Powers of Taiko Question:
I have heard many people say the first time they saw taiko they knew in that moment they had to do it. Was this your experience or was it a slower process? Please explain.
| yes, as explained |
| I immediately felt drawn to it, but it took me some time to pick it up because there were no classes in Scotland at that time. |
| Hard to say because I was really young. I remember seeing Jason and Ryan play at the Midwest Buddhist Temple and was inspired by their group, but I had no idea would continue as long as I have. I remember that my first practice consisted of me hiding behind my mom and not hitting a drum. |
| This was also my experience |
| nope, saw it and just had to do it |
| I took a taiko class with my sister and it was a great bonding experience for us. Until then I never thought of taiko until my sister had suggested taking the class. |
| From the second I saw it, I knew this was what I was looking for. |
| I thought thats something with music i will be able to learn |
| Yes, I knew right away I had to do it. It was for me. I had to try and was in a lesson within a couple of weeks after seeing it for the first time. I was going to turn fifty in a couple of months and bought myself my first chu online as a present for myself. It really was instantaneous love. |
| It tickled from the first time I saw it and heard the sounds. I had never heard of Taiko before 2019. Until a group started in the area, I didn’t hesitate and participated in the first trial lessons, and then continued to do so. No regrets at all…. Only regret that I didn’t know about Taiko sooner. |
| Slower proces, I’m not a Taiko addict. |
| It came instantly in my mind to start, but it took me another year, because I was not in the right mood/mind |
| I loved it from the beginning |
| yes, very much! I always say: ‘I found something I didn’t know I was looking for!’ |
| I just explained 😉 |
| about 40 years ago (first time i saw Kodo) i did not realise we could do it too! As i started as a 50plus, i know i could never do what Kodo was/is doing, but that’s not my ambition ;)) |
| I saw Yamato Drummers perform, but it took a few years before signing up for lessons due to busy workschedule. |
| Slower. My first experiences were all seeing super fit Japanese men — the opposite of me. It wasn’t until I saw Art Lee (African-American) and Marco Lienhard (Swiss) play too that I thought there might be a chance for me. |
| Exactly! The first time I saw it I was pregnant with my second, so I waited for the baby to come, and another year more and then finally the right time for me came |
| I had that feeling since Stomp, I only heard half a year after they opened, that Yamato opened a school Amsterdam. |
| No, I started playing before I saw taiko. A friend asked me to Drum with her. We still drum together. |
| I had the same experience, but at the same time a slower process. This because I was still going to school when I discovered Taiko, and it was not possible to combine these two… In the end I had to wait two more years before I could start. |
| Neither. I had seen taiko a lot growing up but didn’t think to join until after other phases of my life had passed (college, traveling, etc.) Once I had the time I was able to commit |
| I have seen a taiko, heard it being struck and I never forgot. It was a powerful, almost overwhelming experience and I have felt reverence and admiration for it and people who play. One day I have learned my city has a group, and I joined. |
| Yes. Apparently my parents took me to taiko performance from an international group when I was a toddler. I wish I knew which group it was. I don’t remember anything about this, but Mum says I sat there, completely absorbed and still – and I am never still. When I saw the group playing in my early adolescence, I knew I wanted to play right away, but didn’t know why. I liked the look of it, I think. I liked the noise. What I didn’t appreciate until after I had been playing for a while is the vibrational quality of the drum and how it affects my nervous system. I became interested enough in this quality that I have since trained t work as a rhythm therapist as an adjunct to my counselling job |
| I have grabbed at many things in my live, but I feel taiko is something that grabbed me. |
| It was more like, “that’s awesome, I’m so glad I have that in my town,” but no inkling that I could actually do it myself. I don’t think it occurred to me it was something I could ever do until I saw one of my non-Japanese friends playing in her town’s kumi daiko group. |
| Yes, I wanted to do it too |
| Yes, as soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to play. I am a huge introvert but I called the leader of the local group and went by myself to my first class that week. |
| After seeing a video, I immediately wanted to try it, having done percussion when in school. I did a cursory search and was not able to find any classes. Within a year, I found handout postcards for local classes at a science fiction convention, and immediately signed up for the next intro class. |
| I knew I wanted to try it. Then, other experiences kept bringing it back to my consciousness. |
| Love at first sight |
| Absolutely. In May 2011 I was helping out with a falconry display in a village festival in mid Devon when I heard the group stat playing. Instantly I was mesmerised, watching both of their performances that day. I then watched them several times and went to the UK Taiko Festival in Exeter where Taiko Project were the headline act. Eventually (September 2011) there was a couple of “Taste of Taiko” workshops which I attended followed by a couple of six week courses and I was invited to toon Tano Taiko before Christmas. The following May was my first gig, the very same stage where I had seen the group performing a year ago. |
| I was completely blown away by taiko. I sat in a dark auditorium and felt exhilarated, excited, moved to tears by the fue, homesick for Ireland as the melodies and the flutes made me yearn for home. I felt like I wanted to jump up and dance and beat rhythms on my thighs the whole way through. I knew I had to do it. I knew right then I had to try that. It was such a visceral experience! |
| I loved it immediately, but it wasn’t until I saw Kelvin Underwood and Marco Lienhard in Ondekoza, that I realized you didn’t have to be Japanese to play. |
| For me, it was love at first sight and sound!!! |
| exactly this 😀 |
| Slower process |
| First time I played it felt right. |
| It was! |
| Hearing it on CD? No. Seeing Kodo in a big theatre? No. Playing it with SJT? Instantly. |
| Slower: I had started learning Japanese to understand my training (bow, sword, spear, tea) at university, which also included literature, history and religion. The offer to taiko was in that context and it was something missing from my horizons of experience within Japanese culture, so I added it about 6 months after the first offer. |
| I knew about Taiko as I was born and was grew up in Japan. It was just a “once a week” lesson. I was just having fun taking a class once a week, but as I study more, I got interested in more. |
| Yes. Exactly. I was never particularly interested in drumming until I saw Taiko. But I knew immediately that I wanted to play. |
| Yes, it was the sensation ” I also have to do that”. |
| Yes It was, I Saw my teacher do a performance and I thought how wonderful It was |
| In my case it was like an awakening experience. So to say |
| It was slower I think. I didn’t have much exposure to taiko prior to doing it. I will say that I had a moment like what you’re describing: when Fujimoto Yoshikazu was rehearsing with us in Hawai’i, I felt a distinct tingle go up my spine the moment he started to lay down the song’s ji. That was incredible, and I’ll probably never forget it. |
| Very much slower! Shared a children’s taiko concert w/my grandson when he was just 2 yrs old. We both started taking taiko classes when he was 13 years old. |
| I think I didn’t have exactly that thought when I first saw taiko in 1998. But it made a very strong impression on me. It had a connecting power, that was special and not to be found in the music I was playing up until then. The opportunity to start taiko for myself came a few years later and since there was no Youtube or Facebook at that time, or a local taiko group in my town, there was no way for me to actually find out more about taiko. But I also wasn’t looking actively for more information about taiko until I started. |
| No, definitely not! 😀 In fact I doubt I could find anyone who had been farther from me in this question 😀 My first encounter with taiko was Taiko Hungary’s yearly grand concert in a theatre and despite how much I enjoyed their performance I left the auditorium with these sturdy thoughts: ‘I loved it, really, I loved it, but I would never ever be able to play the drums myself. I only have experience with melody instruments but playing only the rhythms?? Nah! And no, I’m not even up for trying it.’ – so yes it started quite from a distance 😀 Later though I’ve decided to give it a chance as a new adventure and it ended up very well 🙂 |
| Oh yeah, instantly fell in love with them! |
| I was slow to come to realization. |
| It was the same for me, love at first sight. |
| Yes! This was exactly my experience! I am not musically gifted and have always struggled to learn instruments, but taiko immediately grabbed me. |
| My first experience was with a performance of Ondekoza in the city where I lived. Monochrome I’ll never forget this experience, tears. It lasted over 40years before I was able to start playing myself. |
| Yes I agree. Although it took me a long time to find somewhere to play |
| I had never seen Taiko in person when I became interested, But after seeing the video I was instantly enamored. |
| Exactly that as a deep imperative that stayed there for 6 years and is there now after 17! |
| I actually never saw taiko before I took a class in it. As part of the homeschool field trip group I ran, I was always looking for new stuff to do. Misora Taiko was offering short workshops for families, and that was my first exposure to it. After that, we discovered Mu Daiko was offering ongoing classes, so we signed up. |