Wadayama Torafusuzindaiko

I played taiko drums once a week in LA for about 8 months before I left, starting from scratch with a bunch of other beginners at a small temple in Little Tokyo. Our teacher was a resident monk who had taught for years in Norcal and brought his expertise not only in the play but the construction of taiko drums to our little group. It was me, some little kids, and a bunch of adults. Playing once a week for an hour and a half or so isn't enough to improve much, especially when our group was a bit irregular in terms of attendance. I was excited to latch onto a group once I got here.

I tagged along with one of the other teachers from one of my ES, and enjoyed the practice so much I started showing up all the time, every Tuesday and Friday evening. I didn't get to play much as they were either teaching local HS kids a song for their culture festival or preparing for performances at the summer festivals around Wadayama, but I tried to soak up as much as I could. Going from songs that were maybe 2 or 3 minutes long with 4 or 5 sections to 8-10 minute songs with 4 different kinds of drums and 10-15 sections was daunting to say the least. I usually sat in the back, just watching and hoping I could remember some of the stuff.

I'm making my debut tomorrow, at a wedding of all things. I'm only playing the simplest song in the repertoire, one that involves dancing around almost as much as the actual drumming, but I couldn't be happier. I still feel like an outsider at practice, because the conversations display an intimacy that can only be borne out of time spent together, sweating and studying and struggling at the same problem. I've managed to spend some time with some of the folks, and they're all friendly, but I still can tell I don't belong yet. Maybe getting a performance under my belt will speed that up.