When you grab your bachi out of
your bag/cubbyhole/locker/etc., do you ever think about how important they
are? How they are an extension of your
body, how they allow you to make the sound that drew you to taiko in the first
place? Or are they just pieces of wood
that you use to hit the drum?
When you play on a
taiko – any taiko - do you ever think about how much effort went into making that
one drum? How much energy it takes from
hundreds/thousands/millions of strikes and turns it into music, how the nicks
and dents and flakes and tears all tell a story? Or is it just the thing you strike with your
pieces of wood?
When you play a song that someone
else wrote, do you ever think how much work went into making it go from an idea
to something that the group performs?
How many months someone spent fleshing out patterns and
movements that needed so much time to teach, how much the composer had to deal
with people pushing back when encountering difficulty, how the song gives the
audience enjoyment? Or is it just
another thing that you do?
When you perform, do you think
about how much was done to get you on stage?
That it took someone to talk to the presenter to work out pricing and spacing and technical details,
that someone had to take into account the performer’s schedules, that it took
years to build up the reputation of the group to the point where people wanted
your group to play at their event? Or is
it just the thing you go to where you get to play songs?
For a lot of us who have played
for a while, it’s easy to forget to appreciate these things because of
familiarity. We may not be able to
appreciate them all the time, but we should be vigilant about
trying. Because if you don’t appreciate
the things that matter, what DO you appreciate?
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