Then I see drums performed live, and was able to experience a beat for the first time. I had heard drums on the radio before, but it was like I had never really noticed them. She spoke of this experience in an interview with Akihiro Tomita: During this time, Kanno-whose parents had only allowed her to listen to classical music-was introduced to rhythm by a friend who played drums in a school band. Kanno attended Waseda University, where she majored in literature, but she transcribed music for various student groups at Waseda in her free time. In elementary school, she began participating in composition contests, but in high school, Kanno began to take more of an interest in literature than in music.
She studied keyboard from a young age on both the piano in her home and the organ at her kindergarten. Her earliest experiences with music came from attending church with her parents. Yoko Kanno was born March 18, 1963, in Sendai, Japan.
