Little kids in taiko classes need to sing, dance, and move as well as drum. Luckily (?), you need to change activities every 5 minutes for PreK-1st graders, so there’s plenty of time to cover all of those bases. Kids classes also benefit from consistent structure - a beginning and ending song, for example.
We repurposed the nonsense folk song Sarasponda into “I’m a Taiko Player” to be the closing song for our kids Taiko Zooms. It incorporates a dramatic raising of the arms, the lyrics are silly, and you get to “DON DON DON!” at the end of each phrase. Kids LOVE it. I demonstrate it in this video, and it’s written out here in western notation.
Here’s how to introduce it:
Sing while doing the gestures (raising arms during the phrase, then patting legs on “DON DON DON!”). Have students listen and watch, keeping an ear out for the DON.
Say the words once through in rhythm while doing the gestures. Kids continue to watch and listen.
Sing it again. All kids should copy your gestures and movement, and any kids who have learned the words can join.
Sing it again. This time, encourage kids to sing the words they’ve picked up. Play DON on a drum if you have one, legs if you don’t.
Repeat! Continue to raise your arms slowly during the beginning and middle of phrases, and only play on “DON DON DON!”
Once the kids are comfortable singing with you and playing “DON DON DON,” add in the second verse, replacing “tsu-ku” and “really small” for “DON DON” and “really big.” It’s especially fun to make very tiny gestures and sing quietly in this round! Remember not to slow down-- it’s important to affirm that quiet does not always mean slow, and fast does not always mean loud. (Particularly since we do sometimes speed up for the last round!)
“I’m a Taiko Player” reinforces loud vs. soft, listening for and responding to cues, the kuchishoka for loud and soft strikes, all while singing and playing. It hits a lot of music ed standards and is fun to boot. Let us know if you try it, and happy teaching!