Helping Others Find Their Inner Rhythm: Drummer Cheryl Myles Brings Her Work Full ‘Circle’

Cheryl Myles (Photo by Joseph Gregory Myles)

Among the 10 percent of female drummers worldwide, Cheryl Myles of Niagara Falls organizes drum circles for locals — not just for entertainment, but to connect people back to the natural rhythm of their bodies.

She calls her work, SHE-DRUMS.

“Fifteen years ago, I never heard of a drum circle,” Myles said. “When I walked in, I saw all these drums in a circle. It was in Lockport, and I was like, ‘What is this?’ That’s when I was introduced to the djembe drum.”

Seven years later, Myles worked in a small drum circle with the youth at her church and joined Dynamic Drum Arts of WNY, a female led drum circle. Though she was unable to keep up with the schedule of the group, which traveled frequently, she realized there was fertile ground for similar rhythmic activity right in her own backyard.

“So here I am, six years later, on my own,” Myles said. “We don’t have anything here in Niagara Falls, no drum circles that I’ve heard of. I said, ‘We need to have one right here.’ That’s how SHE-DRUMS was born. It was originally an outreach to women, but as I reached out, I realized the kids love it too. So, I had my first drum circle in my church. We had 11 children, seven adults. For the finale I had all the adults join in and they began to inquire if there was '(a circle) for us?’”

Myles has brought her version of therapeutic, participatory music everywhere — from an elementary school to a senior home and points in between. Even Roswell Park has expressed interest.

“I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire and a lot of seeds sown. I’m just waiting for it to come back to me,” she said.

Myles said anyone can pick up the beat.

“Sometimes people are intimidated by the drums. They say they never played. (But) we have a saying: ‘If you can say it, you can play it.’ So, we encourage people that way,” she said as she patted out a beat on a table, her hands tapping out in time each syllable as she said ‘My-name-is-Cher-yl.”

“When you’re facilitating a group, it’s always good to have something in your head,” she said. “You’re not playing just something, because everyone will get off track. I say, ‘catch this beat; I’m going to start it off. Catch it!’”

Drum circles, Myles said, are not only popular, they're natural and even spiritual.

“The body has a rhythm itself. The way we walk, the way we talk. Everything is in rhythm,” she explained. “Our heart has a rhythm, so naturally we’re drawn to rhythm — that’s why people love to dance. Whenever they’re dancing, they’re dancing on that beat. That rhythm.

“When you hear a beat, your body is going to automatically get in synch with that. Why? Because we’re rhythm machines!”

Find out more abut SHE-DRUMS at its Facebook page HERE or at shedrums@yahoo.com