Matsuri Daiko! So-re!

[gurdymonkey]

We were missing a few people tonight again. No tires were harmed.

Blew through Renshu.
Got through three-line-drill with lots of reps and it seemed to be sinking in nicely, so Sean-sensei pulled out the slant stands during a break.

The drills have their uses, but Matsuri's made to dance to. Mary and Blossom saw us tipping drums onto stands and got this deer-in-headlights look and I said, "Don't worry, this is gonna be so cool!" Shannon-sensei, on the sidelines, caught me and said, "You think you remember it?" "I think so," I replied. It's only a freaking earworm.

We worked the first three lines tonight. If anything, I just have to remind myself to turn my hand when I strike left handed in this position. I remember how hard I found the third line when I first tried it, but it was there, it was comfortable.  I found myself grinning as I saw Mary on the drum ahead of me GET line three as we played the three lines in a continuous loop, and keep it for three repetitions in a row.

Sean-sensei called a water break. (Have I mentioned I almost never take a water break?) John started playing Matsuri. I joined him. We did the whole thing. I didn't screw up the left handed windmill thing in the last line - the timing is still there. Whether it looks pretty yet, I don't know, but I got an "OK, you do remember it," grin from Shannon-sensei.

I was helping put drums away and Sean-sensei said something to the effect that it always sort of surprised him that people who would struggle with the drills would really start to click on Matsuri. I think it's easier because of its musicality. There are a couple of tricky bits in the version we do, but it feels more like a "tune" than Renshu and three-line-drill do.

Mary and I talked after class about getting together and going to Obon in Oakland on Saturday afternoon and traded email addresses.

Comments

[emma7926.livejournal.com]

I suspect you are correct about the tune being easier to get than the drills *because* it's a tune. Sometimes you have to get the whole picture for the little pieces to make sense. Like reading or dancing, putting the pieces in context often makes it "click". Also, I know that i hate drills of *sections* of things. I understand that the foundation *must* be laid - but I really want to know where I'm going to get once that foundation is in place. Once I'm working with a "whole", breaking that whole into sections is slightly more palatable - but I want to see the whole, then have it broken down into sections, not learn isolated sections that someday get jammed together to make a whole. (I may not learn it any better/faster/easier my way - but that's how I *want* to approach it.)

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

You know, considering the fact that you have fessed up to me several times about your lack of musicality, that was an extremely astute comment. Having an idea what your "tune" is supposed to sound like going in makes this so much easier, and getting to the point where you can actually play it at speed is often what makes the thing gel, particularly with rhythms that feel random or disjointed when done too slowly.

Drills give you the components you need to play with, that is, the various sounds you produce by striking the drum (or the sides of the drum) in certain ways. The drills also teach those components in specific patterns, which allow the student to develop both muscle-memory and ear- memory by rote. They're useful, but it's so satisfying to play something that swings.