Dreams of Drums

職人 – Shokunin

Last night I watched “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” a documentary about a master sushi maker in Japan. It reminded me of a philosophy that I hold dear and true to my heart, mastering through repetition. Not mindless repetition, sitting in front of the television and practicing. Being mindful of every moment every nuance of what you are doing, fully aware and engaged. This repetition creates a baseline, a standard to which you can hold yourself. If everyday you get up and do something in the exact same way it would get boring, but if instead you were aware of your flaws and fixed/changed one thing that you did not like from the previous you would quickly master your art as well.

When I speak of art I do not always mean the traditional arts painting, music, sculpting, etc. I mean to speak of the art of your trade. In the documentary they talk about choosing this fish for the sushi and how each vendor they purchase from is the master in their field tuna, octopus, shrimp, etc. If Jiro chooses the best fish everyday then he holds himself to a higher standard of creating sushi thus progressing in his trade. The same goes for drums and percussion. The artisans that have crafted, more often than not by hand, the instruments you play on have spent their lives honing a skill that can only be learned by a hands-on approach usually apprenticing for many years. Don’t we, as crafters of music, owe it to these artisans to spend an equal amount of time or effort mastering our skills? Don’t we owe it to our students to teach in this way? Whatever skills you choose in life do it as well as you can and do it that way every time. 

Talent will get you only so far. For those who do not become shokunin (craftsman) of their trade, continually striving to better themselves and their art, will not truly become successful in any sense. I have heard so many people in my life tell me this and it has never resonated as clearly as it does now. Daily practice will unveil the cracks in your abilities. Find your flaws and, as Mike Johnston so kindly says, “embrace the suck.” Spend the time to fix them right so no time is wasted later. This will take time; we all walk our own paths at different paces, some walk slowly and others quickly. Take control of what you can. The sooner you learn to love the process and embrace fully the fact that learning is a lifetime process the sooner you will find happiness and with some luck success. Regardless of how much or how hard you practice success in the music business still largely relies on networking. Who you know is important, but more so who knows you.  Make sure that they person they know is the person you would hire.

There is no quick road through life. Each day will pass as fast as the previous. Take advantage of the time you have and immerse yourself in learning your art.