Wow. Tonight we learned a very complex song. It had 9 parts.

We do exercises before and after the class to make sure we are stretching and loosening muscles.

We have to hold our abs tight and stand in a position that keeps our spines neutral.

After class, our sensei showed us a PowerPoint history of his years learning taiko. He's sort of famous in taiko circles around the world.

He started when he was 22 y/o and they practiced 9 hours/day.

His taiko ensemble played Europe for 6 months and since then (1984) have return engagements to sold out performances.

This gave us heart, I suppose. Of course, if our group ever got that good, we might get to play in Switzerland or Germany! ;-)

After we learned all the lines to our song, he played the flute and his assistant drummer played 2 smaller taiko drums, different in tones, along with us novices.

I must say that altogether, we sounded pretty damn good for beginners!

So . . . there is hope! Guten Tag!