Your Edge On Chi: Tai Chi Music

The Music of CHI or Tai Chi Music

Except for what you see in the movies, tai chi is almost never performed to "tai chi music." In fact, there is really no such thing. Tai chi is performed in silence. It is after all a discipline that was developed to achieve inner peace. It is not really about entertainment while moving your body. That is a conceit that is more about the westernization of this ancient fine art.

However thanks to movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Golden Hero and other Tai Chi style sword fighting extravaganzas many people in North America associate tai chi music with the soundtracks of those movies. Therefore if you wanted to play some tai chi music while you did the moves you might want to put on the soundtrack to Chinese blockbuster movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or The Golden Hero.

There are also plenty of composers on the Internet who have tried to create music that has that tai chi type of music. Usually this music consists of a lot of gongs, drumming and other musical instruments from the Far East. Usually the music has a thin, tinny sound and is not very orchestral or fluid in effect unless it has been mixed with guitars, pianos and electronic effects. In this sense just about any type of calm, fluid or new age style music could be tai chi music. You do the moves to a slower piece of electronika style music from Germany just as well as you could to a piece recorded by some Tibetan monks.

So is it a good idea to do your tai chi movements to music? Probably not seeing as the discipline is all about finidng your inner rhythm and pace. You should be concentrating on find your own movements. The problem is that if you play music while doing tai chi that you might be spending more time concentrating on listening to the music rather than focusing on your moves or what is going on with your body.

Still there are more contemporary teachers that would recommend music as it can help some people get into the flow and grace of doing the music. Although tai chi is not dancing many people find it easier to do if they can relate to the movements as if it was.

There are many composers that do make music specifically to accompany tai chi sessions. One of them is The Silk Orchestra that makes music that is suitable for different forms including the Slow Form, Sword Form and Sabre Form. Music in general is thought to go best with the Wu styles of Tai Chi because it is a simpler and sloppier form of the discipline.

Another popular composer of Tai Chi style music is Pat Clemence whose music for massage therapists is also suitable for doing Tai Chi Forms.

Some of the best instrumentals that can be used to facilitate the movements of Tai Chi are the ones composed from sitars, gongs, flutes, piano, harps and horns.