July 26, 2004
Relax those fingers
I had a great shakuhachi lesson this past sunday. The first in over four months. I had a pretty crazy rehearsal and show schedule until recently, not to mention little Sasa is begining to crawl...fast!
It was early on in the lesson and I could feel my fingers not wanting to move. Maybe it had to do with all the gripping I've been put my hands through recently. I've been trying to finish a bunch of shakuhachi for the Fourth Annual International Shakuahchi festival here in NYC. We stopped and my teacher demonstrated some finger exercises. He started waving his hands about while wiggling all his fingers. He said that Watazumido used to start his lessons like that. "He would do this for hours" he said. It looked like he was casting a spell. I started to do the same and to my surprise, it felt really good. So we continued waving our hands about for a few minutes. Afterwards, I not only found that my fingers were relaxed, but my whole body was it too. This is something I'm going to do every day!
Playing the shakuhachi can cause repetive movement injuries. There are many different hand exercises to practice. Search the net for some and try to committ to them. You certainly do not want to end up with an injury. Here's one I used to do when I worked in a prop shop making props all day.
Extend both arms directly in front of you with your fingertips reaching far out. Splay you fingers and really force them to reach out. Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds then shake out you hands for 10 seconds. Repeat this several times until you feel your hands and fore arms relaxed. Practice safe shakuhachi!
Posted by Perry Yung at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)