Taiko is the Japanese art of group drumming, and no experience is needed. An experienced player takes you through the basics step by step: the stance, the grip on the sticks and the power you put into a beat from your whole body. You play at full strength rather than tapping politely, and you hear it straight away.
At first the sound is loose and searching. Then it comes together: the beats land as one, the drums start to sound like a single instrument and the noise carries the whole group along. The philosophy behind it, focus, discipline and connection, sits in the playing itself. One to two hours is enough to get past a first taste, and the closing rhythm shows it.
