Sharp versus Smooth - Part 2

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Opening question: Do you have any secret talents? Everyone has a little thing they have discovered they are good at. One of our members was extremely talented at fixing zippers, we called her the “zipper savant.” It turns out that Ellen can wiggle her ears, Marlene is especially talented at making frozen yogurt and Cathy can untangle jewelry. Franco accidentally discovered he was good at making fake gift certificates, but of course he wouldn’t try to fool someone intentionally!

We had a guest in the class today, Sam Leung. He is a student at Rhode Island School of Design, and plays taiko with Gendo Taiko, the collegiate group out there. He is very interested in the applications of taiko for Parkinson’s. Moving forward, we may have other guests as San Jose Taiko is becoming known in the global taiko community for our Parkinson’s programming. Our intention is to be able to share our work with others so that this type of class may be available around the world. We hope that this is not an inconvenience to you and want to be respectful of our wonderful space here. Please feel free to let us know if you have questions.

After warm-ups, Yurika led us through a coordination activity. Since we had been working on arm circles during last month and getting your arms to do slightly different things. Here is a video below going over the activity.

Today’s Sharp versus Smooth Drill followed up from last week. We added on some “parameters” or ways of mixing up the free movement. We did some reps with the parameter of looking at one of your hands during the movement. We also did some where you could get out of your taiko stance and start to move around the drum. The pattern stayed the same:

Don Don Don Don - SHARP - SHARP -

Don Don DoRo Don - SMOOTH (4 counts)

Number Drill con’t…

We also did some more of last week’s number drill, this time adding on more numbers and also adding a background “ji” or “basebeat” made with the virtual drum machine at dokodon.com. If you want to practice to the one Yurika made, it’s a horsebeat and you can click here to access it.

Franco challenged us to add Kiai also. For one click, you can say “hup” or “ha” and for two clicks, “so-re". And if you want a further challenge, you can add movement while you are clicking your bachi. It was interesting to observe how things influenced each other, for example Lane said that he became aware that sometime he would click with one hand under or over. Renira mentioned that she found doing the even numbers harder than odd numbers.

Here is a video of the last round when all the numbers were in.

Have fun practicing and I hope everyone isn’t too affected by the smoke.

Make Your Own Bucket-Taiko!

Yurika ran an informal session on how to make a practice taiko with a 5-gallon bucket (or a box) and some tape. It’s kind of long, but here is a recording of the session if you would like to make one yourself.

It doesn’t have to be this fancy, but here is one that a student made in another class. Feel free to make it your own!

ANNOUNCEMENTS and REMINDERS:

• Payment for classes should be made here: https://www.paypal.me/sanjosetaiko OR by check made out to San Jose Taiko, 565 N. 5th Street, San Jose CA 95112 (please mark the check PRC). The fee is $10 drop-in or $36/month. (The fee for September is $45/month since there are 5 Tuesdays.)

• Bachi can be purchased to be mailed for $10 a pair.

• Our friends in southern California are also running a taiko class for Parkinson’s called “Rhythmic Flow Taiko” on Sundays. Please check their website for more info.

• At any time, feel free to email yurika@taiko.org for questions!

Zoom Mirroring and Numbers as Music

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Opening question: What occupation do you find interesting/fascinating even if you wouldn’t really like to do it? Marlene’s was a recipe tester for Sunset Magazine and she did do it!

Coordination Activities

We finished off warm-ups this morning with a hand coordination activity. There are several similar ones on youtube, like this one.

Mirror Movement

Back in the studio, we used to sometimes do mirror movement. It’s interesting to explore how it feels to be a leader versus being a follower. We started out with a warm-up following Franco. And then split up into pairs and tried to follow along through Zoom.

Movement Drill Level Up

We touched on the movement drill from last week, adding on just a little bit more to the drumming part. Start out playing 4 Don’s. Then each movement has a different pattern before it. I found a fun online taiko drum machine to make a background beat. It’s really easy to use!

In the video I’m playing through each pattern 4 times before moving on to the next one. Remember to say SoRe nice and loud as part of the activity.

Numbers as Music

Franco led us through another number activity where you add an accent or louder hit on certain numbers. It’s interesting that over time, the counting makes way to sounding like music, and it becomes much easier. The number groove we played was 1-2-5-8.

ANNOUNCEMENTS and REMINDERS:

• Payment for classes should be made here: https://www.paypal.me/sanjosetaiko OR by check made out to San Jose Taiko, 565 N. 5th Street, San Jose CA 95112 (please mark the check PRC). The fee is $10 drop-in or $36/month.

• Bachi can be purchased to be mailed for $10 a pair.

• At any time, feel free to email yurika@taiko.org for questions!

Number Game

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Opening question: What is your nickname? What nicknames have you had in the past?

Lane wins for number of nicknames!

Kiai + Movement

Franco is back this week. After he led us through warm-ups, we did some kiai review and then split the group into two teams so we could hear ourselves better. We added movement to the kiai.

The word Kiai comes from two kanji characters - “ki” meaning “energy” and “ai” meaning “meeting.” For us in taiko, expressing through kiai is integral to the artform. As KI is one of the four principles in San Jose Taiko, where our energy flows and what we do with it is important. Kiai is one way that energy is expressed. Our body is part of the instrument and as such, energy can flow through movement and breath and voice. It connects us. It impacts those watching us. One of our vocal coaches once said, it is an amazing gift that we can create this vibration in our bodies that can move other people.

Here is a video of the kiai and movement warm-up activity.

Movement Game

We did a review of the 4 movements that were covered last week (see post and videos below). Yurika turned it into a game where flashcards indicated which movement was to be played next. It seemed that the windmills got easier when it was faster.

Number Game

Another game that Franco led us through was a number game. Basically you have to play the number of hits that are called out. It started out with just one number at a time, but moved up levels so that we were playing 3 numbers in a row. It’s interesting how when there were more numbers it became a bit more intuitive as it started to sound more like music. Music is stored and processed in a different part of the brain, which takes less processing.

It was nice to have a bit of time at the end for reflections. We’re grateful to have this time together!

We are working on a taiko “kit” that can be mailed out!

ANNOUNCEMENTS and REMINDERS:

• Payment for classes should be made here: https://www.paypal.me/sanjosetaiko OR by check made out to San Jose Taiko, 565 N. 5th Street, San Jose CA 95112 (please mark the check PRC). The fee is $10 drop-in or $36/month.

• Bachi can be purchased to be mailed for $10 a pair.

• At any time, feel free to email yurika@taiko.org for questions!

"Ma" (Space)

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Welcome to our new student, Ellen!

Opening question: What was your favourite subject in school or what did you study in college?

Today we warmed up with some stepping, clapping and kiai coordination. Here is a video below of a similar drill.

Ma

We talked a little bit about the concept of “Ma” or space in Japanese and how this space is important in taiko. We may fill this musical space between taiko hits with kiai or with movement. We learned 4 different movements that often come up in San Jose Taiko choreography. And we also talked about basic and fancy versions of the movement and how to use your legs to emphasize the movements or make them easier. We started each movement with a Don Don and during the next 2 beats, would fill with “sore” and the movement.

• “Line” - Bring up your arms together, they should reach the top on the “re” of “sore”

• “Circle” - Sweep up your arms on the sides of your body. Marlene said this move reminded her of birds wings. The fancy version starts with crossing your arms in front of you before sweeping up.

• “X” - Similar to some of the X drills we have been working on with Franco, Pointing your bachi out diagonally and leaning into the movement with your legs.

• “Windmill” - A challenging movement requiring each arm to move independently.

Here’s a slower practice video of the windmill:

Here is a practice video of the 4 movements played through 8 times.

Here is a slightly faster practice video of the 4 movements played 4 times through each.

We finished off with a drill/game where I had symbols to represent each movement.

Pat said, “The windmills really emphasize how easy the first 3 movements are!”

A quick reminder of the 4 Principles of San Jose Taiko - each week we might focus one or two more than the others, but as taiko players are always striving to find balance and improve on all 4.

OTHER THINGS…

This past Sunday, San Jose Taiko would have been performing at Palo Alto Obon. Here is a full video of last-year’s performance.

ANNOUNCEMENTS and REMINDERS:

• Payment for classes should be made here: https://www.paypal.me/sanjosetaiko OR by check made out to San Jose Taiko, 565 N. 5th Street, San Jose CA 95112 (please mark the check PRC). The fee is $10 drop-in or $36/month.

• Bachi can be purchased to be mailed for $10 a pair.

• At any time, feel free to email yurika@taiko.org for questions!