Snap!

There are a lot of things that are important to have in playing taiko. And there are a lot of things that are important to work on, too. If I had to choose what my main focus is, it would be wrist snap.

I've posted previously about how important wrist snap is in a post here.

One attribute that a truly good taiko player will have is fluidity. Their arms are like whips in slow motion, thrown and snapped at will. Slower motions come from the hara, at the hips, propelling energy that the arms ride on. Faster motions are focused on the fulcrums of the wrists. A lot of people think the motion is generated from the shoulders or arm, but ironically that's the last place it should come from. Using the shoulders or arms only slows you down and makes you look awkward.

When you don't have wrist snap, you can only rely on three things. Gravity, size, and strength. To some degree, those are useful, but...what happens when the notes get smaller and/or faster? Gravity is great for large motions; let the arm collapse towards the drum and hardly use any energy. But when your bachi aren't even a foot away from the drum, how are you going to utilize it? Size can only useful if you have it to begin with, but even if you do, when everyone's bachi are only a few inches away from the drum, any size advantage is gone. Strength sometimes can be useful, but to use strength you have to use tension, which is going to nullify the relaxation you need for "snappage."

Once you have wrist snap down, you can play any volume you want from any distance you want. You're not bound by the height you strike from; you can make large motions and play the quietest notes. It makes you feel like you're in control of your music instead of the other way around. Common patterns like don tsuku or doro tsuku take a third less effort, simply from utilizing good wrist snap.

If I could, I'd give everyone who was interested a workshop on striking efficiency - as it is I only have my blog and workshops at NATC. It would be awesome to go visit groups on my own someday and share this stuff with a lot of people! Maybe someday...