Taiko Drill Part 56, Keeping a Steady Beat III

Friday has found us yet again. I hope your Friday finds you well!

Focus: Rhythm, Dexterity
Watch For:
1. Try to relax throughout the whole drill. If you feel your body tense up as you get closer to the end, but you're still keeping up with your metronome, stick with that tempo for a while until you're able to relax. (There's a fitting example of this at the end of the video.)

Woo hoo! We made it to the last part of the drill! If you're just tuning in, be sure to check out the first and second parts of this drill first.

Here, have a look at the last section:

Line 12: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &
Line 13: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &
Line 14: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4

Remember that every number is played by your base hand. Bold parts should be played by the other hand.

You can follow the final "4" with Line 1 to loop through from the beginning.

Here's the video:



Extension:
You can change the dynamics of this drill easily. I know that Odaiko New England sometimes practices it with all hits at the same volume, but on a taiko set. Try playing all the downbeats on the right drum and the upbeats on the left drum.

Taiko Drill Part 55, Keeping a Steady Beat II

It's nearly Friday again--I'm busy tomorrow, so today's drill comes to you one day early!

Let's continue with the pattern we started last week.

Focus: Rhythm, Dexterity
Watch For:
1. Check out your base hand in a mirror or with a video recording. Does it change over time or in specific places, or is it consistent?
2. When the number of hits increases, your speed may run away, too. Keep the tempo steady with a metronome!

Okay, so we learned the first 5 lines of the pattern last week. Remember that your base hand keeps the down beat by playing for each number you see. Anything that's bold is where your other hand should strike.

Line 6: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &

Line 7-9: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &

Line 10: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &

Line 11: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &

I know, it looks confusing. Here are some tips: Lines 6-9 are exactly the same except the first time the "1" is not played. Line 11 is the same as lines 7-9!

In the video below, I'll play 8 beats to start, followed by lines 6-11. Then I'll play the whole pattern once from Line 1. We'll finish the pattern next week!



Extension:
Switch the roles your hands are playing with this drill. Which side feels more comfortable? What can you do to make them feel equal? I practice twice as much where I'm most uncomfortable, but if you do this, make sure to note your progress and balance out your practice schedule accordingly over time.

(Keep in mind that I'm just talking about balancing technique, not strength.)

4 Days of Taiko with SHIDARA?? Who could want more!

Have you heard about the Shidara Master Class Tour? I wrote about their first residency in Japan earlier here and here.

SHIDARA, the professional group located in Aichi-ken, is bringing this program on tour to North America. Their workshops aren't ordinary either! I've heard you'll even learn how to make your own fue from bamboo.

Don't take my word for it, be sure to contact the person in charge of the Shidara residency coming near you for all the details.

All classes take place during March and April 2010:

SEATTLE
MARCH 26-29, 2010
$450 + lodging for 8 workshops
contact: Marinda Chen
email: marinda.chen (at) gmail (dot) com
The Seattle classes have been CANCELLED.

BOSTON
March 19-21, 2010
contact: Odaiko New England
email: shidara-weekend@onetaiko.org

MONTREAL
contact: Sandra Kadowaki
(Please email me directly for the contact information. I do not have permission to post online. You can access my email by clicking on my photo to the right.)

MOAB, UTAH
contact: Meladye Shively
(Please email me directly for the contact information. I do not have permission to post online. You can access my email by clicking on my photo to the right.)

Taiko Drill Part 54, Keeping a Steady Beat

Whoa! How'd I miss it? All Things Taiko started over 1 year ago! I think I may have missed one week in there, though maybe none at all?! Happy Birthday ATT!

Writing here every Friday has become a real steady rhythm for me and that's exactly what I'd like to talk about today. I'll teach you the first line to a drill that's great for both timing and dexterity. Check it out:

Focus: Rhythm, Dexterity
Watch For:
1. Don't listen to the pattern and then copy it. DO hear the base line, get it going, keep the same form and play over it.
2. Your form might change as you practice this at different speeds. This is normal to an extent, because you have less time for movement, but your overall basic form should stay the same (see the video!).

Start off by playing the base with your right hand. Play a steady beat, one hit for each number.

Line One: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & (that's 8 tsus on the downbeat)

Now, we're going to fill in the left hand on some of the upbeats. Play the left hand on all the bold &s.

Line Two: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &
Line Three: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &
Line Four: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &
Line Five: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &

From there, jump back to Line One and loop it.

I highly suggest you use a metronome. If you choose not to, you'll be missing out on the opportunity to improve timing!

For me, today, I wanted to check out any major changes in my form as I got faster. Even though I can play this pattern faster than I did in the drill, I stopped at ~120bmp to see if my form was consistent. You'll see very clearly that by the end, my left elbow tucked in to my side. Best to keep practicing slowly until I correct it! Hm... next week I'll have to switch hands and see what that looks like. Gambarimasu!



Extension: Try video taping yourself playing this pattern at 3-5 different speeds from slow to fast. The final speed does not need to be challenging for you. Check to see if your base hand looks mostly the same from beginning to the end of the pattern.

Does the right hand get higher or lower as you anticipate a hit with the left hand? Does the space between your arms and your body or your sticks and the drum change as you play at higher speeds? Did you notice these differences while you were playing because it feels different?

Practice, keeping in mind your discoveries, and at the end of the week, try taping again and note any differences.

Taiko Meets Pop

If you're in New York, you have the chance to catch a real treat. Kaoru Watanabe, Shoji Kameda, and Testuro Naito will collaborate with the Mongolian singer, Nominjin, in a performance this Thursday at Drom.

Drom, 85 Avenue A (between 5th and 6th),
Thursday, October 15
7pm-9pm
$10 in advance, $15 at the door
please call for information/tickets: 212-777-1157

In addition, Kaoru, Shoji, and Tetsuro are on tour with Khoomei Taiko Ensemble, a cross cultural group that includes Mongolian throat singing and horse head fiddle, koto, fue, and taiko. Check out the tour schedule at the bottom of this page to catch the show!

Khoomei-Taiko Ensemble 2009 Tour:

Thurs, Oct 8th – Japan Information & Cultural Center, Washington, DC
Fri, Oct 9th – John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
Fri, Oct 16th – Symphony Space, New York, NY
Sat, Oct 17th – Charles B. Wang Center Theatre, Stony Brook, NY
Sun, Oct 18th – Taiko Workshop with Tetsuro Naito, Japan Society, NY
Tues, Oct 20th – Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn, NY
Thurs, Oct 22nd – Japanese Music performance/converstaion, Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA
Fri, Oct 23rd – Performing Arts Center of Wenatchee, Wenatchee, WA
Sun, Oct 25th – Town Hall Seattle, Seattle, WA

Taiko Drill Part 53, Trying Improvisation

Hi there! I'm excited to be leaving shortly to catch the Khoomei Taiko Ensemble performance this evening! Check out the website to see if it's coming near you. Those of you lucky enough to be in Seattle will even have the opportunity to take workshops from these talented performers. (email me if you need info!)

If the show's not coming to your area, you can watch today's performance live at 6PM Eastern through the Kennedy Center's website.

Let's get back into improvisation!

Focus: Counting, Improvisation
Watch For:
1. Even when you are comfortable enough to not have to count, do it anyway--it's good practice!

Okay, so last week we learned 4 basic patterns and practiced by looping them together. Today let's use those same patterns in a more relaxed way to begin experimenting with improvisation.

We're going to layer on top of the paradiddle pattern taught here, but you can really use anything. The reason I chose the paradiddle pattern is because after the first line it gets tough to determine where the beginning of the line is and if you don't count, you won't know when to stop. Counting while improvising is a great skill to have.

If you've never improvised you can start in this simple way:

1. Play 4 of the basic patterns.
2. Repeat.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 a total of 5 times.

If you would like to focus more on counting:

1. Play 5 sets of 8, totalling 40 beats.

In this video, you'll see the first option, followed by the second option. Of course, yours will sound completely different!




Want to see Tanaka Sensei do a little improv? Stick it out through the video in my last post and you'll see it at the end!

Want an MP3 of the paradiddle pattern? Click on my profile to access my email address and I'll email it to you in a jiffy! Gambarimasu!

Extension:

You may have noticed that when I improvised the second time, there were some patterns included that we didn't use last week. Try letting new patterns come out--that's what improvising's all about!

Master Class with Tanaka Sensei

Back in August, I had the opportunity to take Tanaka Sensei's Master Class. This was my first time to really have the chance to talk with him, and despite everyone's warnings of his strict demeanor, he was quite relaxed and humorous.

The class began with a 20-minute standing meditation outside in the garden, facing the sun to clear our minds and prepare our bodies for the practice of taiko. After sharing a few useful drills with us, he called 4 of his students up to demonstrate a group drill.

Without any explanation, he asked for 4 volunteers to complete the same drill on their own. A lot of people picked up on the patterns fine, but there were timing issues and we can't all do a new drill perfectly the first time, certainly. All of this proved his point: It's important to communicate with others while you're playing. Even if you've never played with someone before, look at them, listen to them, make eye contact with them, play together.

Here's a video of the drill and Tanaka Sensei's comments (and a little improv!)afterwards.

Taiko Drill Part 52, Thinking About Improvisation

Back on the East Coast here and enjoying the start of Fall!

Unfortunately, I've yet to find a practice space here that is accessible, so you'll have to put up with a few more weeks of me drumming on my bed with a practice pad. Speaking of improvising...

Focus: Counting, Improvisation
Watch For:
1. One, Two, Three, & Four
2. Try to find a rhythm with these 4 lines so that you don't have to think about it. This will be helpful for next week.

Okay--the dreaded topic: Improvising on taiko. It's something that's difficult to teach, almost every group does, and most newbies (and even seasoned players) have a really tough time with. So, my goal here is not to give you a set of rules for improvisation, or any direction really on a good way to improvise. Rather, I hope to share with you a very basic starting point that you can take, morph, and further create with.

This week we'll learn the rhythm. Come back next week for ideas on how you can change them up to play a solo.

Here goes:

1	2	3	4
do	ko	do	ko
do		do	ko
do	ko		ko
do	ko	do

Simply put, we're just playing "do ko" repeatedly; the first time omit 0 hits, the second time omit the 2, the third time omit the 3, and for the fourth time omit the 4.

Since most taiko songs are written in phrases of 4 or 8, we're using this pattern which can be seen as 4 sets of 4 or 2 sets of 8.

Loop it, 15 to 20 minutes and the real fun begins next week!

The video:




Extension:

If you find you'd like to be more challenged with this drill, feel free! You can set speed goals (use your metronome), practice timing (alternate half and double time), practice left-hand lead... If you have other ideas, post 'em in the comments so the rest of us can get in on it!