TAIKO!

My mind is spinning. I'm all inspired and excited and sleepless again because I got to play some taiko. It's not as easy as it was before--maybe because the expectations are different and that's fine. I don't need to go over each piece and part slowly over and over again--I'm more able to jump right in. If she says play this, then it's like, ok, I have to play that. But I'm realizing that my understanding of music is all about listen and repeat, and I need to learn some really basic stuff. She was showing me her notes and although it was written out on graph paper instead of western musical notation, it was all gibberish to me. And another time she was like, can you play the "one" downbeat on this drum and the other downbeats on that drum? And it took me a while, because I wasn't sure what the "one" was, and I only just recently understood what a downbeat is, but eventually I got it. I'm so glad she's so patient with me. Oh, and did I mention the song is in six?

Which means I have to try harder. That's the best part. I like trying harder. The challenge is hard and a little intimidating, but that's really what it's all about, pushing yourself. But I also need to be able to give more input, and I know that's one of my weaknesses--not just with taiko, but with me in general. And another one of my weaknesses is the ability to remember what I've just been taught. It's ok if it's a call and response thing, but I need to remember. Of course, that's what my minidisc recorder is for, but yesterday it decided to stop recording after about 5 minutes or so, which for me is like getting amnesia. I know it's bad to rely on that thing to learn songs, but it also is such a help to me when I can review what I've recorded. If the technology is there, and there's no reason not to, then why not use it? But it's not like in life there will always be MD's to save your butt, and sometimes they don't let you use them, and sometimes, if you haven't played taiko in a long time, your MD runs out of batteries.

Ah, but this is all good. I'm excited. I have a bunch of things to work on. I have a solo that I need to polish. I played it at the concert in November, but I messed up royally, and I need to just get over it and work on it again. I want to help rework another song we were working on. I need to hear how some patterns fit together. But I'm loving it!