The tall whisperer

Ever since my post here on being a rather tall taiko player, I've had more people ask me for advice on dealing with height in taiko. Sometimes it's from the players themselves, and other times it comes from people trying to teach a taller player.

I toyed with the idea of offering a workshop on the subject at Taiko Conference, but you know, it's really going to be easier and quicker to talk about it here.

1. Start stretching! If you want to match your shorter compatriots, you'll have to get a lot lower to compensate for your height. That can only come from a deeper stance! To get that flexibility, you'll have to not only stretch out outside of practice, but when you're practicing, take a wider stance. I'd bet it wasn't easy to take a wide stance when you first started playing taiko, but you managed, right? This is just the next step you have to take. You don't want to just bend your knees and get lower, you need to stretch the legs and get wider to get lower.

2. Extend those arms! It's odd, but the taller you are, the more you have to show it. If your arms don't get to extend fully every chance they get, you'll look a lot smaller. Maybe it's just because even the little things (like a bend in the elbow) look bigger on us? A shorter person at full extension looks bigger next a taller person who's technically bigger who isn't extending. So feel the energy go past your hands, past your fingers, past the bachi. Don't let the energy stop just because there's a physical "end" to your line.

3. Effort! I've seen a lot of taller players strike with little of the dynamic force available to them. It may come from a fear of over-hitting, whether a personal concern or comments coming from instructors. It may also come from just not enough exertion. Longer arms cover more ground, and to keep time with the music, taller players will have to push a bit extra to keep up. To make sure that the strike into the drum has proper follow-through, that just means giving more effort on top of keeping the arms in sync.

4. Use that height! You have longer legs, so when you step, go for distance! But don't lumber about, do it with speed and purpose. Think of sinking down, rising up, creating big circles and lines with your arms; you can reach spaces other players can't, so do it! Also, one performing trick I'm still trying to get down is to make things look hard. If you don't have trouble playing more than one drum because you can reach them easily, you should at least pretend it's hard, because it'll look like you're trying. If you don't "fake it", you risk looking like you're holding back.

5. Equipment! I do whatever I can to see that people use proper-sized bachi, as I first mentioned here. A taller player using bachi too short for them will make everything harder - distance from the drums, compensation for good technique, projection, etc. The same applies to a shorter person with larger bachi, but I have no idea what it's like to be short, since I never was. :) The point is, try bachi that are longer than you're used to, even if it's by 1/4-1/2 of an inch. Give it a week or two to decide if you like it or not.

Well, I hope that helps somewhat. I might wind up the poster boy for tall taiko players at this rate! There's really no secret to playing well while being tall, it just takes work!