VIDEO DEMO COMING SOON!
Welcome to TGIF!
Focus: Timing, Right/Left Balance
Watch for:
1. Pay attention to the path your sticks take to the drum--are both sticks making identical vertical lines? If either hand strikes with an angled line, focus on correcting this as you practice the following drill.
2. Listen the sound as you strike the drum. Are the two hands equal in volume and tone?
Today's drill is basic, but effective in increasing speed and encouraging balance between the left and right hand. The kuchi shoga is simple:
DON DON DON DON DON DON DON DON
Once you've got that memorized (no problem, right?), let's talk about hands. First, play the line alternating right and left hands:
R L R L R L R L
Next, repeat with double strokes:
R R L L R R L L
If you don't have a metronome there are numerous online sources. I tend to use this one if practicing at home. You can also download a light metronome if hearing it over your taiko is a problem. Using a metronome will help you realize if you have tendencies to change tempo as you play.
Practice first at a speed that's comfortable for you, 15 minutes total. Practice this drill every day, increasing speed regularly, and you'll be ready for the next drill in 7 quick days!
Comment or email if you have questions.
Carrie
Extension: It is essential to practice with your weak hand up to twice as much as you do with your strong hand. I'm right-handed, so for this drill I will practice starting with the right the first 5 minutes and follow it by 10 minutes starting with the left. This helps to feel comfortable with the downbeat on either hand.
Another way to do this is simply by alternating repeatedly throughout the drill:
R L R L R L R L
R R L L R R L L
L R L R L R L R
L L R R L L R R
L R L R L R L R
L L R R L L R R
Welcome to TGIF!
Focus: Timing, Right/Left Balance
Watch for:
1. Pay attention to the path your sticks take to the drum--are both sticks making identical vertical lines? If either hand strikes with an angled line, focus on correcting this as you practice the following drill.
2. Listen the sound as you strike the drum. Are the two hands equal in volume and tone?
Today's drill is basic, but effective in increasing speed and encouraging balance between the left and right hand. The kuchi shoga is simple:
DON DON DON DON DON DON DON DON
Once you've got that memorized (no problem, right?), let's talk about hands. First, play the line alternating right and left hands:
R L R L R L R L
Next, repeat with double strokes:
R R L L R R L L
If you don't have a metronome there are numerous online sources. I tend to use this one if practicing at home. You can also download a light metronome if hearing it over your taiko is a problem. Using a metronome will help you realize if you have tendencies to change tempo as you play.
Practice first at a speed that's comfortable for you, 15 minutes total. Practice this drill every day, increasing speed regularly, and you'll be ready for the next drill in 7 quick days!
Comment or email if you have questions.
Carrie
Extension: It is essential to practice with your weak hand up to twice as much as you do with your strong hand. I'm right-handed, so for this drill I will practice starting with the right the first 5 minutes and follow it by 10 minutes starting with the left. This helps to feel comfortable with the downbeat on either hand.
Another way to do this is simply by alternating repeatedly throughout the drill:
R L R L R L R L
R R L L R R L L
L R L R L R L R
L L R R L L R R
L R L R L R L R
L L R R L L R R
Dear Carrie, I found your lovely and very interesting blog just a few days ago. I come from Germany (please excuse my bad English) and I have been playing Taiko since 2 years. I still have a lot of problems with my left hand: it´s shaking and there is often no vertical line when I´m playing. So I´m going to try and practice at home, not only at the dojo. Thank you very much for your "drill suggestions". I´ll try and will tell you how it works for me. Many greetings from Merline
ReplyDeleteHi Carrie - while this is an older post, I'm writing here as this is where I started :-) I want to let you know that I have really appreciated the wonderful resource that your blog is providing for me as I work on improving my Taiko practice. Recently almost two weeks off from work and I played as much Taiko as I could. I have been working through your posts, more or less in order - not following strictly your protocol, but fitting what I can into the bigger picture of my non-Taiko and Taiko lives. I'm so happy to see that I have weeks and months of posts stretching beyond the horizon and into the future. I have a wonderful teacher and fun Taiko-mates, but I'm loving reaching out and pulling in as much as I can absorb from many directions. I hope that your injury is on the mend, and I wish you a healthy 2014 with lots of Taiko!
ReplyDeleteMerline--oh no! It seems I missed your comment from almost 3 years ago! Are you still playing taiko? I will be teaching workshops in Germany in April 2014--maybe see you there?
ReplyDeleteAbby! Welcome :) I wish you well on your taiko journey. Let me know if there's any way I can help.
ReplyDelete