Kuchi shoga
Kuchi shōga (口"歌), also known as 'kuchi showa' and 'kuchi shoka', is a Japanese phonetic system for 'pronouncing' the sounds of drums, especially Japanese drums (
taiko).
Although specific usage of kuchi shoga varies, certain words are relatively universal. For example, a deep, sustained sound from the center of the drum might be rendered as "don". "Do" sometimes represents a short beat that is not allowed to resonate, and "doko" often represents two beats in rapid succession. Two quick beats may also be pronounced "dogo" or "doro," depending on the rhythmic feeling, song or group. "Tsu" represents a lightly struck note, and a sharp tap on the side would be "ka." Two quick tsu's (soft right and soft left) or ka's (tap right and tap left) would be pronounced "tsuku" or "kara."
Some taiko groups use "don," "do," "tsu," and "ka" to represent a hit with the right hand, and "kon," "ko," "ku," and "ra" to represent a left-hand hit. This allows the "sticking" of the song to be conveyed by the kuchi shoga.
Rests or pauses are often sung using scripted sounds like "sa," "ho," "iya," or words like "sore" and "dokkoi" (a two beat rest). This is called "kakegoe." If the rest is not sung, the space is often filled with unscripted sounds called
kiai's. Explicitly assigning words to represent the periods of silence in a song is likely linked to the Japanese concept of
Ma, where the space between notes is as important as the notes themselves in a performance.
Example: don (su) doko, don (su) doko, doko (su) don, in 4/4 time is three measures of beats: 1 . 3 4, 1 . 3 4, 1 2 . 4
The system is used for recording, teaching, and memorization of drum rhythms. It is also used for 'subtitles' in the
Taiko no tatsujin drumming games.
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DrumDojo.com page on Taiko - includes a description of kuchi shoga notation.
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Tatsumaki Taiko - Tatsumaki Taiko's site includes a Dictionary page with "Kuchi Showa" ("Kuchi Shoga") notation, as well as a Lesson page with examples of notated rhythms.
