Jim Donovan, 2004's "Best Rock Pop Percussionist" according to Drum! Magazine and drummer for the multi-platinum band Rusted Root, will be holding a drum session this weekend at the Wesley Student Center of the St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 256 E. College Ave.

The session will be geared toward drummers of all levels of experience, but was specifically designed with the Penn State college student demographic in mind, said Paul Berkobin, Donovan's events promoter on the college market. "I've been to a number of Jim's workshops and they're awesome," Berkobin said. "I feel like this community would love it. He's great with college students."

Rusted Root began in 1990 at the University of Pittsburgh when all the members came together for a Battle of the Bands contest. But Donovan began playing the drums long before forming the band -- at age 15.

"I started in a baton and drum core on the crash cymbals and realized that you can get a lot of attention that way," Donovan said.

When he is not on tour with his band, Donovan travels all over the country holding drumming workshops for groups ranging from preschoolers to CEOs. Donovan travels in a van, full of only himself and about 50 drums.

During the workshop, everyone gets a djembe, a type of African drum, which shows Donovan's incorporation of African sound into his music. Next, Donovan gets the group started with different rhythms for each person, depending on their level of skill. As the group plays, Donovan goes around and works with the students one-on-one, a process Donovan calls "split-level teaching."

With such a flexible teaching style, Donovan allows no room for excuses to not join in the fun. "My style is non-intimidating and I give the room to learn," he said. "I say not to worry about making mistakes because that is the only way you can truly learn."

All of his workshops revolve around three main principles: cooperation, non-competition and the idea of presence.

"The idea of presence is making yourself not think about anything else but what you're doing," Donovan said.

Though Donovan has been teaching drums on and off for the past 15 years, he began the current program about five years ago. In those five years, Donovan has managed to teach at more than 100 colleges and universities, including Carnegie Mellon, Mount St. Mary's and the University of New England.

"I've seen people who've never played an instrument ever and they do great," Berkobin said. "[Donovan]'s very talented with other people ... He's very loving."

Donovan's sessions normally last either 90 minutes or two hours. Tomorrow's session will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m., but for those interested in a more intensive class, his session at Spring Mills on Saturday will be four hours long. Donovan provides drums for all participants, but attendees may bring their own if preferred. "The biggest thing for people to understand is that you don't have to have any experience and you'll have a lot of fun and meet a lot of really fantastic people," he said.

"Just bring a smile and bring your hands."