TGIF, Part 20 (taiko drills)

It's Friday again! Let's get started.

Focus: Balance
Watch for:
1. Two hands, one sound.
2. Really work toward increasing speed with this drill, but make sure you do not sacrifice form to do so!

Okay, back to focusing on balancing out the weak and strong hands. Ryou-te, hitting with both hands simultaneously, is a great way to continue with this. Today's pattern is simple for two reasons: 1) it allows you to jump right into it, repeating it again and again for maximum improvement, 2) it allows you to free your mind from trying to play the pattern right--you can focus on being consistent with form and sound.

Here you go:

Don tsu
Don tsu
Don tsu
Don tsu
Don tsu
Don tsu
Don tsu
Don tsu

The part in bold is emphasized. Be sure to raise your hands up and snap down quickly to accomplish this. "Tsu" is accomplished with a quick press of the three fingers placed on the underside of your bachi. (Review this by visiting the photos in Part 9 )

If you have a video camera or mirror available, turn so you can see your profile, weak hand closest to the camera or mirror. If your hands are not balanced, you'll probably notice that the kata, or form, is different.

Perhaps your weak hand doesn't come up as high as the strong one? Do your hands rock back and forth, arms pulling in after "don" and moving away for "tsu"? This means both hands are regularly inconsistent--try to eliminate this.

Make sure to take a look at your hands from your point of view as well. Is the path to the drum straight, without curving or angling? If you feel you have good control with the grip, but hear inconsistencies with your sound, this is possibly the culprit. Relax, slow down, and focus on making a direct strike.

Okay, you know how it goes, but I've gotta say it anyway: 15 minutes a day--Loop it! Enjoy:)

Extension

If you find that by day 4 or so that you're pretty comfortable with the drill above (let's say, 132 bpm, 1 don tsu per beat) you can challenge yourself by switching back and forth between "Don tsu" and "Tsu don". Here's one example, but feel free to create your own:

Don tsu
Don tsu
Tsu don
Tsu don
Don tsu
Don tsu
Tsu don
Tsu don

Make sure all your tsu's are equal in volume and your don's are equal in volume.

TGIF, Part 18 (taiko drills)

Just wanted to drop a quick note before we dig in here. Do you check out this site often and find it useful? Then, please, help spread the word: tell your friends, leave a comment (even if it's short)!! I can make this a place that is more useful to you if I hear from you about your needs and concerns. I appreciate the emails I've received, (hopefully there will be atarigane practice in the coming months!)--I respond to those, too!

Okay, moving on... How'd last week's drill go? I mentioned that I found practicing ryou te to be very helpful when you're seeking a more even balance between the two hands. It's not a skill that comes easily, so today let's focus on another way to practice it, while combining it with a past drill for review.

Focus: Balance, Speed
Watch for:
1. Make sure that when you hit both hands together, there is only one sound. Not sure if it's one sound or two? Get someone to close their eyes and listen for you. If there are two, slow down!
2. Is one hand louder than the other? Make sure the volume, height, and speed of your sticks are even.

Remember way back in TGIF 2 when we practiced DOKO? Let's use the exact same drill to practice ryou-te. First, play with both hands:

DON
DON
DON
DON
DON
DON
DON
DON

Then continue another 8 beats, alternating RLRL (or LRLR if you're left-handed):

DO KO
DO KO
DO KO
DO KO
DO KO
DO KO
DO KO
DO KO

Loop it back around to the beginning! Note that the weak hand will have to play 2 beats in a row at the end of the line. If you're having trouble with it, don't ignore it--slow down your metronome till you've got it.

After last week, this one should be no problem for 15 minutes. Good luck!


Extension:

You can practice skills consistently and eventually master them, but simply having good skills isn't enough to give a good performance. Most of what I've shared with you so far is very difficult to teach over the internet, but teaching dynamics is nearly impossible. You can begin to explore this yourself with a bit of awareness.

Take the drill above and add a gradual crescendo the first time through. The second time, make it a decrescendo, and repeat. Take the whole 16 counts to reach your final extreme. Close your eyes and listen (or even record yourself). Is the sound so gradual that every single hit is a little bit louder (or quieter) than the one before? Does the change in volume sound even? To get this right takes patience and persistence, but once you get it, it can enhance any song and take your audience along with you.

TGIF, Part 17 (taiko drills)

Welcome back!

I've been thinking recently about what drills have really helped to balance out my strong and weak hands. While I'm sure it takes a combination of drills, practice, and training, this drill was one of the key components for me.

If your hands are not balanced, please be persistent with this one! Practicing ryou-te (striking with both hands together) will help you begin to make the relationship between your two paws a little more equal:) If you'd like other tips on bringing your weak hand up to snuff, check out any of the drills with a "Balance" focus.

Focus: Balance
Watch for:
1. Use your ears with this drill. Make sure that when you hit both hands together, there is only one sound.
2. Try to figure out what's happening if you hear two hits. Playing it over and over won't make it better if you don't know what's wrong. Most likely a quick look in the mirror can explain any discrepancies. Check the speed and form of each hand, and try to make them identical.

Alright, we're working with the same rhythm from last week:

1	2	3
don	tsu	ku
don	tsu	ku
don	tsu	ku
don	tsu	ku
tsu	don	tsu
tsu	don	tsu
tsu	don	tsu
tsu	don	tsu
tsu	ku	don
tsu	ku	don
tsu	ku	don
tsu	ku	don

Don is emphasized and both hands strike for every beat.

Okay, where is the sound not clear? Big hits or small hits? If the small hits are clear, are they equal in volume? Do the big hits have a consistent volume? Use your ears and eyes (if you have a mirror) to self-evaluate yourself.

If you're not playing taiko every day, probably this drill is too much to do for 15 minutes without stopping. A fast metronome speed is not the goal here--focus on accuracy. Here are some options:

1. 5-7 minutes today's drill. 8-10 minutes don tsu ku.
2. 3-5 minutes today's drill. 10-12 minutes with same pattern, alternating Right hand, Left hand, then Both hands.

Extension

Here's something fun!

Close your eyes and say "don tsu ku" a few times so I know you remember the rhythm. If you forgot, then jump back to TGIF 13 real quick and review.

Alright. Use the same beat sequence as above, but change the rhythm to "don tsu ku". Both hands strike together, for every hit.

Catch you next time!

TGIF, Part 11 (taiko drills)

Wow, the time sure is flying by! I can't believe it's been 11 weeks already. I spent some time today looking back at my previous drills and would like to move forward by refining the skills I've introduced already and combining a few of these to attempt more versatility.

Way back in TGIF Part 1, line 2 was:

R R L L R R L L

Jump back there for a second to review my instructions first. I'll be going more in depth with how you can use this drill today.

Focus: Speed, Balance, Strength
Watch for:
1. Each hit should have equal volume.
2. Even though all hits are small for this drill, make them intentional. Relaxing your wrist so your bachi falls on the drum is not the way to accomplish this. Review the video in TGIF Part 9 if you need to practice grip first.

Okay, the pattern is easy, you've done it before. The dynamics are easy to understand, but perhaps not so easy to be consistent with. Set your hands in ready position so your bachi are each 1/3 from the outside edge of the drum. This will be your base position for this drill. Choose a visible spot just underneath each one and do your best to hit the exact spot every time. This will help keep your arms from straying and will make your sound consistent.

Here's the pattern again:

R R L L R R L L

These hits should be small and intentional, as mentioned in point 2, and each equal in volume.

Typically I've been asking for about 15 minutes of your time per day. If you'd really like to get the muscle strengthening benefits of this drill, you should aim for close to 30 minutes without stopping.


Extension:

Take this extension slowly to make sure that you're doing it correctly before you increase speed on your metronome. All beats should be evenly spaced.

R R L L R R L L R R L L

Bold means emphasize the hits. However, let's take this a bit further. Ideally all of your non-emphasized hits are consistently making contact in the same place each time (remember your spots?). A drum will have a deeper sound in the center than the outer edge. So, really make those emphasized hits stand out by striking them in the middle of the drum!

Make sure that after you strike in the middle that your hand returns immediately back to it's "home" position, 1/3 from the edge, right over your "spot".

Just like the small hits, make sure that the emphasized hits are equal in volume as well.

---

Lots of technical stuff today that will be tough to get just right if you've not been practicing daily. But, no worries--these drills will always be here. If you're not getting it, back up and practice the others first, or leave a comment and I can give you some tips on how to make improvements.

Gambette yo!

TGIF, Part 10 (taiko drills)

Hello! I hope you found the paradiddle drill useful. It's a great way to challenge yourself with counting, if you have a partner. One person plays the pattern and the other improvises on top of it. It's tricky to keep track of beats because the emphasis is not always on the down beat.

So, recently I've been practicing dexterity with a simple pattern that can be done 3 ways. I'll introduce it first here and once you've got it, check out the Extension.

Focus: Dexterity, Speed
Watch for:
1. Pay attention to your wrists and don't let them break in a way that you lose the angle between the bachi and the drum.
2. Practice using the grip introduced last week, TGIF Part 9

This line should be played by one hand at a time.

DON tsu tsu DON tsu tsu DON tsu

If you find that one had is obviously weaker than the other, say the left, then play this once on the right hand for every 2 on the left. Relax your wrists--this drill is meant to practice speed, so you shouldn't have time to lift the whole arm up.

Pay attention to where your stick hits the drum. The DON and the tsu should be played at the exact same point on the head of the drum. If you're having trouble with this, check first to see if your arm demonstrates a rocking motion, coming closer to you for the tsu. Eliminating this, and paying attention to the wrist should help.

15-20 minutes a day for this one. Challenge yourself to increase metronome tempo daily. Have fun!

Extension:
Take the same pattern and apply try this twist:

Play 2 times on the right hand.
Play 2 times on the left hand.
Play 2 times with both hands.

When you hit with both hands together, notice whether there is one, clean sound. Is the sound clean for the emphasized hits and the non-emphasized hits? Slow your metronome down significantly until you accomplish this consistently.

Gambatte yo!