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By: Allison Ballard

We don’t know how many times we need to play the song because we don’t know how long it will take all the kids to enter the gym. Often 400-or-so students attend the school assemblies we present and it takes time for all of them to arrive. We used to watch and wait as they all filed in and took their seat. But now we use every minute of our time with them to expose them to a rich variety of taiko music. We play our opening song on our new katsugi drums so we can move through the space while we play. We are excited to add this new lateral drumming style to our performance repertoire. It’s good for the kids; it’s good for us; it’s a win-win…except for it’s hard to know when to stop. We don’t know how many times we need to play the song because we don’t know how long it will take all the kids to enter the gym.

So we’ve tried to create a cue. In theory, it’s a simple strategy: when the principal gives a signal, a designated drummer shouts a kiai cueing us to finish whatever verse of the song we are playing and then we move on to the ending. Simple in theory, but not in practice. One of the “rules” of solid performance is to eliminate as many unknown variables as possible. This strategy clearly breaks this rule. The principal doesn’t give a clear signal or we don’t interpret the signal correctly or we get distracted by the kids or….good grief. It’s almost impossible to get it right.…

The last time we attempted to do so, the four of us were left standing in front of 400 or so kids, faltering in and out of the song, creating discord just as we were trying to create synergy. So what’s a drummer to do? I instinctively resorted to playing the pulse on my drum, trying to buy myself some time. The stark contrast between the unison we had been playing and my lone drone succeeded in getting the students’ attention. Which means I needed to then do something else…something interesting. And I needed to do it fast. So I told them how glad we were to be there. (True enough,..so far, so good.) Then I told them we were taiko drummers. (When in doubt, start with the basics.) And then I realized that whatever I had to say about taiko was not going to engage these elementary students, no matter how interesting it might be.

So I started spelling the word T-A-I-K-O and encouraged them to spell it with me. And then it grew into a chant. And then I encouraged them to make the shape of the letters with their fingers, creating a rhythmic gestural dance engaging their voices and bodies from their seat. And then a divergent rhythm emerged so we explored what ended up being part B. We split the group in two, assigned each group a part, and created a polyrhythm. About that time, the principal gave us the signal and we launched into what ended up being a great show.

By the time we “started,” everyone was already engaged. Everyone had been transformed from audience member to participant. And everyone knew how to spell taiko. Hopefully we piqued their curiosity enough that they will look it up on the internet and their learning can go beyond the 45 minutes we spent with them. We are not striving to entertain; we are striving to empower and inspire. Dong doko dong!