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February 11, 2005
New to the shakuhachi
Another email I think you all would find interesting. Again, the name has been changed to protect the innocent ;-)
Hello Mr Cruise, Thanks for your email!
> Mr. Yung, I have been looking at your postings on ebay. I
>enjoy your VERY dynamic sound clips and shakuhachi you
>have been making available to the public.
> If you don't mind, I have a few questions about your
> playing style. I live in an area at the time where
> instruction and anything about shakuhachi is a
> little
> hard to come across.
I'll try to keep this email short and to to point since your questions can generate a master's thesis! ;-)
Even the greatest shakuhachi players can only sound as good as their flute is capable of sounding. It could be that your flute is only capable of so much. Having said that, a master player can still sound sublime to mind boggling on a simple shakuhachi, as long as it is fully functional. Many shakuhachi sold on EBAY are shakuhachi-like flutes. They may be fine bamboo flutes but probabaly not capable of the traditional and/or advanced fingerings used in shakuhachi music and most likely not capable of making dynamic shakuhachi sounds.
Much of shakuhachi playing is about tone color. Tone production and color comes from embroucher techniques (how close and far your lips are to the blowing edge), you probably know this from the silver flute. The shakuhachi has it's own unique timbres that are exploited by the embroucher techniques of strong technical players. The sound is made from the player's understanding of shakuhachi techniques and how they are used on the unique blowing edge called the utaguchi. The sound and timbre are flexible to the point that the bore shape allows. The better shaped the bore, the higher level of technical playing it can handle. Much of knowing how to get these sounds come from years of study with a competent teacher on a well made shakuhachi. Unfortunately, for you and many others in the world there is no access to this special experience.
There are some shakuhachi CDs that may be helpful. I will only discuss the styles I am familar with as there are many. I think the style I studied mostly in Japan is the most dynamic to unfamiliar ears, the Dokyoku style. But even in this school, there are different players who have managed to find their own identity through their own sound so it's confusing to newcomers as to what the Dokyoku sound is. The founder - Watazumido - is unlistenable to many Western ears. His playing sounds rough and out of tune but to seasoned ears, the rawness and improvised "feel" is what Zen is all about. Watazumido plays in his way deliberatley and deftly. Some seem to think that anyone can play like Watazumido but I think that would be like saying anyone can paint like Picasso. At the other end of the spectrum is the late Goro Yamaguchi, a Kinko Style Master. His playing is deep and sublime and tone colors are all of a similar palette but rich in it's shades. Listening to Goro Yamaguchi is like looking at a Paul Rothko painting. At first, the color scheme of the whole canvas seems simple and mono chromatic but after careful viewing, one can see that the shifts in hue (within that color) are minute but powerful, resulting in deep resonating vibrations.
Watazumido is the opposite. His playing hits you right away demanding a viseral reaction. To use another painter as an example, Jackson Pollock comes to mind. Some hate him right away, others love him at first site. Most take a while to start to appreciate and understand his genius. Like these painters, shakuhachi players belong to a specific school each with it's own canons.
For someone like me, in order to understand shakuhachi, I look to art history as a guide. In order to understand and appreciate art with heightend awareness, I have to be able to follow the progression from the cave paintings in ancient times to abtract art of today. Understanding the historical context of the schools and players help me understand the music and the flutes I make.
You will find find in your thirst for the shakuhachi that your taste will change. It will be one thing today, another next week and and then entirely something else in a year from now. Then in 10 or 15 years, you'll come back to what it is today. That's sort of where I'm at.
> 1. Is there an exercise book you might recommend
> that
> would be good for becoming more dynamic in the
> non-western playing aspects, i.e. swells, bending,
> troublesome notes, etc? I'm not a beginner to music,
> I've studied classical and jazz with the silver
> flute,
> and I have switched to playing daily with the
> shakuhachi. Basically right now the second and first
> octaves are very comfortable, but they lack the
> color
> you have while playing.
Try to contact Michael Gould at chikuzen@earthlink.net
He has scores and music from Yoshinobu Taniguchi - a Dokyoku master. Also, visit my BLOG at http://www.yungflutes.com/log There is an entyry called Sasa Buki. It outlines my practice technique to develope strength in playing. I think many flutists have a similar exercise of blowing long tones with crescendos to get to know the instrument's timbre and dynamic range. I find that most shakuhachi books are impossible to learn by unless you are already a musican and can apply your musical technique. I have all the books and can not recommend spending any money on them. I would suggets to a beginner to buy the best flute they could and just spend the time that they normally would reading the book to just sit alone with the flute in a quite space. So many possibilities are negated with a book. So many pathes are open without it. In the same breath, I can not stress the importance of having a good (the right) teacher if that option is available.
> 2. Do you use half-wholing or do you use alternative
> fingering while playing?
Yes, all the trime I use traditional Dokyokyu fingerings. Every school has their own fingerings for certain pitches and notes for specific tone colors. These are combine with blowing techniques such as Komi Buki (big breath) for dynamic playing.
What about the third
> octave?
Most traditional shakuhachi music is not written using notes above the minor third in the third octave. Only the best shakuhachi can play the to fifth of the third octave. But, even really fabulous old shakuhachi can not play up there sometimes.
> I have been practicing using half-wholes, but I find
> on my 1.8 the Eb is nearly impossible to get a full
> sound that I desire.
It may be your lips or it may be your flute, or both. I would have to check to flute. But that note - Tsu Meri - the the bane of most shakuhachi players' exhistance. It usually is a soft, subtle and "dark" note. It takes years to learn how to play well. Most beginners do noty have proper guidance on how to get the embroucher to cooperated with the fingering to get the tone color.
>
> 3. Do you have any recommended recordings I should
> listen to?
There is a plethora of CDs in Japan but here, I will only give you a glimpse into the shakuhachi world through my window:
Watazumido and Katsuya Yokoyama for Dokyoku. My teacher in Japan is incredible but recording a CD does not interest him. Fukudo Rando (Modern shakuhachi from around 1950).
Goro Yamaguchi and Ralph Samuelson (Ralph's "Offerings" can be found on Amazon.com) for Kinko style. Christopher Blasdel's new CD is also great.
Riley Lee and John Neptune fo. Both play traditional music but their contemporary shakuhachi Cd's are great.
Brian Ritchie Shakuhachi Club NYC a Jazz quartet with a Watazumi approach. It's probably one of the grooviest shakuhachi Cd's around!
>
> Again, I just want to say I admire your work / music
> /
> art (even your website is great), and thank you in
> advance if you are able to help me at all.
Thanks, I am incredibley fortunate in my experience with this special instrument. My shakuhachi path has been revealed to me through very generous individuals whose lifelong relationship with the instrument inpires me daily. I only hope to make this flute accessible to as many people as possible outside of Japan.
My experience, although wide compared to some is still tiny compared with those who live in and study in Japan with knowledgable teachers. There are many other styles of shakuhachi music that I know very little about. My path to discovery is well worn and continues to unfold before me.
>
> Kindest regards,
>
> T.Cruise.
Thanks again and enjoy the discoveries,
Perry
Posted by Perry Yung at February 11, 2005 11:02 AM
Comments
Hello Mr Yung
The information which you post is for beginners and those who have an interest in playing the shakuhachi flute. However, it seems to assume that one can at least make a sound when the flute is blown.
Where can I find information on how to place my lips at the end of the flute so that a sound emerges as I've not been able to do this, yet, and so I'm not even a beginner.
Posted by: Leo du Plessis at September 18, 2006 07:50 AM
Hello my friends :)
;)
Posted by: nedestoro at May 15, 2008 07:11 AM