Our next Teacher Training day is:  Saturday 6th February, in Exeter.  10:00am - 4:00pm Price £80 per person.  For more information, please email us: info@taiko.org.uk

Besides inspiring people with professional performances, the company has always had a strong focus on education and training to help people start their own groups.  Kagemusha Junior Taiko started in 1999.  Long experience of helping young players progress from beginner to nationally-acclaimed high standards of performance has given the company a uniquely qualified platform from which to offer teacher-training.

You Need to Learn Some Taiko Yourself
Taiko is a long road.  To become an accomplished player takes a lot of hard work, persistence, support, and time.  This, however, is no reason not to make a start!  Besides, wherever someone is on their personal taiko journey, they will tell you that they still have a long way to go.  Some might even tell you that taiko is for them a never-ending journey of self-discovery and that to be on a quest for "expert status" is to miss the point.

Here at Kagemusha Taiko, we believe that what you need to get started is an introduction to the fundamentals of taiko in the form of some hands-on training with us.  Thereafter, armed with some principles to guide you and powered by your own enthusiasm and spirit of adventure, you will be able to continue to grow as a player with the help of the increasingly wide range of taiko experiences that are available to you in the U.K. and beyond.  You have to do the work of learning, no-one can bestow taiko skills upon you.

How much of an introduction do you need?  If you are going to teach a school group, you need enough to get started and to have a sense of the direction you are going to travel in.  You will find that the process of teaching will help you develop your own skills as you go.  What you as an adult teacher can learn in a few sessions will provide weeks or months of curriculum for a youth group.  This isn't just an assertion, it's based on the experience of the teacher-training we have delivered since 2003, and the groups that teachers have started and which endure.

Is Taiko For You?
Your first step should be to take an initial workshop to find out if you actually enjoy taiko.  Of course, we think taiko is fantastic and we are not shy about communicating that enthusiasm.  However, we stop short of religious fervour because not everyone feels the same way.  And that's fine.  Try a short public workshop first. 

Is Taiko For Your School Or County?
The educational benefits of taiko are undeniable.  As a musical performance art form it is uniquely accessible and exciting, but not everyone will want to teach it.  If you are looking to introduce taiko as part of the curriculum (eg Musical Futures) or as an extra-curricular club you will need to find the right people to take it on.  The best way is to organise a "taiko taster" workshop from which people will self-select as potential taiko heroes.  We can discuss our experiences of this with you to help you reach an informed way forward.

Your Aims And Objectives
Your approach to taiko should be based on these.  You need to be clear about why you are getting involved with taiko and what you want your students to get from it.  Similarly, you should choose your taiko training on the basis of what you want to achieve.  Here's our experience and some of what's important to us about taiko.  If this resonates with you, then you might want to explore training opportunities with us:

We work with people and:

• They feel motivated, energised and happy.

• They are amazed at what they achieve.

• They declare it a brilliant experience.

• They want more.

Meanwhile they learn:

• Better listening, empathy and cooperation.

• To focus on a goal and to overcome adversity.

• Respect for themselves and each other.

• To communicate with confidence.

Taiko  features:

• Accessibility and inclusion, creativity and sustainability.

• Development of emotional and life skills.

• Physical fitness.

• Technical accomplishment.

• Sheer fun!

Planning
No two situations are identical, so we are happy to discuss yours with you and to assist with the planning of the way forward.  We have run teacher-training for county music services, clusters of schools, individual schools and as part of INSET days and others.  This experience can be brought to bear to help ensure you get the most from the training you receive from us.