Playing With the Big Kids

When you were a kid, did you ever get the chance to finally play with the bigger, older kids? You know, the ones with all their big-kid wisdom and experience, with their nicer toys and their secret language? And you have no idea how it happened, or why they decided to let you into their world and and let you actually participate in their big kid games, showing you all the cool spots, giving you pats on the back, sharing their in-jokes with you, defining words to you you never understood before? That's totally what happened tonight, and it was only a glimpse, but I felt so wide eyed and in awe. So Janet's old friend and fellow percussionist Bean is in town, and she is going to help out with the school show, which is actually a huge relief to me, and I was a little nervous meeting her because I am so shy, but all for no reason, because she is one of those really nice people you can't help but like, and she kept winking at me as she would jokingly give Janet a hard time, which was kind of funny because I've never seen anyone give her a hard time before.

And it is so obvious that I am a complete novice at this. But am so glad that I studied all the things that have been taught to me just over this past summer. Downbeat, check. Upbeat, check. Bell pattern. Solo preparation. Syncopation. Check. I even used the stepping thing to help me to keep steady time--all on my own, no one told me or showed me, and which is what you gotta do, you know, when you play with the big kids. They are going to play a song I've never performed or seen performed, and so had to learn right there on the fly--had to learn a bell pattern on the spot--and play it on an actual bell. Never did that before. High and low. And new chekere (I'm gonna spell it with a 'c' now) patterns on the upbeat for one part, downbeat for another. I know this, right? Yeah, I do. Cool. I would be playing stuff and I'd look up and Janet would be smiling, and she does that sometimes--usually when I'm all concentrating and stuff, I'll just look up and she's looking back smiling, and I'm not sure what that means. Am I doing it right? Do I look funny? Is she just in her own world smiling? What? What? And she knows me well, because she leaned in at one point and was like, are you recording this? because she knows that's how I learn. And I thought I was recording it, but turns out I plugged the mic into the headphone jack--darn, that was dumb. But didn't I write about this earlier? About how you can't always depend on the MD to record, and have to be able to learn things on your own? It's no big deal, I got it all up here.

I bought a happi coat in SF last weekend because we needed outfits, but when I brought it in, it turned out to look more like sushi-chef than taiko player (it's hard to find happi in September, people), so Janet is lending me a much more beautiful and complicated costume-y thing. I have to learn how to tie the obi so I got a lesson on that, but wound up tying what looked like a huge, ugly bowtie around my waist. Practice, practice.

Everything is so overwhelming, but at the same time exciting. As I was leaving, Janet said she wouldn't put me through all this, all these changes and new things to learn at the last minute (48 hours before!) if she didn't think that I thought it was fun and would be up to it. And indeed, she knows me well, because I do think it is so much fun. Hard, but fun. Up to it? Oh hell yeah.

But what am I doing blogging, when I should be practicing? Gotta go people. I'll let you know how it turns out.