Renshuu 練習

A friend from taiko class came over this afternoon to practice taiko with me. She brought her bachi (drum sticks for taiko) and her practice drum made from PVC pipe (with real cow skin head). I used my djembé and bachi because that is the drum I have. The djembé's diameter and height are both smaller and shorter than the practice taiko we use in class, but is fine for simple rhythm practice. We practiced the song "renshuu" over and over, smiling with delight as we produced the rhythms together. We spoke the special taiko words - kuchishowa - for the sounds that are made on the drum and laughed.

getting darker earlier now

Today I saw a three-legged deer on my way to taiko class. It was already getting dark in the late afternoon when I was bicycling, bicycling and making up songs as I rode. She was standing quietly under a yellow-leafed tree, this deer who walked gracefully on three. I saw that her fourth leg, which resembled a curled tree branch, was tucked high beneath her chest. After a few moments, a deer with antlers appeared behind her and they walked across the street to where the raspberry bushes edge a wide field of grass.

Don doku don don.

dear deer

I saw deer in the darkness tonight as I came to the part of the hill where I hop off my bike. Three of them. I could see their long ears parallel to the ground as they grazed alongside the houses on the hill. I was still repeating don doku don doku, kara kara kara kara from taiko class, exhilarated from the rhythms and the bicycle ride home.

taiko taiko and more taiko

Today I drummed for five hours with Odaiko Sonora at the Tucson Marathon, mile 24.5. The day began early with the set up of the various taiko behind the Basha's in Catalina. The sky had cleared after a few rain stormy days, so we had beautiful sunny dry weather. At around 7:00am, with bachi in hand, we began to roll.

Our task was to cheer on the marathon runners and walkers with our exuberant drumming, smiles, and cheers. Seeing the marathon participants' appreciative smiles as they ran by was really heart-warming. And for me, a beginner with Odaiko Sonora and with taiko, drumming for such a concentrated period of time gave me the opportunity to practice taiko songs, drills, and the jiuchi over and over with my more accomplished senpai. Now I'll have a new store of body memories from which to draw on the next time I play. I noticed today that when I stand and play to the right side of another player, imitating her or him with my gaze toward the left, it is easier to pick up the rhythms and beat than if I'm viewing from my right side. I want to develop my right viewing/learning transfer-ability, too.


I had so much fun the entire day and hardly felt tired at all. I like the challenge of learning how to play taiko by playing taiko, by making mistakes and just keeping on going. The camaraderie is really fun, too. There's a lot of depth to taiko: the history, the drums, the actual playing and voicing, the aesthetics, and being a part of the very wonderful taiko-za, Odaiko Sonora.

teapot no.4 & a taiko drawing

Teapot no. 4 (my 204th teapot) I drew with Crayola Crayons and a Kaimei sumi brush pen inside my handmade cha book (茶の本).



I drew the taiko drums (the writing of which is one of those redundancies, like saying let's vamos, since taiko actually means drum or drums) at taiko practice on Saturday. Drawing taiko, observing more skillful taiko players playing, and just being around the taiko will surely seep into me, as Basho suggests.