TGIF, Part 14 (taiko drills)
Well, I hope you had dreams of don tsu ku last week! If you didn’t, well, there’s still hope:
Focus: Balance, Tempo
Watch for:
1. Make friends with your metronome for this one, and don’t give up! All friendships take persistence at times. Be sure that each of these parts is on beat.
Okay, reviewing the pattern briefly from last week. Red means Right, Black means Left, and bold means emphasize! We’ll call this “Pattern 1”.
| 1 2 3 4 don tsu Ku( x7) don don don tsu Ku(x7) don don |
Follow Pattern 1 with “Pattern 2” (another old favorite).
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| don | don | ||
| do | ko | do | ko |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| don | don |
Make note of whether or not your weak hand is producing the same sound as your strong hand. This might mean volume, but it might also mean tone. If the tones are different it could simply be due to your drum’s construction, but check your form to be sure this isn’t the culprit.
In addition, another common problem with do ko is a slow weak hand. Don’t let your left hand get behind (if you’re a righty). When the left hand is the lead hand for do ko, check to make sure you are on beat.
Alright! You know what to do from here.
If you’re such a taiko fanatic that you don’t want a break next week, then do this one for 2 weeks, it deserves the extra attention.
REMEMBER: No drill next week, but I’ll see you in the new year!
Extension:
Last week’s extension focused partly on the dynamics of don tsu ku:
don tsu ku don tsu ku don tsu ku don tsu ku
Dynamics can make a piece portray feeling, capture your audience, and simply make it more interesting. Any basic rhythm can be made more complicated. See what you can come up with to challenge yourself with doko doko. Here’s an example:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| do | ko | do | ko |
| don | don |
Be creative and have some fun!