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November 22, 2004
Playing long shakuhachi flutes
Once again, a blog entry from an email asking how to hold and play a long shakuhachi. The name has been changed to protect the innocent ;-)
Hi Oleg,
Thanks for your email.
> are there any books on playing or hand positions for long flutes?
Unfortunately, there are no published sources for fingering long flutes. The only way to learn is to have someone show you or explain it.
Contrary to popular belief, it does not take more air to play long flutes. Once the air hits the utaguchi, it's all the same.
Try this, it's easiest to get the note on thumb hole first. When you can get a long solid tone ( up to 10 sec or longer is great), try to finger the thumb hole so that it articulates the fourth hole (in front, up from the bottom). Try making trills with your thumb on the thumb hole. This is articulating a note.
When you can do this, attempt the same with the fourth hole. Do this all on long breaths. This way, you can hear the dynamics of lifting a finger on and off a hole in different speeds. This is where you begin to make music! When you can articulte both the thumb and the fourth hole, try for the third hole (in front, from the bottom). This may mean using your pinky on that hole since it's a long flute. Articultaing sometimes creates a "pop", a sound similar to slapping the top of a bottle. That's a good sign and something to hang onto if you can do it.
If you are able to articulate the thumb and the fourth hole, you should be able to articulate the third hole also. If you can not, this means your fingers are "leaking" somewhere, one of the holes are not completely sealed. Try articulating again to make sure the holes are sealed otherwise the note won't play. It doesn't take much pressure to seal a hole. Just complete coverage. As a matter of fact, practice using the least amount of pressure neccessary. This is to prevent repetative movement injuries on the hand or wrist.
Try articulating all the way down from the thumb hole to the first finger hole in the front. As you work your way down, you will discover where your problems are. For example, I often use the meat part of my bottom index finger because the reach on long flutes are much farther. I found that if I use the pad of the index finger, my wrist would be straight and not cramped up at a hard angle.
One thing to know is that each hole requires a slight adjustment in your embroucher to get the sound. After a while, you won't even know your doing it.
Please let me know if this helps.
Enjoy the daily practice, moment to moment.
Namaste,
Perry
Posted by Perry Yung at 06:43 PM | Comments (2)