Kyle meets Takeo & Yamaguchi Goro’s Shakuhachi! I met Takeo at Yamaguchi san’s house. Yamaguchi’s practice was to schedule students in such a way as to have a few lined up and observing him and the current student receiving the lesson. That way, a student could actually have two or more lessons in one, so to speak. … Continue reading…
Play by heart
If you can’t remember melody very well, you are like me and rely on reading notation. If you are like my son and can you play by heart. Paying attention may be more challenging if you read then if you play by heart. That’s not a bad thing of course.… Continue reading…
Yamaguchi San
I was going to call this post The Real Lesson, but that wouldn’t do it justice. So I named it after my shakuhachi teacher, Yamaguchi Goro.
This video clip is of him (on the left) playing a beautiful suizen piece, Shika No Tone (The Distant Cry of Deer: A Depiction of The Late Fall Mountain) with Aoki Reibo (on the right).
… Continue reading…
Cave Man Shakuhachi?
A Science News article, Stone Age flutes found in Germany, reports that people living in Europe more than 35,000 years ago made this flute (shown from three different angles) out of a vulture bone. The magnified portion of the flute at the right provides a closer look at two of the flute’s finger holes.… Continue reading…
Find the Zen in the blowing
I imagine everyone is naturally both over-rigorous and under-rigorous… just in different areas, according to their natures. It is when over or under rigor causes pain for us that it becomes problematic. The pain we feel is a symptom of the loss of balance into which we have fallen. We yearn for balance, even if we don’t know it.… Continue reading…
Correction to my recording of Hi Fu Mi:
In the book “Blowing Zen” CD, Hi Fu Mi, Track 24
Online Hi Fu Mi(Complete), MP3
Refer to page B12 of “Blowing Zen”, #111-115, and #131-134. I played both these sections with the meri tone dropping down to o-meri. Alas, the ‘correct’ way is to play the first, #111 with the meri tone rising up to kari, as the chart shows. The other one, #131, is correct.… Continue reading…
Music for Those with No Musical Talent?
Yes! Of the Buddhist Hon Kyoku this is true. What you do need, however, is to pay attention. Yet, you don’t even need to do that. Of course, if you don’t really listen to what you are doing, you will not enjoy what you are doing. This makes playing Hon Kyoku a practical means of training watchfulness in non-stimulating situations. Paying attention when there are no environmental conditions to trigger need, desire, fear, or worry is most useful, I find. The bonus: your improved listening ability (mindful watching) naturally taps into your hidden musical talent, much of which centers around listening!
Kumoi Ji Shi
Keep the same rhythm pretty much throughout, except for the usual slow down at the end. The piece feels like it is stepping up the pace, but actually, it is just the increasing inclusion of 1/4 beat notes… well, perhaps its pace steps up a bit compared to the very Hon Kyoku beginning.