Nearly 50% of America's adults are poor readers, or “functionally illiterate.”

--National Adult Literacy Survey


Our Reading and Rhythm program increases reading scores by 50%

“An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

--Attributed to Thomas Jefferson
The single most important thing you can do to help invigorate democracy is to help students read better and faster. The Reading and Rhythm Program has been proven to do just that. We need your help to get it into more school systems to help more students. Please donate today.

The Reading and Rhythm Program brings back the joy of teaching for teachers AND the excitement of learning for students! “Now I feel smart” declares a LA based middle school student. The merging of rhythm into the learning process helps transform negative energy into a positive force in the classroom.


“Thanks for the great work you are doing.”

--US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
The Reading and Rhythm Program is featured in a short Film funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

K-12 Schools
The Reading and Rhythmsm Program has helped over 5,000 struggling K-12 students in Southern and Central California since 2001. Our program is held during or after school. Students use rhythm to increase fluency, and are inspired to read faster when they hear and feel the rhythm. We have specific educational techniques to help student tackle complex words, increase comprehension, vocabulary, and improve spelling (more...). (Training Program...)

Juvenile Halls & Detention Camps
The Life Skills Drumming Program uses rhythm to help at-risk youth cope with emotions and improve self-esteem. Since 1998, our program has helped teens learn to maintain control over anger and impulsive behavior in order to connect and communicate with others, and envision a more positive life (more...). (Training Program...)

“You are doing the most important work!”

Dr. Marvin Southard, Director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health


"I came into this program ‘mad’ at the world.
But now, life is so ‘easy’ and I’m thankful for this program."

N.W., incarcerated youth

Rehabilitation Facilities
The Rhythm of Discovery Program guides addicts to discover and confront the trauma and emotions that drive their addictions, while they learn to master the connection between mind and body. The therapy offers a way to safely express negative feelings and transform them into positive experiences through a unique device called Rhythmic Codingsm (more...). (Training Program...)

“I have not found any technique that helped me access the unconscious more effectively and safely as what you teach...
What I achieved in the two days with you has surpassed anything I have known so far.”

--Patrick Haggerson, Program Director, Ethno-Cultural Activities, The Betty Ford Institute
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DFYL recently trained teachers in eight LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) schools in the The Reading and Rhythm Program.
DFYL trained Patrick Haggerson, MA, CADC-II, ICADC, of the Betty Ford Institute on the Rhythm of Discovery Technique and will be training five additional counselors at Betty Ford.
DFYL collaborated with Robert Gupta of the LA Philharmonic for the downtown LA Mental Health Center event "Street Meets Beats".
Reading and Rhythm instruction for teachers:
Click here for Reading and Rhythm Program Audio - Teachers

Reading Rhythm beats for students:
Click here for Reading and Rhythm Program Audio - Students

Contact our staff for login credentials
The Drumming For Your Life Institute is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2002 dedicated to using the power of rhythm to help children and youth develop the emotional, academic, and social skills needed to succeed in school and in life.

We Can Inspire Greatness In Each of Our Citizens
Copyright © 2002-2011 Drumming For Your Life Institute. All rights reserved.
A Non-Profit Organization
2132 Montana Ave. Suite B, Santa Monica, CA 90403
Tel: 310 453-2348 • Fax: 310 633-5046
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