music Scene: A look at the many African Teachers, Performers and cultural Festivals in the UK.

Ben Lawrence:
Ghana Good’s director Ben Lawrence, is a renowned teacher and percussionist who has been teaching and performing African music for over 20 years.
Ben has been travelling between the UK and Ghana regularly for 17 years, learning from and performing with some of Ghana’s leading performers and teachers, and working with respected Ghanaian instrument makers to supply professional quality African musical instruments to the UK.
Ben teaches a program of residential courses, weekend workshops and evening classes, and teaches regularly at many festivals including Drum Camp, Tribe of Doris and African Beats Camp.
He is also involved in composing and performing for the Drum Orchestra and his Xylophone band Mpasem.

Workshops & Classes

Ben Lawrence teaches a program of evening, residential and weekend workshops, teaching at festivals and xylophone & drum groups across the country.
He has over 25 years of experience, working with groups, individuals, schools, business and community groups, working with complete beginners through to professionals. Classes can include hand and stick drumming, xylophone, rhythmic exercises, composition, improvisation, traditional rhythms and ensemble playing.

Ben looks at traditional and new rhythms, developing our rhythmic sense and ability to play as a group. He aims to set people at ease, giving them confidence in their ability to understand, enjoy and feel the music, filling your head and body with rhythm.

Visit the Workshops section for complete listings of our weekly classes and residential workshops

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Ghana Goods Instrument Shop

Working closely with the makers in Ghana, we supply professional quality drums and musical instruments. Visit our Shop to see our complete range.

Black Soap
£4.00 – £60.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Bolga Basket
£16.00 – £45.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Brekete
£80.00 – £140.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Coco Shaker
£3.00 – £6.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Djembe Hat
£8.00 – £12.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Doun Doun
£100.00 – £290.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Ghanaian Djembe
£40.00 – £180.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Kete Set
£900.00 Add to basket

Learning Resources

Interested in learning or developing your musical skills? Whether a beginner or an advanced player, I hope to have provided information that will push you to that next step.

Tips on hand and stick drumming, rhythmic exercise and xylophone techniques. Ideas on improvisation, structure and notation. As well as useful advice about posture and technique playing music with your body rather than against it.

The Learning Resources pages are divided into learning about drumming, rythmic exercises, xylophone and the human body.

Over time we will be adding Tutorial CDs and DVDs on the different aspects of learning. Bringing new rhythms and tunes for both beginners and advanced students. If you are a student who would like some specific guidance contact Ben and he will try to include it here.

The Instrument Makers at work

In the following photos you can see the skilled instrument makers who supply many of the instruments we use. You can follow the process of creating a Djembe from raw materials and see how the Xylophone is constructed.

Ghana Goods specialises in skilled tuition and workshops teaching African drum and xylophone techniques, run by renowned teacher Ben Lawrence.

We sell professional musical instruments and traditional craft products from Ghana, working directly with the instrument makers to ensure that our products are of the best quality, Fair Trade and from sustainable sources.

Ghana Goods is dedicated to promoting and celebrating Ghanaian traditional music & dance, and sharing it’s rich culture & history in Ghana and the UK.

Black Soap

Bolga Basket

Brekete

Coco Shaker

Djembe Hat

Doun Doun

Ghanaian Djembe

Kete Set

Interested in learning or developing your musical skills? Whether a beginner or an advanced player, I hope to have provided information that will push you to that next step.

Over time we will be adding Tutorial CDs and DVDs on the different aspects of learning. Bringing new rhythms and tunes for both beginners and advanced students. If you are a student who would like some specific guidance contact Ben and he will try to include it here.