Updates – February 19, 2015


Ready Set kaDON Lesson 5
Now that we’ve learned all the patterns we’ll need for “Ready Set kaDON!” (RSK) it’s time to start with the arrangement! Lesson 5 goes over the first half of the arrangement for the Chu1 part. There are 4 parts to RSK: two chudaiko parts (Chu1 and Chu2), an okedo/odaiko part and a shime part. One of the main advantages of learning through video lessons is that it allows for more intricate arrangements than would be possible if the piece were taught in a traditional 2.5 hour workshop format. In this piece I tried to take advantage of this freedom. You’ll see that the patterns of “Ready Set kaDON!” are fairly simple and it is in how they are arranged within the four parts that creates interest and excitement in the piece!

Lion Chant
We’ve had several more requests for the Lion Chant lesson resources and we are still working on them! I’ll be uploading the score for Lion Chant very soon. My apologies for the delay! We’ll also be reworking how we link the lesson resources to the videos to make them easier to manage and find. In the meantime check out the version of Lion Chant we played with Kaoru at the recent On Ensemble Aratani World Series concert: https://soundcloud.com/turtlefield-music/lion-chant

North American Taiko Conference and the UK Taiko Festival
Registration for the North American Taiko Conference and the UK Taiko Festival are open now! Kenny, Kaoru and I will all be teaching at the North American Taiko Conference coming up this June 11-14. Registration is now open at: http://natc.taikocommunityalliance.org

For those of you in Europe I’ll be teaching workshops at the UK Taiko Festival from July 3-5. Workshop slots are filling up fast so register now at: http://www.taikofestival.org.uk

Happy practicing!
peace,
shoji