Video: Konnakol (just a little bit)

Konnakol is a South Indian vocalization of rhythms and patterns.  In taiko we have kuchishoga, but kuchishoga corresponds to sounds that you can make on the drum while konnakol does not come from drum sounds.

Indian rhythms are as daunting as they are amazing to me, and I've yet to really sink my teeth into exploring this genre of rhythm.  Konnakol interests me because it's not dependent on a drum and I hope that looking into it more will enhance and challenge my own abilities.

To give you a taste of how konnakol can be used, here's a clip.  It might go right over your head at first - consider that this is one of the easier clips I've seen and took me some getting used to as well!  It's not just the patterns that take getting used to, it's the hand motions that are done to keep time as you go through the patterns.

We'll see where study in this takes me; I'm wondering if I can use some stripped-down versions of this for my workshop at the WTG conference in a few weeks...but I need to make sure I can do it before I make anyone else try it first!