By: Allison Ballard
They come in curious. Sometimes excited. Frequently wary. Usually willing.
I’m teaching taiko classes to teens at library branches this summer. I carry my taiko kit from branch to branch and work with whoever shows up. We only have an hour to explore the vast world of taiko. One hour. Where does one start?
I first show them photos of taiko drummers from the book The Way of Taiko. I want them to know I haven’t made this stuff up. That taiko is an ancient form based on Japanese tradition and that even though there’s not much taiko here in Indiana, there are places in the world where taiko is rampant. Then I get them moving.
“We’re going to learn how to find the 1,” I tell them as I put a stool or a chair or a box or my backpack or something (anything!) in the middle of the room. I line them up against a wall and put two sticks down on the floor end to end, marking a starting line. “You’re going to go one at a time, run and jump over the stool (or chair or box), keep running until you touch the chair on the other side of the room and then circle back to the end of the line.” At this point, they’re usually smiling and whoever is in front has leaned down into a “start” position like a racer about to run around a track.
I point to the sticks on the floor and add, “But no one can cross that line until s/he hears the 1.” Now they look confused. I walk to a drum and begin improvising. “Ready and go,” I say. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…” The first person usually misses the first 1 and takes off on beats 3 or 4. I let the moment pass and keep going. Part of the game is letting them figure it out. And so the line continues with running and jumping and circling and drumming and counting….and smiling and panting and….I wonder if they realize that a good portion of this game is about letting them burn off energy so we can sit and do activities that require more focus. And of course we are building relationship. Quickly. (We only have an hour!)
About the time they figure it out, I pause the game and explain we’re going to do it in sets of four. Before I start counting again, I ask if anyone wants to join me on the drum. Usually at least one hand goes up. I give this new drummer sticks and a smile. No instruction. This moment isn’t about technique or rhythmic accuracy. This is about the joy of drumming, of making spontaneous music with friends. And of course of finding the 1. We continue with me counting, “1, 2, 3, 4…” and so on. Then we do it in sets of two. Sometimes I also increase the tempo. And at some point, I quit counting for them. They’re on their own, moving faster and faster, trying to keep up, trying to hold on to the 1, until the whole game deteriorates into exhausted laughter (and sometimes rolling on the floor!)
I call them to a circle and prepare to hand out sticks. But first I ask, “What does that have to do with taiko drumming?” Then I let the group sort out the answer.
Taiko is so much more than beating on a barrel. More often than not, the best way to teach the art of taiko is to let students experience it from the inside out–especially when you only have an hour!