On Saturday, June 8th, Soh Daiko held a workshop teaching taiko basics and techniques to about 17 participants.

The workshop started with a brief history of taiko by Alan Okada, one of the founding members of Soh Daiko, and a short demonstration of the drums and other instruments. The participants limbered up with a stretch and then cardio workout including push ups and sit ups which quickly warmed everyone up. Aya Ino then taught stance, basic hitting, and other techniques to create powerful sounds. Miyuki Rivera followed up the session with a breakdown of Soh Daiko’s version of Matsuri and the participants were taught artistic movements to add onto the rhythm. Finally, participants had a chance to play Matsuri with Soh Daiko members, which culminated in wonderful solos by all the attendees! Soh Daiko was thrilled to share this experience with this great group of drummers and we hope to see them all again!

Alan teaches the group the deep history of taiko in Japan and North America

John Ko leads the group in vigorous warm ups!

Workshop participants at the Soh Daiko workshop!