Song Database

Taiko Source song database is a music journal resource for the international taiko community to share songs (or just some fun grooves)

Copyleft songs

Depending on the specific license chosen, the composer allows people to perform, record, teach, and alter their work, as long as they give credit for the original work — and — offer the work they create from it under the same license. Creative Commons has a variety of copyleft licenses.

2164

Composer:  Compose by Numbers Workshop Participants

Files

Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece.

About:

“On a 10°F evening in mid-January, a bunch of curious people got together in the (chilly) Taiko practice room at 2164 Rosewood Ln N, in Roseville MN, USA, with Kris Bergstrom, Maz Baba, and Shoji Kameda to delight in their Compose by Number Workshop — we soon warmed-up the place!”



Aeration

Composer:  Jordan Tani

If altering this composition, please be sure to contact composer. He’d really love to see what you do with this! 

About

From composer Jordan Tani…

During my final quarter in music theory, Professor Lei Liang of UCSD gave us a final project/assignment where he tasked us with creating a composition in the style of one of the many 20th century composers we had analyzed over the term. There was no limitation on what instruments be used, or in what manner for that fact — as long as we embodied the spirit of the composer through our own creative processes. I had always wanted to attempt to compose a piece for taiko involving sheet music or some sort of notation as well as combine two uniquely different musical cultures: a contemporary classical/avant-garde style with kumidaiko.

The two composers that I chose to embody were Steve Reich, and Edgard Varese, taking unique musical ideas from both of them into the two distinct sections of the piece. These concepts would involve Reich’s study in musical phase and Varese’s exploration of the timbral qualities of instruments in order to create sounds not normally associated with the particular instrument along with the Varese’s use of electronic music within his works.

Aeration itself is inspired by the concept of boiling water, a narrative that begins with the turning on of a stove, exerting a force on the still water, bubbling slowly and sporadically until it eventually comes to a more even and rhythmic rolling boil. The electronic part within the piece is a recorded shime track that the performer(s) must play in time with, creating the effect as if there are more taiko players on stage than there really are. Aeration was originally intended to be a solo work for taiko, specifically Shime or possibly Okedo.

Composer’s Note: I plan on expanding Aeration into a kumidaiko version if groups would be interested in performing it — please contact me! Additionally, This piece uses standard western notation and graphical notation that I have devised myself and also plan to continue developing further.

For more insights on avant garde classical music and Jordan Tani’s inspirations:

Edgard Varese

Steve Reich

Iannis Xenakis

Lei Liang

Kamaitachi

Composer: Jordan Tani

If altering this composition, please be sure to contact composer. He’d really love to see what you do with this! (See composer’s other song — Aeration — on this database for contact information.)


Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece.


Audio File: Kamaitachi (2015)

pdf: Kamaitachi-JordanTani-Score_and_Parts


Video: Kamaitachi


Individual Parts - pdfs


From composer Jordan Tani…


Kamaitachi are a type of yokai that are embodiments of the wind. In lore, they are characterized by attacking travelers leaving them with a distinct characteristic of sharp pains but no wounds to show for it. This piece is inspired by the Hida Province interpretation. Kamaitachi attack in a trio: the first uses large gusts of wind to knock down the traveler, the second attacks with sharp blades, and the third heals the wounds.


The piece translates the Hida interpretation through the three naname players, each embodying a characteristic in play style, performance, and kata. Solos are also a unique way in which these unique characteristics may be displayed. Kamaitachi is a very malleable song and can be played in many formats for a variety of performance requirements, in a bare bones performance it can be performed with as little as the 3-naname and 1-shime.


For information regarding learning and performing the piece, contact the composer for additional help and opportunities to learn in-person, including workshops or private sessions.


Kamaitachi can predominantly be found within Asayake Taiko’s repertoire and during their annual concerts.

Kinzoku

Composer: Grady Mayo

For additional help/information concerning Kinzoku, or if you would like to share your alterations with the composer, please contact Grady Mayo through Facebook, or email on score PDF.

Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece: 

Videos:

Kinzoku is released under the “Creative Commons Share Alike” License. The composer encourages everyone to learn, practice, and perform the piece. If you would like to modify it, please give proper credit to the original composer and share the modified piece under the same license. For additional help/information concerning Kinzoku, or if you would like to share your alterations with the composer, please contact Grady Mayo directly.

Contact info for Grady Mayo:

Other relateed resources:

From composer Grady Mayo…

Kinzoku means “metal”, and was heavily inspired by the genre of music that shares its namesake. I wrote this piece, originally, out of curiosity. I had ideas in my head that I wanted to put onto paper, and I ended up writing the first draft of the piece on a music notation program. After translating what was on the paper to actual drums, editing the song, and incorporating some choreography into the music, Korabo Taiko conceived the piece.

Kinzoku, itself, is structured much like Western popular music (verse-bridge-chorus format) and includes several metal-inspired rhythms and feels. The three “verses” serve as avenues that showcase the three different player groups – odaiko, chu-daiko, and taiko set. The piece is quite complex; the rhythms create strange grooves for the players, the time signature is woven out of odd meters, and the ji steadily changes. I hope that this piece provides a rewarding challenge for groups that take it on.

Korekara

Composers:  Michelle Fuji & Walter Clarke

Files:

Korekara Notation with Backstory pdf

Video:

More Videos:

About this song:

In the spirit of community fostered by Taiko Conference, the Song Committee Project enabled a diverse group of taiko players to interact in a way we all know and love — by playing taiko!

Korekara (translation: “From Now On”) is released under the license known as the “Creative Commons Share-Alike License” that encourages others to learn, perform, and modify the piece. The simple rule: You may practice, perform or change the piece, as long as your work is kept available for others to use under the same license.

Matsuri

A series of traditional Japanese festival rhythms.

Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece.

Videos playing with Matsuri phrases and improv

Matsuri-Too

Composer: Wendy Jedlička

Files: 

From composer Wendy Jedlička…

When originally creating the Matsuri entry for TaikoSource, I wanted to find out who wrote the song “Matsuri” I was taught when I first started taiko here in the US. My sources noted though: “There really isn’t one song in the way we understand in North America. In Japan, every village has their own Matsuri based on familiar Bon Odori rhythms and new patterns added to express local culture. So really, just write your own.” So I did.

Starting with the familiar “Don Don Don kara kaka, Don Don (tsu), Don Don kara kaka” I pulled together phrases from the Matsuri solo I’ve been doing since 1998. I’m offering my Masuri-Too (Matsuri Yi)* as a starting place for new groups, and welcome players to build and change this song to express your own local culture. Enjoy!

Sketches 

Composers:  Various

From Wendy Jedlička…

This “Sketches” section of the TaikoSource Song Database is a place to share small parts. It need not be a whole song, just a few phrases, or a fun groove will do nicely. Sometimes a simple audio theme is enough to give people inspiration. Composer, Julie Schramke, created her song Mori no Koe based on the pattern for “shave and a haircut…2-bits.” What might your fun little pattern inspire? 

Contact us with your audio sketch to share. A basic mp3 recording with a short write-up about the sketch is all we need. If you can write-out your pattern too, then bonus! Use the “Share Your Beats” link to submit your recording.

Sketch: 2164

Files:  

More info:

About 2164: 

On a 10°F evening in mid-January, a bunch of curious people got together in the (chilly) Taiko practice room at 2164 Rosewood Ln N, in Roseville MN, USA, with Kris Bergstrom, Maz Baba, and Shoji Kameda to delight in their Compose by Number Workshop — we soon warmed-up the place!

Note: 2164 is also included as a song on this page as it’s a bit more extensive than one phrase and is used by Taikollaborative as a transition piece with hand percussion (Uchiwa and Clave), but it’s also not really a whole long song either. Where might you take this base idea? 

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Sketch: Conga Sketch 042512

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Sketch: General Groove 1

About: The pieces in the General Groove series come from this odd idea: What if way back when only the drummers showed-up on the day of the battle? How different would conflicts look today if they were resolved only with drums? People will have conflicts, they may even want to come to blows, but resolving the issues through the beat of drums would make the world a much groovier, and healthier, place. — Wj

Special thanks to Roy Hirabayashi and Kris Bergstrom for helping me discover I can ‘paint’ pictures with musical notes. 


Taiko Right-Left Practice (Drill)

Composer: Andreas Prescher / Kumano Taiko Dojo

A short, fun drill to train right and left sticking. This arrangement is for two chus and a chappa.  Original composition name: Taiko Rechts-Links Ubung

Tatsumaki

Composer: Hiroshi Tanaka

Files: 

Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece.

Notation pdf: Tatsumaki 2007-Hiroshi Tanaka

Videos:


Use with permission songs

This category allows copyright works to be shared, including performing, recording, or teaching the work, with specific conditions detailed by the composer or copyright holder. A website or other contact information must accompany this category so prospective users can contact the copyright holder. 

Beginnings

Composer: Marco Lienhard

From composer Marco Lienhard…

Beginnings was written as a celebratory song. After the hard labor of creating the islands, the land and the people — the Gods of Japan rejoice with this song.

Files

Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece.  Music will be made available if workshop is conducted through Marco Lienhard. 

Additional Resources:

Ei Ja Nai Ka (Taiko, Dance, Voice)

Composer:  PJ Hirabayashi

Originally performed by: San Jose Taiko

Composition Date: 1994

License:  (c)1994 PJ Hirabayashi. All rights reserved. 

From composer PJ Hirabayashi…

The inspiration for Ei Ja Nai Ka (EJNK) came from the high energy of Japanese festivals and folk dances, such as Kyushu’s Kokura Gion Matsuri and Awa Odori of Shikoku. EJNK is dedicated to the Issei (the first Japanese immigrants to America) and celebrates Japanese American history through movements that reflect the Issei’s work in agriculture, mining, and railroad construction. In recent years, EJNK has expanded beyond San Jose Taiko and is included in a growing number of North American Obon festivals.

Ei Ja Nai Ka is also one of several shared experiences used to bring people together under the idea of TaikoPeace. TaikoPeace, created by PJ Hirabayashi, is a movement, mindset, and mantra dedicated to unleash creativity, spark new connections of co-creativity, and heal the human spirit through the dynamic energy of taiko drumming. Inspired by Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion, TaikoPeace seeks to amplify positive social change through personal transformation among all people. To learn more visit: https://www.taikopeace.love

Michinoku

Composer: Mitsuaki Sato

Files

Scores, notes, and audio files to help learn this piece.

Purchase score:  Taiko Center Online Shop 

Video:  東日本大震災復興祈願和太鼓合同曲「陸奥-MICHINOKU-」

From Togo Miyahara, Taiko Center Co.,Ltd

After the great east Japan earthquake, this piece was first performed by “Sousaku Wadaiko Komanokai” — one of the pioneers of today’s taiko music — with taiko groups from the devastated coast area as part of their regular concert in 2011. Additionally, every May 5th the song has been performed to pray for the children who lost their lives and for the recovery of their hometown as part of an event called Aoi Koinobori Project held in Ohmagarihama, Higashi Matsushima city. This piece has also been performed by taiko groups in Las Vegas, and each year continues to spread around world.

Many players have performed this piece as a prayer for Tohoku, the region hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake. The score “Michinoku” was launched for sale on March 11th, 5 years after the earthquake. We believe that art and traditional performance is part of its heart and soul. Let’s play the sounds that bind us together, and dream that this piece will be performed as a prayer for those who lost their homes and loved ones, and hopes for a brighter future.

Odaiko Kakeai Kihon Kyoku

Composer: Kenny Endo

Contact composer, Kenny Endo, for notation files, learning and use options.

Videos:

From composer Kenny Endo…

Odaiko Kakeai Kihon Kyoku means Odaiko Call and Response Basic Piece.

This composition for odaiko was developed from a composition called, “Rites of Thundering.” It showcases the power and excitement of an odaiko played in unison sections as well as solos. This piece has also been known as “Arashi Daiko.”

Pounding Hooves

Composer:  Rick Shiomi

Video: Mu Daiko, Pounding Hooves (DVD: In Concert, no.2)

Pounding Hooves was first performed in 1997 by Minnesota-based taiko group, Mu Daiko (now Enso Daiko), and had been a favorite repertoire piece of this group throughout their 20-year history. Composer Rick Shiomi describes the song: Imagine a wide-open field with horses slowly gathering at first, but then forming together, gliding over the terrain in a wild, yet effortlessly powerful gallop with the wind blowing back their manes and tails. Why are they running? For the sheer joy of it.

This is one of those taiko songs that’s simple in its structure, but you’d never know on hearing it. Pounding Hooves is not too hard to learn, accommodates a wide range of taiko skills, has plenty of room for individual as well as group growth, and is always an audience (and performer) favorite.

See Also


Wajima Kiriko Taiko

Composer: Wajima Kiriko Taiko Hozonkai

Kiriko Taiko YouTube Channel

From Wajima Kiriko Taiko Hozonkai representative Walter Tsushima…

“Kiriko Taiko” is a specialized style of taiko that originates from the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The Noto Peninsula is place of serenity surrounded by the beautiful mountains, blue oceans and lush forests. The life-rhythms of the people of the Noto have molded and shaped their culture of taiko drumming for hundreds of years.

A dynamic taiko style, Kiriko Taiko is performed in an upright position, usually with two people (or up to five people) on a single drum. Different from kumidaiko, or ensemble taiko drumming, where up to 10 or more separate taiko drums are necessary for a performance, Kiriko Taiko requires only one taiko drum. Additionally unlike kumidaiko, where preset songs are performed, Kiriko Taiko allows for much flexibility; the many Kiriko Taiko rhythms studied can be combined to create solos, and arrangements. This freedom is what makes Kiriko Taiko a dynamic taiko style to perform as well as watch.

Connect on Social Media:

Watashi Watashitachi

Composer: Shoji Kameda

Video: On Ensemble: Taiko

From composer Shoji Kameda…

The core patterns of Watashi Watashitachi are derived from the syllables of its title.  “Wa” and “ta” are played in the center of the drum, and “shi” and “chi” are played at the rim.  From this base, a variety of fast-paced rhythms utilize a wide range of tones provided by the three small drums.

See also: 

On Ensemble takes the ancient instruments of taiko into new realms.

Use with proper credit songs

This category allows works to be shared by the composer, including performing, recording, and teaching the work, where the only condition for sharing is that the original composer is properly credited as the work’s creator.

Excel

Composer: Koki Suzuki

PDF: Excel-KokiSuzuki

This song was contributed by Mr. Koki Suzuki, President of Suzuki Taiko Ten and the leader of Ohmagari Taiko Dojo. While this song is freely distributable, the copyright remains with Mr. Suzuki, and he should be credited where appropriate.

The top line of each staff indicates the shime-daiko part. The middle line of each staff indicates the chu-daiko part. The bottom line of each staff indicates the odaiko part.

Harmony

Composer: Koki Suzuki

PDF: Harmony-KokiSuzuki

This song was contributed by Mr. Koki Suzuki, President of Suzuki Taiko Ten and the leader of Ohmagari Taiko Dojo. While this song is freely distributable, the copyright remains with Mr. Suzuki, and he should be credited where appropriate.

The top line of each staff indicates the shime-daiko part. The middle line of each staff indicates the chu-daiko part. The bottom line of each staff indicates the odaiko part.

Issho (Together)

Composer: Chad Nakagawa of Taishoji Taikoi

Videos

From composer Chad Nakagawa…

This song was written for the 2011 Big Island Taiko Festival held every two years on the Big Island of Hawaii.  This songs emphasizes the power of playing as a group versus playing as an individual.  The movements and beats are simple but when played in great numbers, came be visually and audibly stunning.

Kagura

Composer: Traditional, arranged by Tsukiboshi Sensei

Music will be made available if workshop is conducted through Marco Lienhard.  For more information visit: http://marcolienhard.com

Video: NATC 2009 Marco Lienhard Workshop - Kaitoryu

From Marco Lienhard…

This is one of the basic songs of the Kaitoryu style.  Kagura means shrine (shinto) music. This is performed during the Spring celebration at the Shinto shrine of Tobishima Mura in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Passed on to members of Ondekoza by Tsukiboshi Sensei, it is accompanied by a Matsuribue tuned by Tsukiboshi Sensei that usually is played along with the taiko piece.

Kaoru Watanabe: Beginner’s Piece

Composer: Kaoru Watanabe

Videos:

A fun piece created by Kaoru Watanabe to help with playing, reading, and listening training.

Kasabayashi (Taiko, Fue, Dance)

Composer: C Kaoru Watanabe (music), Chieko Kojima (dance)

Videos:

Backstory courtesy of Kaoru Watanabe…

In 2007 Kaoru Watanabe and Chieko Kojima were developing a concept for a two person Kodo Arts Sphere America (KASA) workshop tour across the US and Canada. Both Watanabe and Kojima had studied and performed a wide array of traditional pieces. Developing the workshop, Watanabe and Kojima wanted to make sure ancestral heritage would not be distributed inappropriately, being sensitive to local practitioners of traditional repertoire. Workshop participants however, favored pieces they could eventually perform. With the idea of sharing the flavor of what they had learned over the years respectfully, Watanabe and Kojima attempted to create a new piece that captures some of the essence of the traditional performing arts. Both the music and choreography for Kasabayashi enjoy influences from Tsugaru Teodori (from Aomori) as well as two dances from Iwate Prefecture, Kurokawa Sansa Odori and Nanazumai.

The goal of Kasabayashi is to be a piece that is both simple enough to be taught in one session, but interesting enough to encourage people to perform it. The composers wanted a piece that all of the participants in their workshops could perform together — dance, fue, and taiko.  They called it Kasabayashi because in all the ways mentioned above, it shares KASA’s vision of facilitating intercultural exchanges and communication between Japanese and American taiko players and communities.

Katsu Donburi

Composer: Chad Nakagawa of Taishoji Taiko

Videos: 

From composer Chad Nakagawa…

This song was composed for teaching beginners of Taiko and to help to emphasize strong spaced out beats, big circular movements and yelling (kakegoe).  The word KATSU, in Zen, means “to yell” and because of the many spaces in between beats, it allows players to practice thier Kakegoe.  The word DON is to symbolize the strong beats.  The title KATSU DONBURI is my favorite food so that is why I titled it Katsu Donburi.

Ladies Shime (Solo/Drill)

Composer: Ljiljana Bulic

In 2008 the composer’s group learned a composition (Otoko Gumi/Men’s group, [contact original group for complete song permissions]) with a short Shime solo. Ljiljana composed this piece to play in between 2 main Miya parts. While this piece was composed to fit a particular song, it could be used as a fun drill to build hand coordination, or as a starting point for a new composition!

Makura-Gaeshi

Composer: Gregory P. Richards

Videos

While brainstorming to come up with a name for our newly-formed taiko group (and coming up empty-handed), we jokingly began looking up Japanese yokai as a source of inspiration.  In doing so, we stumbled upon the Makura Gaeshi, or “Pillow-Mover”; an apparition with such a bizarre set of characteristics that it simply needed to have a song written about it. 

As its name suggests, the Makura Gaeshi is primarily known as a night-time prankster, notorious for moving one’s pillow while they sleep; often all the way to the foot of the bed.  The darker tellings have the creature paralyzing, stealing the souls of, and even killing their victims.  Shigeru Mizuki’s Yokai Daizukai gets even stranger, depicting the spirit as having a special organ for “creating rainbow-colored light that it emits through its eyes.”

These characteristics are those that I’ve attempted to depict in this piece.  Included here are both the complete score and video-taped performance of ShinDaiko’s arrangement, as well as sheet music and video examples of the song’s five main themes.  These themes are the core of the piece, which can be arranged in whatever form, and for whatever instrumentation, you or your group see fit.  Anyone is welcome to use our arrangement, or to create their own.  Different sources regarding the Makura Gaeshi list still other traits and characteristics not depicted here, so feel free to write your own themes and motifs in addition to mine.  Enjoy!  -G.P. Richards

From composer Gregory P. Richards…

The Makura-Gaeshi (枕返し) is a mischievous yokai, or Japanese demon, that appears in various tales of Japanese folklore. Its name means “pillow flipper,” and true to its moniker, it is known to hide in bedrooms, waiting until the occupants are asleep in bed, then steal the sleepers’ pillows from under their heads and replace them at their feet.

Matthew Meyer of yokai.com says of the makura-gaeshi, “Makura-gaeshi are a kind of zashiki-warashi: a child ghost which haunts specific rooms of a house. They are found all over Japan, though details about them vary from region to region. They take the form of a small child dressed as a Niō, a monk, or a samurai, and appear in bedrooms late at night…While most stories about makura-gaeshi present them as harmless pranksters, there are a few stories that describe scarier powers. Some don’t flip the pillow, but lift up and flip people instead. Others pick up entire tatami mats that people are sleeping on and bounce them around.  Still others are said to sit on their victim’s chest while he or she sleeps, pressing down hard and squeezing the wind out of the lung. They occasionally cause kanashibari, or sleep paralysis. The most extreme stories say that anyone who sees a makura-gaeshi loses consciousness, after which the makura-gaeshi steals their soul, leaving them dead.”

Horror manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, known for his yokai-themed manga GeGeGe no Kitaro, adds an extra element on to the makura-gaeshi by giving them two brains: one for thinking up pranks, and the other solely dedicated to creating rainbows that the yokai can shoot out of its eyes.

Greg Richards’ take on the makura-gaeshi legend combines these myriad elements into a composition showcasing the many talents of this versatile yokai.

Omiyage

Composer: Shoji Kameda

Videos:

Here are a few examples of TAIKOPROJECT’s arrangements of Omiyage, starting with the most recent and going back to the original version. Over the years, we have been able to refine many of the Omiyage patterns, movements, and choreography. We have also created numerous arrangements from full ensemble versions to small-ensemble versions. The taiko community is free to use any of these, or come up with your own!

Omiyage, meaning “gift” was created as a gift to the whole Taiko community.

Raku (Taiko, Fue)

Composer: Shidara artistic director Chabo-San

A super fun, easy to learn song! Parts for chu, fue, and shime — lots of energy! 

Sansa-Daiko

Composer: Koki Suzuki

This song was contributed by Mr. Koki Suzuki, President of Suzuki Taiko Ten and the leader of Ohmagari Taiko Dojo. While this song is freely distributable, the copyright remains with Mr. Suzuki, and he should be credited where appropriate.

Shodaiko

Composer: Jonas vom Orde

Shodaiko is a piece that offers different types of challenges for a group. It allows people to make their own voices heard and explores specific aspects of taiko playing, at the same time as being accessible to a range of players. Each of the voices in this piece focuses on a different aspect and invites each person to challenge their safespace – students and teachers alike. The coexisting characteristics of the voices are constructed as follows:

In order to make this piece accessible and enjoyable for as many groups as possible, it was composed solely for beta/flat-stand position, then a simplified version of the shime-daiko voice was added, and then a third version was arranged which includes metal percussion and an O-daiko voice.

This is Taiko Bastards’ first piece that has been specifically written with the taiko community in mind and they hope you’ll have as much fun playing it as they had creating it. In short: It’s all about starting something new! So, have fun and bring the Big Bang!!

See also:

Taiko Beat

Composer: Koki Suzuki

This song was contributed by Mr. Koki Suzuki, President of Suzuki Taiko Ten and the leader of Ohmagari Taiko Dojo. While this song is freely distributable, the copyright remains with Mr. Suzuki, and he should be credited where appropriate.

The top line of each staff indicates the shime-daiko part. The middle line of each staff indicates the chu-daiko part. The bottom line of each staff indicates the odaiko part.

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