OK, truth be known my progress of late has been lousy! For weeks now I have worked on playing the first and second octave notes in tune. I am particularly struggling with Tse and Ro though sometimes I can hit them right on first time but in no way reliably. Because of this playing any folk tune or even Kyorei has become very challenging. Most notes are breathy and I am using a lot of air just to play them which often causes me to run out of breath before a phrase in a song is complete.
It was my intention to chronicle my journey in this blog so I feel I need to report the lows as well as the highs of learning to play the bamboo flute. Intellectually I understand that what I am doing right now is just a part of a beginner's process but psychologically I am feeling discouraged. Though not entirely rational, I worry that I am a slow learner and that it will take me years of practice until I can even play in tune let alone play a 'real' shakuhachi piece.
My teacher is kind and patient and he reassures me that what I am going through is normal. Again intellectually this is very valuable information but still I struggle with the effort of just playing in tune and now that I can hear when I am out of tune I no longer enjoy the creative noodling that I used to do as a treat once I had finished my actual practice session. "Ah, so the honeymoon period is over, grasshopper!" you might be thinking. And so it is, my friend.
So now that I've actually aired my frustration publicly, and in doing so been true to the intent of this blog, you'll have to excuse me, I need to get back to practicing now.
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9 comments:
Kung Fu Tzu said .. " There are some who know all the notes ... then there are those who know the music ."
I sense you have beautiful melodies within. Whisper them to your flute... as though in the still of the night ... you were holding your lover.
sweet.
thank you.
You can hear when you are out of tune? How I envy you. I played out of tune for so long that "out of tune" still sounds kind of normal to me more often than I would wish (which all of my teachers would say is all of the time).
A haiku I wrote:
Frustrated, knowing
I’ll never learn this bamboo
My breath a blown sigh
Although in a different context I thought of an Ikkyu poem:
I blow you while I wait
I blow you later in my disappointment
Worthless shakuhachi
Your poems are so apt!
thanks for posting here TallGary.
Maybe a tip, I learned when playing the sax prior to starting the shak: learn to play ugly; don't try to play pretty. On a sax you would think it to be worse, but probably it will improve sound! Blower a bit harder, with less tension, with no good intention...Maybe when you feel frustrated about the note or Ro (whatever) play that note in a frustrated way, let it sound through the way you feel! Does this still make sense? In other words: care less about the sound you make to make a 'better' sound.
Yes, that does make sense. Thanks for that advice Bas, I think you have a very good point...its definitely going to take some ugly playing before it sounds pretty!
Heh, you can try that, and now that I remember I have written this, maybe to you earlier as well...doesn't matter, just have some fun while playing. That is probably -for me- the most important.
Hi I just found your blog :)
How long have you been playing? I've been playing nearly 2 years and some days I suck too!
Keep up the practice, you know you love it :)
Freya
Freya, welcome to the blog.
You've been playing a lot longer than I have, who is your teacher?
I have been playing since last November. Shakuhachi certainly has its ups and downs but overall its been a wonderful addition to my life.
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