My first time to play the Taiko at a party

At one big party last weekend, I played the "Taiko", which is formally called a "Shime-daiko".

At the "Ozashiki", parties, the taiko is as popular as the shamisen, so some geisha learn it.

After my shamisen teacher lent me his tsuzumi, I started taking tsudumi lessons. I soon started to like the tsudumi.

Both the taiko and the tsudumi are part of the family of instruments called "Narimono". "Nari" means "Beat" and "Mono" means "Instrument".

I also started to have an interest in the taiko, so I asked my geisha sister when I could start taking taiko lessons, because my other geisha sisters were learning the taiko from the same teacher.

She replied that after I was able to play the tsudumi well, I would be able to receive taiko lessons.

When I heard this from her, I couldn't understand her reason.

However now I can understand, because I experienced playing the taiko and I realized that it's difficult to play the taiko.

One day, my geisha mother said to me that she wanted me to play the taiko at a party, because another geisha who usually plays the taiko couldn't attend the party.

To tell the truth, she only gave me 1 week's notice.

One geisha sister who usually perform the taiko, taught me how to play it, and after several days of taking her lesson, I had a group practice session with my geisha mother.

Even though I practiced it considerably, I couldn't play it well when accompanying her shamisen.
I had been practicing it with just a CD for accompaniment, so I found it difficult when I had to play with an actual shamisen player.

I noticed that I was struggling to understand the "Ma(間)", rhythm of the music.

In traditional Japanese songs, the "Ma" is different from that of western music, so it's difficult to get used to playing the taiko to traditional Japanese songs.

My geisha mother pointed out not only my playing technique but also my posture were incorrect.

During our lesson, I couldn't play one part of the song correctly, so she said to me that if I couldn't play that part, I should play that part with the same rhythm as the other parts.

However, She insisted that she wanted me to try to play that difficult part.

I really appreciated her kindness, and I wanted to live up to her expectation.

So I practiced the taiko very hard everyday before the party, and at the second group session with my geisha mother,  I could play it without any mistakes. She looked really glad.

On the day of the party, I could play the taiko perfectly.

After that party, my geisha mother called me to perform at another ozashiki as a taiko player. I was really glad.

That night, I called my shamisen teacher.
I talked to him about my wonderful experience expressing my gratitude, because if he hadn't have lent me his tsudumi, I wouldn't have started tsudumi lessons.

I want to learn the taiko more, and become a more versatile geisha.