About a few months after moving to Japan, I found out from a friend that he had started Taiko lessons. My immediate response was “What? I want in!” He shared the details with me and I was soon a part of the class.
Learning the taiko was something I had wanted to do even before moving to Japan. In my own music classes about music from Japan, I had taught my kids about the taiko but I was keen to get a more authentic experience. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, though I don’t mean that in a negative way.
When we think of taiko ensembles, we tend to picture groups like these:
They have these taiko drums in different sizes, each playing a different rhythm. What I didn’t realise was that the taiko classes I had signed up for was the Okinawan style of Taiko. You can see the difference right off the bat.
Firstly, we carry these big drums throughout the performance. Rather than a focus on rhythmic patterns and interlocking rhythms, the Okinawan style involves a lot of movement. I suppose it can be considered a dance, although many of the moves actually have their origins in martial art postures, like the classic one with one hand blocking your forehead and the other pointing the bachi (stick) outwards.
One other significant characteristic of the Okinawan style taiko is the shouting of specific words like “hiyasasa” and “ha-iya.” These words are commonly found in Okinawan songs as well.
It was kind of funny to see us, the 2-3 foreigners, fumbling around clumsily amongst a whole group of young children. Many of these kids had learnt the taiko for years and were absolutely natural at it. Our sensei was really kind to us and he never even charged us for lessons. When he knew we were leaving Japan, he even specially arranged an outdoor performance just so we could be a part of it.
Teaching Kids the Taiko in a Classroom Setting
Coming back, I was inspired to create a lesson package to teach kids the Japanese taiko in a fun way. It turns learning into a game as kids learn to read the notation and translate them into drum beats. Giving kids Creative freedom has always been a priority of mine, so I had sure there was a simple composing activity at the end.
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| Taiko Notation Score for lessons |
If you’d like to use it, you can find the entire resource here.
I don’t know if I will be continuing Taiko lessons formally now that I’m back. Singapore doesn’t offer as many opportunities to learn it as Japan does, naturally. Still, I foresee myself continuing to practise on my own just so I won’t forget the moves. I can’t wait to go back to Japan so I can meet everyone in the group once again and play together with them.
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