YouTube and taiko

Going to make this one a short one, because I can't brain anymore today, ha.

Have you gone on YouTube and searched for taiko?  Not for a specific group, just taiko?  I highly recommend it.

I use this search line in YouTube's search bar: "taiko -tatsujin -osu -master".  That gets rid of most of the videogame taiko, and leaves mostly the real stuff.

It's really interesting - and eye-opening - to see what's out there.  What do taiko groups in Poland look like?  Did you even know there were taiko groups in Poland?  What are Japanese groups up to?  What about collegiate groups you've never heard of?  How are people playing the same public-domain piece your group plays?  Are they doing something different that you'd like to incorporate?  What collaborations are happening that you would never have thought about yourself?

Overall, we tend to get used to the taiko we see in our own, limited bubbles - including groups that regularly post on FB, but what else is out there?  Take a look and find out...

Soloing for the song (feat. Ringo Starr...kind of) part 1

There's a tribute video to Ringo Starr, featuring several iconic Western drummers.  It's not a new video, but I just saw it recently.  You can watch it here.

Two things stood out to me in this video:

At 0:41, Questlove mentions how the most timeless drummers are the ones that are the most simple.  That's followed at 0:45 by Dave Grohl asking how to define the world's best drummer.  Is it technical proficiency, or is it someone who "sits in the song with their own feel?"

At 2:24, Dave plays a super-simple downbeat pulse and remarks how skilled a drummer is if a beat that simple can make people dance.

In taiko, solos often seem about playing the most notes, about one-up-ing the person who came before, about a new "trick", etc.  There's also a lot of focus (from instructors, from students) on proper technique, which is never a bad thing.

But none of those take into account the song itself.

Taiko is also a visual art form for the most part, but what if you were playing for an audio recording, or people who couldn't see you on stage?  Even if they can see you, are you "sitting in the song"? How are the skills you develop during practice and in performance helping you for a situation like that?

Oh, I know it can be difficult to add that to the other litany of things to worry about - your form, ki, sequence, tempo, volume, endurance, etc.  This is definitely something easier to consider for people that have been playing for a while.  But if you're not at least thinking about it early on, it's not like it's just something that magically comes to you one night as you sleep!

So ok, but what does it mean to "sit in the song?"  How do you play simply and still have an interesting solo?

That's a blog post for another time...

Mistakes as entertainment

Have a watch at this.  Listen for two minutes, the length of the story told.

In this clip, one of my favorite artists, John Cleese recounts a story about an accident on stage during a live performance.  Can any of you relate?

Does hearing the advice that Eddie Izzard gave to John Cleese resonate with you?  Does it make mistakes seem a little less daunting?  What about the idea that not worrying about things makes it more fun, and that the audience can feel that?

Food for thought, eh?

Is this taiko? Vol. 01

photo credit: http://blog.credit.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78jPfQ5jh2A

Is that taiko?

I bet most of you are saying "no", for various reasons.  Let me see if I can guess most of them:

1. They're not playing on taiko; those are western drums.
2. They're not using bachi, those are mallets.
3. They're not in any real stance or kata.
4. Their technique is really sloppy.
5. They're not wearing any sort of Japanese outfit, just white suits.
6. They don't kiai.
7. They're a bunch of White guys.
8. It's not a taiko song.
9. You didn't like it.

What did I miss?  Let's take a closer look:

1. They're not playing on barrel-style drums, nope.  For some of you, that's the defining issue right there.  But with more and more alternatives to buying or making drums from barrels, when will this be less of an issue?
2. I've seen a lot of different kinds of drumsticks in taiko, from mallets to bamboo slats.  I've even seen taiko players use their hands! *gasp*  Does what you strike a drum with define the art form?
3. Does a low stance make a taiko player?  There are a lot of people who don't have a very deep or very athletic stance.  Sometimes the drums are just really low to the ground and a person doesn't have the flexibility to get low.  Many groups also don't care or focus on a very deep or stationary stance.
4. Does sloppy arm technique mean it's not good?  Close your eyes and tell me how it sounds.  More than a few taiko pieces sound similar to this, and this group is very much on-beat when they play.
5. There are a lot of performances where people wear all kinds of weird things.  Suits are far from weird.  
6. Okay, they don't kiai.  But they interact with the audience in a VERY similar way that taiko groups have, in a call-and-response style.  Some taiko groups and players are so new and/or so focused on doing well that there's little interaction with the audience, or even each other.  Does how you exchange energy define your art form?
7. Yep, a bunch of White guys.  So what?
8. What is a "taiko" song?  Kodo did a version of "Orekama" which was originally written for a percussion quintet.  There are several narimono-only (hand percussion) songs out there.  Is your definition of what a taiko song is based only on what you've seen before?  If the exact same patterns were played on actual taiko, could it then qualify in your eyes?
9. Not liking a thing doesn't make it less of a thing.  I loathe onions but that doesn't mean they're not onions.  Not liking Justin Timberlake's pop music doesn't mean he's not making pop music.  What if someone didn't like your taiko performance?  Does that make it "less" taiko?  Nope.

Personally, I'm not saying I think it's taiko, but like with most of my posts, I want you to think about the reasons behind your feelings on questions like this!

YouTube and taiko

Ever spend an hour on YouTube looking up taiko?  You should.

I've seen taiko from all over the world, in places I didn't expect to see it.  I've seen ideas and compositions that make me scratch my head sometimes and inspired me at others.  I've seen collaborations I would never have thought to do, huge numbers of people playing together, classic pieces played with a twist, etc.

At worst, it's just entertainment, but it's also a great way to see what kind of taiko is out there, who's doing what, and how!  It might even give you some new ideas...

Syncopation

The more I play music, the more I appreciate syncopation.  And I absolutely love putting it in my songs and my solos.  People think I have something against downbeats!

Syncopation comes when notes don't fall on the downbeat or in expected places.  It can be a simple as emphasizing the 2 and 4 when counting "1-2-3-4" or so complicated that you literally have no idea where the downbeat is.

At first, when people start putting syncopation in their solos, they often tend to throw it in wherever, which makes the patterns sound a bit random.  It's like a cupcake with a cherry stuck on the side of the cake part.  Then there's a point for some where they put in a LOT of syncopation to where the effect is lost because there's no "home" to come down on, no anchoring.  This is like a bunch of cherries and frosting with no cake.  Intentional syncopation is powerful, even if it's simple.  When it's complicated or prominent, it has to be even more intentional.

Now, I definitely get made fun of for my liberal use of syncopation.  But it's not like I'm making up notes that aren't there (like I've discovered "17th notes" next to the 16th notes, ha).  I just feel them wanting to be played.

One things that makes someone a master musician isn't how many notes they play (reflexes fade with time) or how fast they can play (speed fades too) but where they choose to play the notes they can.

For me, syncopation is the spice, the flavor that makes taiko so tasty.  You can have a strong stock (lots of players) and a hearty protein (playing together and loud) but then you add some spice, some patterns that weave around the strong downbeat, and you dramatically change what it feels like.  Maybe you add sriracha, maybe you add oregano, maybe you add peppercorns.  How much you add also changes the profile of the "dish".  But add too much and you have a mouthful of spice that ruins the experience...

So how do you get better at syncopation?  How do you get comfortable with it?  Like I've said many times on this blog, listen to more music.  New music.  Different music.  Genres like Electronic, Heavy Metal, and Funk are loaded with the stuff, and a lot of the lyrics in Rap music are delivered with it as well.  Western drumline and drum kit solos are also a huge arsenal of syncopation.

From there, maybe try repetition in your syncopation.  Try out patterns but repeat them so you can feel and hear what they're like, rather than just "ooh I put a note in between downbeats!"   Don't be afraid to play notes where you might normally NOT, because that's how you learn what sounds good and what doesn't, outside of your own head.

Finally, it's important to mention that the more you start using syncopation, the more important the sense of the downbeat is.  It's your lifeline, your anchor to all that fun - and when you lose that anchor, fun turns to chaos and it can be really hard to get back.  So at first, as you get used to it all, don't stray too far.  In my opinion, the best syncopation players have the downbeat so strongly within them that they can get miles away from it and still be rock-solid.  Many others are shaky only a few feet away!

I'll end with a few songs that might be useful, entertaining, or even daunting:

Stevie Wonder, "Superstition"
The Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delight"
D and K Cadence from the movie Drumline
Gene Krupa vs. Buddy Rich
Dave Brubeck, "Unsquare Dance"
Kodo, "Stride"
Incompetech, "Firebrand"

Soloing, part 13: Imitation as a tool

Photo: Associated Press

When I was new to taiko, I listened to Kodo and San Jose Taiko a LOT.  Cassette tapes and CDs and VHS were played over and over and over again.  And then over for good measure.

I tapped along to the songs I could only hear, and would play along to the videos I had.  There were about 2-3 songs from each group that I would listen to more than the others, specifically to play along with the solos.  I liked how they sounded, I liked the challenge of the difficult parts.

I was learning new patterns and new ways to solo, but I was also learning new sensibilities that were different to my own.  When I started playing along, it wasn't easy at first, but after a while I was not just playing the patterns along with the performers but enjoying some improvising of my own OVER those same patterns.  It's something anyone can do, if they want to put the time into it.

The groups and songs you like may not be the same songs I like, but that's totally fine.  The point is to find the ones that aren't easy to do at first, that make you practice and listen and figure out what's going on in order to train your ears and your hands.  If it's a solo you can play pretty easily, then it's not really teaching you something.  It should take some time to "get", because that means it's actually training you in something new.

One thing to note, though.  DON'T PERFORM THE SOLO YOU'RE COPYING.  That's bad form, like playing someone else's song without permission.  This is about using imitation as a tool, not as a way to play new solo patterns or movements!  You have to take what you learn from this and make it your own - which is yes, more work - but it's all part of this process.

And if you think you're good enough to play it all, try this (from 0:20 on).  Good luck.  ;)

Video: Being silly

Watch this.  It's very silly.  Go ahead, I'll wait.

I was originally just going to leave that and end with "enjoy some silliness!" but I thought I would say just a bit more.

This is a good example of "selling" something that's silly.  Humor is a tricky creature on stage, often over-sold to the point of it feeling forced, or under-sold to where it feels awkward.

Comedy is an art, just like taiko.  It should be given time and thought when put into a song or a set, often needing time to "bake" before the timing and mood are just right.  The person doing it is also a factor - a joke told by Richard Pryor would not feel or sound like the same joke told by, say, Al Gore.

So as you enjoy the silly video, take some time to think about how humor can add to or distract from a performance.  Your audience will thank you for it!

Video: Madonna and taiko

THIS video was posted in the Facebook Taiko Community group.  Not all of you are members or go there often, but a really interesting discussion got started.

Essentially, for either a music video or concert tour, several dancers are being taught the basics of taiko (and flamenco).  The thread had people saying things ranging from that they didn't like it to that this isn't taiko to commenting on cultural appropriation.  After watching the video myself, I made a few comments that got a lot of "likes", and wanted to post those comments here.

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"This thread/video touches on something I've pointed out to people in the past: If the taiko community wants to see MORE taiko out there, garner MORE attention and get MORE popularity, then we can't in the same breath be upset or shocked when it leaves "our" hands, "our" control.
 
The art form has to either have freedom to grow - which means seeing and hearing things people don't like, or be protected and held tight - which leads to isolation, maybe even stagnation.

I'm not coming at this from one side or the other, just noticing this push-pull dynamic from the taiko community that may never (should never?) settle."

----------

"So here in this video we have a group of dancers trying to learn how to play taiko. They're not claiming to be taiko players. And there are those among us who say "I don't like it." That's fine. But when people say "that's not taiko," you open yourself up to the fallacy that taiko - the art form - can be defined. It can be described, but not truly defined, because it's growing constantly and people are doing stuff with it that we may never know about.

It goes back to the argument of "what is taiko?" which is a trap in itself. Who gets to define what taiko is to another? If Kodo plays Monochrome on phone books, is that taiko? If a group of Caucasians buy Asano drums and only get instruction from watching other groups play on YouTube, is that taiko? I'm not asking anyone those questions specifically, but I do ask everyone to be careful with labeling some taiko as "not taiko" when it's simply "taiko you don't like."

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"Something else to consider is that we are all beginners at some point when it comes to taiko. For Madonna, she happened to want to use taiko and flamenco in her video - and maybe flamenco artists are saying the same thing that we are when they watch this video?

But consider this: there are a lot of taiko players out there that may never move as well as the dancers in this video, but maybe have better striking technique or better ki. Does that make them better or worse as taiko players? Also, maybe there are videos of us that other taiko players see and those players are thinking similar things about *us*!

Think back to the first few taiko lessons you had. Would you be embarrassed to have that broadcast to the world? Maybe the dancers felt awkward but this is their job - to sell it as best they can. And they look better than I did when I first played taiko for the first time, lol.

If we instead think all of us are beginners, if we instead look at taiko as an art form full of potential, we can still say "I don't like this" and yet still see how there are positives to be had."

 -----------------------------------------------------

There's a lot of topics in there that I might focus on in future posts, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts or the video, or both!

Video: Humor, composition, and Kodo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hRLTliFcNY

A bit of humor from Eiichi Saito and Masami Miyazaki of Kodo on Sado in 2013.  One thing to note is that what they do is a tool Eiichi uses to compose songs.  Watch it and you'll know what I mean!

Drill: Dongo switch

I'm a big fan of drills that work hand independence and/or dexterity but don't also require a need to learn complicated patterns.

http://youtu.be/zJPW0X6VdMg

Here you'll see two short versions of this drill that I call the "Dongo switch".  It isn't meant to be a sequence you need to memorize, it's just the idea of how to change up a basic pattern.

The idea is simple: keeping the dongo beat the same, you play it with different sticking rather than the usual R, L R, L R, etc...

The one sticking that I recommend trying is doubling one of your hands.  For example R, R L, R R, L R, R L, etc.  In the video, you can see me doing this slowly in the first run then double time in the second.  You don't need to switch back and forth between doubling the right then the left; stay with one sticking for a while and feel free to stop before switching to another sticking.

You don't need a metronome (but it can help), and it's good to start slow!  There's two things you can get out of this drill.  One is improved dexterity, as your hands learn to play things differently, hitting notes in repetition with the same hand.  The other is the ability to feel dongo in a different way than you may be used to.  It's a way to take something you already know and expand your perceptions.

You can do this with a straight beat as well, but I like the groove of dongo.  If you like this drill, let me know!  Also, I'm going to try uploading my videos unlisted to YouTube for a while and see how that goes.

Repetition (video)

I wasn't planning to post something just before tour, but this video had me saying "YES!" out loud a few times, so I wanted to share:

http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/18/on-repeat-margulis/

The video on this page is short; just under five minutes. But it's rather interesting!

Repetition in music is hugely powerful.  Take your favorite song.  How often have you listened to it?  Your brain WANTS to hear it again and again.  But it's more than just wanting to hear an entire passage of music; within a song, repetition has the same effect.

There's nothing "wrong" with songs that have little repetition - or solos for that matter - but just based on human psychology, they're not as enjoyable to the brain.  The video does a much better job of illustrating this than I can, so I'll stop there.

So for everyone who solos out there, take a look at what you play.  Is there repetition in your music?  Do you choose to have it or not have it, or are you just playing notes on a whim?

One of my favorite parameter drills lately is to have people repeat whatever patterns they play exactly.  It's interesting how much thinking people have to do when I make them do this, because they now have to think more and start listening to what they're playing.  For some, this is easy, but for many, it's difficult.

Maybe this video changes how you think of your solos and compositions, maybe it doesn't.  The most important thing here is: did it make you realize something about your playing you didn't think about before?

Drill: My Favorite Drill

If you've read my blog over the years, you'll see I often mention the duple over the triple, 2 over 3, 3 over 4, how and why patterns in 3 end up in so many solos, etc.

The drill today is one I've been playing with for years.  I'm likely to put some of the patterns into a song in the future, as well!  It's a drill you can customize and play with to adjust the difficulty and usefulness.

- You NEED a metronome.  It's very easy to think you're doing it right and be off without one.
- Each step gets progressively harder, but you can adjust the tempo and increase the repetition of segments to whatever works for you.

Step One:

This is a "primer" for getting into the feel of the triple meter.  Four triplets followed by 12 straight beats.  If the triplets are new to you, cycle them for a while.  If you feel this is easy, feel free to move on.

Step Two:

This is where things start happening.  Four triplets as before, followed by three doro-tsuku.  At first, you may feel a sense of disconnect, as the doro-tsuku don't feel like they fit.  But fit they do!  There are two things that will help:

• Make sure your hands are playing every note.  The drill in Step One had you playing the same notes, but without accents in the 2nd half.
• Know where the metronome beats fall.   DO-ro-tsu-KU-do-ro-TSU-ku-do-RO-tsu-ku.  This may totally mess you up at first, but for some of you it might provide anchor points.
• Slow it down on your metronome if you need to!

Step Three:

This is just Step Two at a faster tempo.  For me, I find this a lot easier than Step Two because it starts feeling like a melodic line rather than just rhythmic.  I can feel the groove of the pattern and not have to think of where the notes should go.

Step Four:

This is where things can get very difficult, but also where you can start customizing this drill.  Ultimately, it's just math:

• One triplet = 3.  Four triplets = 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12 notes.
• One doro-tsuku = 4.  Three doro-tsuku = 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 notes.
• 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 24
• Knowing this, you can shift the 3s and 4s around and create some really interesting patterns.
• At first, keep the triplets in pairs (3 + 3).  One triplet by itself adds more difficulty that you want to stay away from at first.

The video for Step Four is as follows:

• 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 4
• Four triplets then three doro-tsuku (x4).  The same pattern from Step Two and Three.
• 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 4
• My favorite combination of these two patterns.
• 4 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3
• This one is tricky but I'll let you figure out how it feels.  It's just the last pattern in reverse.
• 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 3
• Giving you a taste of splitting the triplets up.  Trust your hands and make sure you play every note so you come back on the triplets.

Step Five:

This is just Step Four at a faster tempo.  Like in Step Three, hearing patterns faster sometimes makes them easier to play, but don't rush to play at this tempo until you feel comfortable at a slower tempo.

Step Zero:

This felt best put at the end, but it's not actually all that hard.  If you want to just feel how these patterns lock into the downbeat, play triplets along to the metronome while listening to the videos.  You'll hear how things lock in and it'll let you know that I'm not making this up!

---

You can easily make up your own patterns using the math and see what it sounds like.  Some patterns will sound better than others, for sure.

You might feel like this isn't all that useful because you don't solo in three.  While the feeling of this drill is in three, it could easily be in four.  The goal of this drill isn't to play these patterns, it's to be more adept at feeling how patterns fit no matter what meter you're in, what ji you have, etc.  The drill is just a method to get there.

So how did this drill work for you?  I'd love to know after you spend some time on it.  Have fun!

Drill: Feeling that 3 (video)

(You'll need a metronome for this one!)

A lot of music is in 2 and 4.  Because of that, a repeated pattern in 3 can really shine as it weaves in and out, back and forth around the duple feel.

I hear a lot of these kind of patterns in taiko, but some people don't always groove them well.  They can be ahead of the beat, behind the beat, or switch back and forth without really settling.  The best way to feel how a pattern in 3 fits over a 2 or 4 is to practice a basic, repetitive pattern.

A 3 over 2 pattern can be simple: The Christmas song "Here Come the Bells" is 3 over 2 ad nauseam.  You can find it on YouTube and you'll hear a triple meter with a pattern in two bouncing on top of it.

But for my videos, I give you three drills.  Both videos have an "easy" and "hard" mode.  The first video is slower, the second video is faster:

First drill - you have a pattern in three (te re su) over a simple count of four.  This and variations of it are heard in countless solos.  And for good reason - it's catchy!

Second drill - you have the same pattern with one note removed (te su su) which should have the same feel, but can be much harder without that second note to help "steady" you.

Third drill - you have an advanced variation where you change the sticking at will.  Instead of the "easy" version which is the same sticking for the first (right-left) and second (right only) parts, you can switch to the "hard" version where it doesn't matter which hand plays which note.

Here's some helpful hints:

• SLOW IT DOWN until you can really FEEL where the 3 fits into that 4.
• Don't feel like you have to be doing all three drills in the same go.  Get the first down, then work on the second, then get the first followed by the second, then maybe try the third.  There's no rush, no need to do everything at once.
• If the beeps are too sparse for you, make them eighth notes or sixteenth notes.  Consequently, if you want more challenge, make them half or whole notes (you can go at half the bpm).

You can do any of the drills in any order you want.  I made the two videos at two different speeds just to show a couple of options.  You can stick to the first drill over and over at a much slower tempo, or switch between them all at a much faster one.  Make the drill work for you!

I made a post similar to this on hemiola here, but this is much less to read and a lot less complicated...

Video: What kind of drummer are you?

So I came across this video the other day.  It still makes me laugh to watch it.

Simple post today.  If you were to look at your playing through this kind of lens, what would you be?  It doesn't have to be one of the labels in this video.  It doesn't have to be self-deprecating!  What would people label you as

For me, I'm thinking a good title would be "Wtf did you just play?" haha.

What about you?

Drill: Double-Triplets

 I've been doing this pattern for years but never realized it would be a good drill.  I really need a better name for it, though...  Inverse triplets?  Reverse-lets?  Double-lets?  Hmm.  Anyways...

Double-triplets is a drill that works your dynamics. To do this drill you'll need to be familiar with the basic triplet pattern: accenting the first note of three so it sounds like don tsu ku (loud-soft-soft), then repeating.  The key to success is in maintaining clear and consistent dynamics.

Once you're comfortable with triplets, you can try the double-triplets: accenting the first TWO notes of three so it sounds like don don tsu (loud-loud-soft), then repeating.

In the video, I start with triplets then switch to double-triplets.  I pause, then start again at a faster tempo.  However, I highly recommend that you start slow and not switch back and forth as I do in the video.  The video is short and designed to give you the concept - simply doing the pattern over and over is the drill!

Be careful when you play so that you're not playing loud-loud-kind of soft.  Playing double-triplets fast but sloppy is useless, so go slow and work on dynamics, not speed!

What's on the Tube?

It's Superbowl Sunday, but as I avoid sports as a practice.  So instead I think I'll peruse YouTube for some taiko videos!

I highly recommend that taiko players do this.  Here's what I do:

1. Go to YouTube.
2. Search for "taiko -tatsujin -master -osu!"
     (remove the quotes; this gets rid of most of the video games, but not all.)
3. Change the Filters selection to "Upload Date" so you see what's more recent.
4. Enjoy!

Look to see what people around the world are doing.  You may not like all of it, but I'll guarantee you there's taiko being uploaded that will interest you, maybe even inspire you.  There is so much out there and only a fraction of it gets put on YouTube, but seeing this stuff can be a real eye-opener and positive reminder of how much happens outside of our own taiko bubble, no matter how large we think that bubble is.

Question Everything: Critiquing

Search for “taiko” on YouTube and you’ll get about 345,000 hits.  Some of them aren't actually taiko drumming, but most are.  And that’s not even counting all the “other” taiko clips where the descriptions are in Japanese, or people put it up as “Japanese drumming” because they don’t know what taiko is, etc.

Mind you, that’s just what’s posted on YouTube!  There’s stuff posted on Facebook, Vimeo, other video sites – and yes, even taiko that’s NOT recorded and uploaded to the internet *gasp*.  The amount of taiko performances around the world is a number I don’t think anyone could estimate well.

So with that many groups doing that many performances, you’re going to get a wide range of quality.  There are a countless number of karate dojo out there and there is an equally wide range of quality.  I came across this clip a few weeks ago:

I bet I can guess most of your reactions.  Some of you are appalled, others greatly amused.  Still others are thinking that maybe this is a group of special needs students (but it’s not).  Some of you may even be hoping these are the beginners, but alas these are the BLACK BELTS, some of them above the 1st-degree.  There are many other clips of this group, sometimes doing the same kata and other times sparring, but it is always the same visual.

Some of you may not see anything wrong with this clip.  People are moving with intention and effort, after all.  However, there is more emphasis on speed than technique, and as we get older, speed decreases while technique can improve.  Stomping the ground looks more important than stance, which is basically style over substance.  Even some martial arts that focus on the “pretty” for tournaments have a beauty and grace to them, which this video lacks.

So we have an example of one style, one school of karate that is really hard to watch.  And it’s really easy for me – or any of us – to make derogatory comments.  Here’s where I struggle, though.  What if this spectacle is bringing people joy?  What if it gives students much-needed self-confidence and stress relief?  What if the people you see have family or partners that are delighted watching their loved ones perform?  What if people see this and get inspired to do karate or martial arts themselves?  Would it then have worth?

On top of that, if you were at an event where you saw bad taiko or bad karate or bad something-you-practice, would you go over and tell them you thought it was bad?  Would you risk shattering someone’s self-esteem just to have your say?  Are you ok with being labeled a jerk?  What if one of them came up to you and asked your honest opinion?   Then what would you say?  Would you lie and say you thought it was great?

It’s easy to critique from afar, but when there are consequences to the words you say, how much changes?

Video: Bobby McFerrin on improvisation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIIVoVRx1tA

I came across this video the other day and found it interesting, even though it focuses on singing.  Just change "singing" to "drumming", "scales" to "rhythms","modes" to "meters", etc.

From 0:56 to 2:06 is especially good advice for people new to improvising!

If you like it, disagree, or have questions, please feel free to share...

Forgotten Promises

Last week, I had an interesting opportunity.

Wednesday afternoon, I was forwarded an email asking for 100 volunteers to show up for a music video shoot and do some basic body percussion. Sami Yusuf, a London-based pop star and UN Celebrity Partner, was making a video to bring awareness of the drought-stricken people of the Horn of Africa. His song is called Forgotten Promises.

The person in charge of the volunteers for this project was Keith Terry, who I mentioned in my last post. An interesting spot of coincidence there... Anyways, since I had the time and interest in body percussion, I drove there the next day.

We wound up with about 42 people, well-short of 100 but considering how hard it was to coordinate what we had, 100 would have been insane.

First we all learned the pattern, played with our hands on our thighs. It turned out to be very close to a pattern we play in a song in SJT, so I picked it up right away. Keith added a trill every couple of bars and asked those who were comfortable with that addition to be in the front rows. I started off on the side, because being a tall sort I didn't want to block people behind me, but I was told to stand dead-center in the second row. Sorry people behind me!

Once we were in formation of rows and columns, we started playing along to the music, which proved the hardest thing to do. The pattern was relatively simple, but doing it it in time to the music was not! Even if each one of us were drummers, it would have been hard - and I don't think most people had a percussion background, so it took a very long time to get us all in sync. Eventually, after about a dozen practice runs, we did another dozen or so real shots from different angles.

I'm not sure when the video will be coming out, but it's supposed to air on MTV and the BBC when it does. Our section is about 15 seconds - pretty short - but it was a very unique experience and a chance to help a noble cause. If you're interesting in learning more about Sami and his project, you can go here. When the video is up, I'll link it here!

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Edit: Here's the video! I'm only in a couple of snippets near the very end, but the whole video bears watching.