A Shakuhachi Journey

Sun, Sand, Sea and no Shakuhachi

2012-01-15T09:22:00.001-08:00

The living room was cluttered with all manner of clothes and gear: surfer shorts, cap, guidebook, sunglasses, uv shirts, sandles, aloha shirts, carbon fibre paddle, waterbottle, camera, and ukulele. Twenty four of us plus our coach were soon to be on our way to a winter paddling holiday.

Warm blue waters, sunny skies and sandy beaches would be a welcome change from our gray, rainy Vancouver winter outrigger canoe paddle practices. For two weeks we would head down to the Kona's Keahou Canoe Club at the crack of dawn every morning to launch the 6 person racing canoes and blast our way out through the surf and onto the huge blue rollers off of the Big Island of Hawaii. We would go to hone our skills as individual paddlers, bond as teammates and, best of all, share some happy times.

The ukulele had nudged aside the shakuhachi for this trip. In fact the ukulele had snuck into my musical world riding on the ama of our outrigger canoe itself! A few of my teammates just happened to mention their interest in the Hawaiian instrument and soon a group of us were on a entertaining journey of discovery as we bought, borrowed and found various ukes. We joined in a few of the local ukulele circles, of which their are numerous here in the Vancouver area, and we met to practice chords and ponder strum patterns. The ultimate goal was to play ukulele on the beach in Hawaii after a long morning of outrigger canoeing. Sounds like a post card dream, you think. We are dreamers and not unaccustomed to making our dreams come true!

Shakuhachi Storage

2012-01-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

The big brown sliding door soundlessly slid up and in. The shelf, on its stealth rollers, was devoid of file hangers and their accompanying folders. The base of each shelf was carefully padded. The shakuhachi lay peacefully side by side, easily viewed and most handy for selecting which flute to play on a given day. What a fabulous use for an old discarded four shelf industrial size metal filing cabinet - the perfect storage system for a man with many bamboo flutes.

Twenty Twelve

2012-01-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

Fantastic - a new year has begun! Welcome to 2012!

I'm excited about this year. Its going to be a continuation of the previous year which was none too shabby. Of course, nothing really ever 'starts' does it? And nothing ever ends, how could it? So lucky for me, more good times with good friends, good shakuhachi to play, good pieces to learn, good people to play and learn with are likely ahead as they have been this recent past.

That's the best part of shakuhachi for me, the people. The people that I have shakuhachi in common with are more precious to me than all the texture, timbre, volume and tone of the bamboo flute. We do love those qualities of the flute or we wouldn't have been drawn to explore its mysteries but its the people that the bamboo brought me in contact with that have added immeasureably to my life. And its because of my shakuhachi friends and community that I practice and play.

To all my shakuhachi friends near and far, thanks for a great 2011 and may we have a joyful 2012 together.

Honshirabe

2011-12-25T20:32:00.001-08:00

Honshirabe 2.65 hocchiku

I'm testing out my SoundCloud account by sharing this sound clip of Honshirabe played on the 2.65 hocchiku flute that I made at last year's shakuhachi making workshop hosted by the BC Shakuhachi Society. Can you hear the recording...is the sound quality acceptable?

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas day
lots of food
not much time to play
lots of music
but none of it flute.

Loving friends and family.
I feel lucky.

Best of the season to you all and may the new year bring you joy and a peaceful mind.

Lesson Notes

2011-12-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

My most recent lesson was a heap of fun and I had a musical score defaced by hastily written notes in my unique sloppy handwritting to prove it. My handwriting, which was never neat, is now at its all time worst as a result of the neglect brought on by excessive keyboard activity...digital tools are threatening to obliterate the last hint of readability from my script. My fresh new copy of Sanya didn't look much better than the score for Banshiki which you can see in the photo above.

As I sat back after my lesson and enjoyed the thrill of having taken a hearty bite out of Sanya, I had learnt so much about each of the first nine lines, I started to wonder whether I would be able to remember all the little nuances and additional notes and embellishments that I had just been taught. Not if I couldn't make sense of my notes! The page was crowded with information. How would I ever fit more notes on the page when we continued with the next lesson? It was then that I recalled a tip shared by Harald, another student of Michael Gould's, on the Chikuzen forum.

I got out scissors, glue and some fresh sheets of paper and proceeded to cut up my Sanya score. Snip, snip, glue, paste...add carefully printed notes...and voila, I had an expanded version of the score with easy to read notes in spacious columns between the lines of the music.

Thanks to Harald for this tip on shakuhachi lesson notemaking.

Sanya

2011-12-11T08:57:00.001-08:00

We added a nyashi here and another one there. We included extra 'Re' notes and reviewed Ko ro ro. We popped hole four just as we closed hole two for 'Ru'. The tsu meri at the end of the first line ends like my mother-in-law used to park her car (with a thud into the car or wall in front of her). We practiced the 'double flip' Ri's. And we talked about why there seemed to be five peaks to a song that was about 'Three Valleys'. These are some of the reasons why it is such fun to take shakuhachi lessons with DaiShihan Michael Chikuzen Gould.

Michael is a skilled teacher, an extraordinary shakuhachi player and a man with a good sense of humour. It is always a pleasure to have a lesson with him and his ability to tailor the instruction to suit the specific needs of each individual student is renowned.

We only made it through the first nine lines of Sanya but already I had a heap of homework to do. Sanya is a wonderful piece to learn and play. It was great fun to start on this piece and I'm looking forward to more insightful and entertaining lessons from Michael as we progress through the whole song.

Here is a fabulous video of Michael playing Sanya filmed by Dean Del Bene at University of Chicago in 2010:

First Lines

2011-12-04T09:11:00.003-08:00

Ro Tsu.... Ro Tsu...
Tsu Re... Re nyashi ...

It was the first line of San'ya that drew me in to the piece. I love the simplicity of those notes. The first line launches the whole piece.

My friend Jim introduced me to San'ya. We played it together at his apartment and we listened to various recordings of it played on various length flutes. When I got home I looked for the my own recordings of this piece. My old jailbroken ipod houses my entire collection of shakuhachi music however not all the albums had names assigned to their tracks. So I listened for San'ya, more accuractely I listened for that distinctive first line. And I heard a lot of first lines to many pieces, most of which I recognised when I heard the first line. Try this some time, you might surprise yourself when you too discover how many shakuhachi pieces generally and honkyoku specifically are recognisable by the first half dozen notes played.

So then, as synchronicity would have it, a few days after my first line of San'ya search, my friend Clint mentioned his idea about first lines. He suggested that it was fun, when practicing shakuhachi, sometimes to play the first line of various pieces that you were fond of. Now, he knew nothing of my first line ipod search and so I found it a pleasing act of timing that he would mention this method of shakuhachi play. And it prompted me to give it a try, playing the first lines of HonShirabe, Horai, Darani, Tsuki, Sanson no Yugure, Banshiki, Murasaki Reiho, HifuMi, Kyorei, and of course San'ya. This lead to all kinds of improv and medley play. It was first line fun at its finest!

Thanks to Jim and Clint for inspiring my shakuhachi play.

Toe Tapping Shakuhachi Fiddle Tunes

2011-11-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

Bring on the old time fiddle music, the 1.8 is stepping out! Crazy, you think, what's she doing mixing music....the shakuhachi is zen, its Japanese, its all tengai not suspenders and straw hats.

Well, if you've been following this blog you know my playing has had its ups and downs recently. And you might recall the main message from my teacher and shak pals was remember to have some fun while learning to play this unusual and extraordinary instrument. The seed was planted...and then watered by the influence of my shak pal, Jim, who had been teasing me before our weekly long tones sessions with his playful renditions of Beatles songs.

I had the flute out where I could see it and be inclined to pick it up at odd times during the day for just a little fun noodling, to help break away from those rigid timed practice hours of the months past. And nearby was the ever present mountain duclimer, the instrument that stole the show a while back when it brought its own lighthearted musical presence into my musical workshop.

Inevitable, I suppose, I stopped playing the dulcimer one morning and switched over to the flute. The "Black Mountain Rag", a fiddle tune that I had memorized the dulcimer tabulture for, was still lazily sounding in my ears...and now...the sound of the tune was louder.... Without thinking about it, I was playing the melody on my shakuhachi. I found the notes easily on the flute, a few required a meri or two but they all came smoothly through the bamboo. And you know what - it sounded great! The old fiddle tune, transposed for the appalachian dulcimer and now played on the Japanese bamboo flute. That's fusion; that's having some wacky musical fun!

The Three Year Slump

2011-11-20T20:59:00.000-08:00

No sooner have I celebrated my third shakuhachi anniversary that I begin to notice the bamboo slump I've gotten in to.

I had been hammering HifuMi for months. It was wearing me down. The piece is a hard one for me and though I understand it technically, I am having a hard time making it flow. The phrases come out correct but without life. There are gasps of air in between each hard won set of notes and the piece sounds laboured and forced. I feel disappointment and a sense of failure. As I turn to other pieces studied in the past and thought to be mastered, they too sound strangled and lifeless.

"How can I play this long and sound this bad?" I think. What a slog it is to get through each hour of practice. I force more discipline into my shakuhachi schedule and the fun factor totally disappears as I grind through my allotted flute time happy only when the practice period is over for another day.

Have I lost the adventure of the journey by thinking I should, after three years, be at a different destination? Most certainly I have lost the sense of wonder at the extraordinary texture of sounds the flute can offer. And I have trapped myself in a corner of expectations.

How to get out of this uncomfortable, disappointing spot? I take a risk and share my despair, I turn to my shakuhachi friends, I post on the Chikuzen forum. Its a chance I'm not sure I should take. The students in the private discussion group are full of enthusiasm and their love for practicing and playing shakuhachi is the backdrop for almost every post they make. Here I come, a loser who isn't enjoying the process, someone who sounds like crap after years of practice, someone talentless who is moving at a glacial pace. I take the chance, I make the post, I am vulnerable.

The response is overwhelming. Students, my friends, my peers, post heartfelt encouragement and many practical suggestions. The advice is useful the support is priceless. Most say they know this place, this valley of struggle. I feel not alone. I feel their caring and understanding. This feeling itself starts to help my mood shift.

In my next lesson with Michael Gould we talk about his journey and its many hills and valleys. He has given thought to my situation and has excellent advice for me, the right tips at the right time. I am tremendously fortunate to have a teacher so skilled and so dialled in to each student.

What's the lesson learnt here? Learning to play the shakuhachi well does indeed take a long time and it can be hard work. Remembering to keep the fun in the process is vital. Its important to remember to have fun. That sounds ridiculously simple but we can be ridiculously complicated and so need to be reminded to get out of our own way, have fun, enjoy the soundscape and get back to being on the journey rather than crying about not reaching some imagined destination.

Happy Third Birthday!

2011-11-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

The blog is three years old! That's a long time to be trying to learn to play the bamboo flute and a long time of writing about the process. It continues to be my hope that in documenting this journey others coming to the path will find some guideposts that they can relate to in their own shakuhachi travels.

So, where have we journeyed this year then? Well, the BBQ closed and the ESS forum opened. Chikuzen Studios opened a digital dojo for Michael Gould students allowing me to form some closer friendships with fellow students who are also studying in the Chikuzen lineage - special thanks to Clint and Jane for your lively and entertaining correspondence.

The local shakuhachi community continues to flourish and I feel so grateful to friends I meet with on a weekly basis to share long tones and long flutes. Special thanks to Peter for allowing me to own a fine Smith 2.6. And also my thanks go out to Jim for opening his home and heart to us every week.

I continue to practice on a daily basis and have experimented with various lesson schedules finding that sometimes lessons twice a month are perfect and other times that is too frequent and that I need more time to absorb and practice the techniques and pieces taught via skype by my sensei Michael Gould. I am about half way through Michael Gould's second student workbook but don't feel like there are many pieces in either book that I have in any way mastered or polished.

My goal for the coming year is to continue to enjoy the process of learning to play the flute, to share in the rich community of shakuhachi enthusiasts and to reach a point where I may have one piece of music ready to play at a performance level. Thanks for taking the shakuhachi journey with me, it wouldn't be a blog without you!

Shakuhachi Travel or Not

2011-11-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

I want to go shakuhachi travelling too!

My friend Jane T. just returned, chock full of music momentum, from a weekend intensive at Michael Gould's shakuhachi B 'n B. My pals Peter, Milan and Jane K. have just departed for the annual Roots bamboo prilgrimage to Japan organized by Alcvin Ramos. They will be visiting shakuhachi temples, harvesting bamboo and attending a flute tuning workshop with John Neptune.

Well nevermind, I'm heading to The Big Island in January. Oh wait, the mountain dulcimer is coming on that trip, not my shakuhachi. Afterall, that trip is the winter training camp for my outrigger racing canoe team and is meant to help prepare us for the 2012 Queen Lili 30 km race taking place in Kona. We will be guests of our sister club, the Keauhou Canoe Club. Ah, how I digress...that's not shakuhachi travel at all!

Of course there's also the annual international power kite gathering, NABX, held in the Mojave desert in March that I'll be attending....hummm...but that is most definitely not shakuchi content though let me tell you this event is all about air moving at various speeds allbeit not through a bamboo tube.

I certainly can't complain about the amount of interesting trips coming up. And in spite of those adventures not being centred around the bamboo flute, I'm not hard done by, I have long tones, a different journey taken with good friends every week.

Two Two Point Fours

2011-10-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

Flutes keep coming my way; I can't play them all. Up for sale this week are two fine 2.4's. Either would be perfect for a beginner to experience a longer flute sound and both are good value for the price.

This rare black bamboo shakuhachi was made by a potter who lives in New Zealand and grows this unusual bamboo in his back yard. The flute is light making it easy on the hands for long blowing sessions. It has excellent volume and good balance and tuning. The flute's pitch is "A". Walnut oil has been used to protect the bore.

This black flute's price is $280 US which includes shipping to the continental United States and anywhere in Canada.

This shakuhachi was made by a student maker located in Texas. It has black preventative bindings, the flute has no cracks and offers a even tone. The flute has a buffalo horn utaguchi. and is pitched in "G#".

This flute's price is $135 US which includes shipping to the continental United States and anywhere in Canada.

Is it the Flute?

2011-10-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

The flute was more expensive than all my flutes put together. It was old. Its maker well known. My friend was kind enough to allow me to play it.

I thought that as a beginner I probably wouldn't be able to appreciate such an excellent flute. I thought that I wouldn't notice many of the nuances that made this flute so superior to the ones I had played and owned in my short time as a shakuhachi student. I thought the flute couldn't do much to affect the sound of my playing.

I thought wrong!

The flute's humble appearance belied its sound potential. There was nothing that immediately struck the eye when looking at the 1.8. Nobe, there wasn't even a fancy joint to dress this instrument up. And as I turned it around in my hands, it didn't feel special.

But, oh when I blew that first Ro....yes, already with the first Ro I knew my hypothesis about this flute was all wrong. It was so smooth. With lots of tone colour, the flute made even the most simple combination of notes sound interesting and full. It was easy to play, every note just danced out of the holes, no straining, no struggle. It was a rather pleasant momentary experience to realise that it was my embouchure that was meeting with this flute to make those sounds.

Yes, I had totally underestimated this flute. Amazing that it could make the most unskilled student sound...well, let me tell you honestly,....pretty darn good!

The Flute Broker

2011-10-16T12:34:00.003-07:00

You know how it goes, you start out learning to play the shakuhachi and then you realize that in order to take lessons you will need a 1.8 jiari so you hunt around for an affordable one. And then your curiosity sends you down the path of getting a 2.4, you know, just to hear how that longer flutes will sound compared to your 1.8. And then you think that a 1.6 would be a mighty handy flute for putting in your backpack and taking to the park to play a few folks songs in the company of the birds and dragonflies.

Next comes a 2.6, in my case a few flutes at this length in order to finally find the appropriate shakuhachi for weekly long tones. And finally, if you are lucky like me, you attend a flute making workshop or two and start making your own flutes adding even more bamboo instruments to the now bulging flute basket.

Inevitably a flute or two must be sold. The closet corners have flutes stored in them. The flute tubes have instruments at rest. There just too many to play. Some excellent flutes must find new homes. From time to time you will see these flutes for sale on the sidebar of the blog and notice a write up and photos here in the main body of the blog.

Which Flute?

2011-10-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

The trip is a week away, my efforts at polishing HifuMi are a lifetime away, which flute shall I take on my travels?

Its only a two week jaunt to the desert climes of New Mexico, a pleasant place to be this time of year escaping the fall Vancouver rains and avoiding the summer heat of Santa Fe. I could take a total break from shakuhachi but there is that lesson looming just days after my return. So do I take the 1.8, apply discipline and keep working on smoothing out HifuMi now that I have the technical workings of the piece under control? Or maybe it should just be the little 1.6 for some nice relaxing folk tunes to keep some shaku energy going during the trip? Or how about a 2.6 for some long tones and honkyoku?

These day I do finally have some momentum in my year long study of HifuMi and I've been enjoying practicing the first dan of Rokudan. I does seem a shame to break up the roll I've got going but then again, its been said that a break can be a good thing for your practice too. So what do you think? No shakuhachi practice at all? Take the 1.8 and keep up the routine? Play with the 1.6 for a change? Keep a foot in the bamboo door with a nice long flute?

Blowing Hot Air

2011-10-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

The Kan Ro rang out like a bell, clear, smooth, and an easy reach for me. Those embouchure exercises must be paying off I thought joyfully as I again played the often times difficult note and again it rang out reassuring in its clarity. I congratulated myself for the progress and felt confident in my recent decision to increase the number of my monthly lessons with Chikusen. So many months of practice, so many hours of disciplined shakuhachi study. It was true, the many versions of, ''this is a difficult instrument to learn" that I heard as I was starting out with the bamboo flute. But it was worth it, wasn't it? Traditional honkyoku were taking shape and folk tunes starting to flow.

A few weeks go by. Lessons come and go. My hardback notebook slowly fills with references to chi dai meri fingerings, how to play "ru" and the meaning of "ra". And then one day it happens. Kan Ro is gone! The note squeeks out a mere wisp of its former self - well perhaps more like it had reverted to its earlier former self. I check my embouchure. I flap my lips to relax. I stop to take a moment in which I verify that my attitude is not tight and full of wanting, expecting, demanding. Yup, check, check, check....all is as it could be... and still, Kan Ro is gone.

Ned Rothernberg, a multiinstrumentalist shakuhachi player said it so aptly in a his release statement for his CD of shakuhachi compositions:

"After a 30 year romance with the shakuhachi, this is my first release exclusively devoted to compositions for the instrument. Why so long? When I say ‘romance’, I mean the word in its full literary compass, love and hate, ardor and betrayal. The root attraction has always been its depths of sound, capable of tonal colorings unsurpassed in the flute world, which can create musical expressions of great weight. The darker side? It is maddeningly difficult; compared to my beloved saxophone, it is a most fickle partner. On good days the breath and the sound are one, on bad ones, one flounders about searching for the illusive center, blowing no Zen, just hot air. "

Annual Flute Making Workshop - continued

2011-09-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

Skies were stormy and the ground wet from the night's rainfall but nothing could dampen my enthusiasm for returning to the bamboo workshop for day two of the BC Shakuhachi Society's annual hocchiku making workshop. I retrieved my half made flute from its overnight spot on top of a heap of raw bamboo and partially made flutes in the basement of Peter's house. Today would be the day that I'd hear kan and otsu from this beautiful piece of madake.

The flute makers gathered in the garden workshop, rasps emerged, sandpaper was at the ready, and the little stands to hold the flutes while we worked on them were scattered across the work table. We joked and teased as we took up our jobs a 'makers for a weekend'.

Thanks to Peter's help in shaping and placing the mouthpiece insert, the job of reducing the hole size at the mouth end was quickly completed. Now came the next exciting step: drilling the fingerholes! Jim helped me with this step. We measured the holes and choose our drill bit sizes. I was feeling brazen and decided to go with slightly bigger holes in the hopes that not much shaping or enlarging would be needed. If it worked out, this choice could save time, but, if not, I would have fewer options in terms of tuning.....my fingers were crossed.

We drilled carefully, checked the placements. I snuck in a few blows after hole one and two were drilled and was pleasantly surprised by the volume and tone. A smaller bit was used for hole #3 being the chi hole and we offset this one slightly for comfort. After the thumb hole was drilled, Jim and I traded the flute back and forth to play the full octaves...amazing, it sounded very good right off the drill press! How lucky was that?!

As Barb tuned her flute, Peter worked on his two piece long flute, Jane started on a second flute and Milan arrived to offer finishing tips and wow us with his Ro flutes, I finished work on the fingerholes of my new flute. Undercutting the inside slightly and sanding the outside edges, I was delighted to discover that the flute would need little else to make it fully playable. It was already surprisingly in tune. With the exception of Ri which needed to be meri'ed a bit to be in tune with the other notes, the flute was playing at a even "G" pitch.

The weekend ended with a wonderful Japanese meal at a local restaurant. It is always tough to part after sharing in a process of making new flutes but we each had a fabulous and functional memento of another extraordinary shakuhachi workshop weekend.

Thanks to all who attended the workshop and especially to Peter who made it all possible and Jane who went the 'extra mile' to join us.

BC Shakuhachi Society - Annual Shakuhachi Making Workshop 2011

2011-09-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

We sipped green tea, tested out each others flutes and speculated about what size flutes were going to appear by the end of the intense two day workshop. It was the first morning of the annual shakuhachi making weekend hosted by my shakuhachi pal, Peter. Again he had graciously made his home, workshop and flute making skills available to a handful of local bamboo flute enthusiasts and our one distinguished out of town guest.

Last year's flute was a big success for me thanks to all the help I had received at the workshop and I was excited to again try my hand at making a hocchiku flute from the madake that Peter had harvested in Japan the previous year. He had a special piece set aside for me. The raw bamboo was a handsome piece with a lot of potential. A long dramatic crack had emerged during winter but the bamboo was quickly bound and already the piece had the look of a flute with a story. It was up to me to try to recall and apply the many techniques I had learnt during my first flute making workshop in order to transform the ready and waiting bamboo into a shakuhachi.

Trimming the root end was easy and my first cut was even and precise. Off to a good start! Opening the root end also went well and the fact that Peter had already cleaned out the fushi saved me a bit of time. I did some basic work cleaning up the roots and then moved on knowing that I could return to improve the aesthetic of the root end at any point later on. So next came fashioning the mouthpiece. My first cut was a bit uneven and though my utaguchi cut had a good angle as I sanded the blowing edge down I somehow created a wave like shape. Evening out the chin rest and utaguchi took a good part of the afternoon of the first day. While my flute making pals drilled their finger holes and started some tuning work, I sanded, and sanded and sanded some more.

Saturday's flute making came to a natural end for me once the insert for the mouthpiece had been fashioned. Though I wanted to get to the fingerhole drilling to satisfy my curiosity about the sound of the new flute's voice, I simply ran out of steam. So far the flute offered a very promising Ro and all the basics were working well. Not wanting to mess up the finishing touches to the mouthpiece or make mistakes on the fingerhole placement, I decided to call it a day and take on the final stages of flute making with a fresh start on day two of the annual BC shakuhachi making workshop

Attention to Detail: Perry Yung

2011-09-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

The flute arrived carried on the wings of good luck. It was an auspicious sign that the shipping time was so short especially given that Canada Post was experiencing rotating strikes.

Having mailed out a flute or two myself, I was immediately impressed by the careful packing. Next was the striking flute bag, the gold embroidery details softly glowing. Undoing the thick purple tie cord revealed the flute's handmade and stamped brown leather cap that protected the 50 year old kinko inlay. The instrument was wrapped in a crisp new handmade cleaning clothe which gave it the feeling of a thoughtfully wrapped present. Perry Yung had taken a lot of care in the repair and restoration of the flute and the presentation as well as attention to personal details such as remembering that I had a urushi allergy for which he specifically included a few special items to help insure that the audition of the handsome 1.8 would be a comfortable experience for me.

Every time I have worked with Perry in regards to finding a suitable flute it has been like going shopping with a friend. The experience is fun, filled with honesty and caring and without any pressure whatsoever.

As for this lovely old 1.8 kinko flute, it is a comfortable weight, has a pleasant understated appearance, and plays reliably and with an even temperament. I found it a natural fit right from the first Ro but I took Perry's advice and did not rushing the audition. Yet, I had a hunch this one wasn't going back into the shipping box for a return ride.

Blog Buddies Do Tea

2011-09-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

It was the wee orange foldie that was responsible for our first meeting, it was our blogs that kept us connected and it was a trip to the Granville Island Tea Company that lead to this blog collaboration.

Paddy Ann doesn't play a shakuhachi however she does have some years of significant silver flute playing under her belt. She loves to cycle and writes a cheerful blog, entitled "Pedal Talk",about the activity and its many permutations. Some months ago she saw me riding my folding bike, the one I wrote about as part of this blog post, and asked me if she could take some photos for a blog post of her own. Paddy Anne's blog Pedal Talk is a popular stop for a sizable number of blog readers, now myself included.

Recently, after a particularly intense shakuhachi practice session I felt I needed a change of pace outdoors, naturally cycling came to mind. And, furthermore, I needed tea. I had run out of some of my favourites: the Indian tea, Assam, which was my daily morning treat, and the Darjeeling and Jasmine teas were all down to their last scoops. So it was while taking the long way over to my favourite tea shop, I ran into Paddy Ann again.

It was fun to share some blog talk and swap bike stories. Eventually we took our show on the road and pedalled the scenic bike path along False Creek, past the Olympic Village and to Granville Island Market. The tea shop at the market has grown from a tiny tea stand serving hot tea and offering a few choices of loose tea into a full blown tea store with a huge range of excellent quality loose teas, many fair trade and/or organic. The company now has an online store as well and can now ship tea to discerning tea drinkers anywhere in the world.

After I had stocked up five bags of my fav's, Paddy Ann treated me to a cup of tea. While perched on the tall tea bar stools we watched the market shoppers and talked about many and sundry things enjoying how much we had in common and delighting in the new things we learnt from one another. Isn't it great every time you discover how interconnected we really are?

Paddy took the photos shown for this blog post and inspired this blog collaboration - my thanks to my blog buddy and cycle pal.

Watching the Clock

2011-08-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

The timer is set. 15 minutes. Go!

There's no patter of feet on the pavement, no whirring of a spin cycle's big flywheel, no seawater splashing off paddles, there's only the sound of air through bamboo. The timer is my coach. I am training to be a shaku athlete. The clock keeps me focused. The structure is one of my new practice aids.

Gradually over the past few months I had noticed that when I hit a hard section, either in terms of a shakuhachi piece I was learning or more recently while grinding through my sound production drills, when the going got tough, I got distracted. I'd think of some idea I just had to stop to write down for future reference. I'd decide that this was a perfect time to throw a load of laundry in. I'd notice that the bonsai next to me in my music studio needed some pruning. And on it went. An endless number of reasons to interrupt my practice session. After my allotted practice time was up, regardless of how often I 'took a break' during the session, I congratulated myself on having finished the day's practice, closed my music book and put the flute back in the flute basket.

The other thing I noticed, when I stopped to think about how I was using my daily shakuhachi practice time, was that there was not particular order to what I was practicing and no clear conclusion to working on a specific aspect of my playing.

So, I came up with a plan to use the timer to establish 15 minute intervals during which I would work on a defined task. There was no wandering allowed. Once the timer was started I had to stay put and practice diligently until the interval ended. Then the timer was reset for another 15 minutes on a different aspect. The timer worked wonders to keep me focused and I was motivated to work hard knowing that I only had a mere 15 minutes for this particular aspect of practice. It was a kind of psychological trick, "I only have a short time to practice this so I have to really stick to it!" I felt.

This method has been working well for me and I find I can get more out of an hour practice session, broken up into four timed intervals each with a different practice objective, than the open ended method I had been using previously. The only problem is, the laundry is sure taking a lot longer to get done these days!

Long Walk to Long Tones

2011-08-20T18:58:00.001-07:00

This week, armed with my wee ipod Touch, I documented the hour long walk through scenic Vancouver on my way to our outdoors summer longtones location. The video clips were edited right on the Touch using iMovie and I have uploaded the finished piece to Vimeo for you to view. Apologies for the low resolution, its all the Touch could manage to crank out.
Hope you enjoy coming along to longtones with me.

long walk to long tones from wynd chaser on Vimeo.

Music: "Murasaki Reibo" by Stan Richardson

A Step in Another Direction: Mountain Dulcimer

2011-08-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Maybe it was because I had just spent the weekend listening to a lot of world music while doing my volunteer shifts at the annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Or maybe it was the conversations I was having with another fellow shakuhachi player who has a love for this simple strummed instrument. Or maybe it was the allure that arose from another friend recounting the time he spent exploring dulcimer sounds on an instrument someone parked temporarily at his home. Or perhaps it was just the melodic sounds and the concept of a non blown instrument. Whatever the nudge, it ended up pushing me in the direction of mountain dulcimers.

Also called Appalachian Dulcimers, these stringed and fretted instruments were developed by European immigrants and traditionally could be found in areas from Quebec down to the southern states. The instrument has a variety of permutations now but originally it was typically hourglass shaped, rested on the player's lap and involved playing melody notes using a stick or dowel type 'noter' on the first string and allowing the remaining two or three strings to offer an accompanying chord-like drone as they were strummed. Easy to learn, difficult to master, I've read.

Shakuhachi, hard to learn, even harder to master, is undoubtedly my first love and my main commitment. But the idea of a little musical side path, something melodic that did not need to be blown and would sound not too bad when played simply right out of the gate, did have a strong appeal. And unlike shakuhachi, there are loads and loads of internet resources to provide guidance and direction to the dulcimer newbie.

On the practical side, good student dulcimers are very affordable and even the exquisitely crafted higher end instruments often cost much less than the average professional shakuhachi.

The dulcimer arrived this week. This one, shown in the photos here, has a back made of poplar, sides of oak, top of cedar and a hickory fretboard. It has a delightfully sweet sound and is a pleasure to play as a reward for an hour or two of hard shakuhachi practice.

Rinse and Repeat

2011-08-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

My teacher likes to call it 'developing muscle memory' but really we are talking about repeat, repeat, repeat.

Establishing a consistent embouchure for good sound production takes a lot of repetition. Eventually you get to the point where your mouth just stays in the shape it needs to for getting the most volume of air at the ideal speed into the bamboo tube. But for embouchure to be thoroughly established such that you no longer have to think about it while playing, takes a lot of practice.

For the past few months we have spent some or all of my lesson time developing and then tweaking my embouchure. And in between lessons I have been hard at work building muscle memory or, in other words, repeatedly blowing tones with a 100% awareness of where my tongue, teeth, lips and jaw are at, in relation to one another and the flute, as I blow, not aim, air down the flute.

This part of learning to play the shakuhachi, at first, does not seem as exciting as jumping into learning new pieces but, strangely, it is very satisfying as I begin to understand the value of what my teacher is helping me develope. With good embouchure I will eventually have good sound no matter what type of music I choose to play. So I settle in with the flute held gently against my chin, the back of my tongue anchored lightly against the back upper teeth, the gully of my lower lip which is pursed in a slightly relaxed 'whistling shape' is almost touching the blowing edge, my jaw is relaxed and without aiming, I blow .....shhaaaaaa.....and, repeat.....and repeat....and...

Shaku Fashion Queen

2011-07-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

Its not a secret that I love t shirts. If you met me you'd know it right away. Its all I wear almost all the time, t shirt with jeans, t shirts with shorts, t shirts under hoodies when its too cold for just a t shirt. I have themed tees. Longboarding t shirts, kiteflying t shirts, cycling tees, even my local protein powder supplier gives me t shirts because he knows my love for the humble piece of clothing.

Ever since I was a kid I collected t shirts. Seemed so much fun to have a nice memento of an activity or a place that I could put to use day for weeks and months after the event. The thing is I never did outgrow that childish fascination with representing my life's interests on my clothing. As an adult, collecting the short sleeved and long sleeved cotton garment continued as a rather practical and budget-lite hobby.

Lucky for me, now its possible to even have shakuhachi tees! My collection started when Brian Purdy produced the first Chikuzen Studio tee with shakuhachi notation and komuso image printed on good quality thick black shirt. But bright colours are more my thing so when Zazzle offered International Shakuhachi Society tees as well as Chikuzen Studio tees with Taniguchi's comic style calligraphy images on them in a variety of colours I jumped in to add yellow and blue to my shaku fashion collection.

Now the first decision of my day is which t shirt to wear!

Sound Production

2011-07-25T16:48:00.001-07:00

I was warmed up. HiFuMi was on the music stand. Skype was connected. We chatted for a few minutes, "how have you been", "what's the weather doing".... and I held the flute at the ready. San no U would not evade me now. I would nail that middle section, after the easy first five lines. The piece was still rough. I had months of practice to go. And six weeks of practice already behind me on this piece. I was prepared to show off my progress so far....not only prepared... warmed up... I was pumped! Bring it on Michael!

And he says, "Shall we work on sound production today, then?" What can you say to a question like that, I ask you?! I wriggle a bit in my dark blue swivel desk chair, my hold on the flute loosens a little and I glance at HiFuMi there beckoning...

I learn about becoming more aware of the back part of the tongue being lightly anchored against the back upper teeth. And I insure my horse lips are not only loose but slightly pursed as in a whistling position and the sound of the airstream is not shhhhhhh but shaaaaaaaaaa... The tongue presses up hydraulic fashion for kan, this naturally moves the jaw in such a way that the lips come even closer to the blowing edge. Other than that the embouchure stays the same for all notes in kan and otsu.

Its good to refine sound production after a couple of years of just trying to push some air down the flute and have some semblance of the necessary notes escape the bore. It makes sense and I start to understand the theory and the intent. Michael says now its all about muscle memory. Lots of repetition he says, spend 80% of your practice time on this for the next two weeks he advises.

Its great to have a teacher. How would I have ever thought to work on this on my own? How would I have know what details to refine and what embouchure specifics to monitor? How would I ever make HiFuMi sound good?!

I shut down Skype, turned off my trustly laptop, wiped down my flute and collected my notebook. HiFuMu was still on the music stand, neglected, ignored..."another time" I said, closing the music workbook, and settled down to re-write the lesson's notes on sound production.

Shakuhachi Neighbour

2011-07-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

By day he is a carpenter and a movie set maker but by night his passion is to repair and restore shakuhachi. I first met Milan at our local long tones group and then discovered he was my neighbour, we live only two blocks apart. He is a student of Alcvin Ramos and has been studying shakuhachi for a number of years. However, Milan was no stranger to end blown instruments before taking up the shakuhachi. He is also a very skilled didgeridoo player.

Though he loves to play shakuhachi, sometimes when I see Milan's handiwork, I think he likes to work on the instruments even more than he loves to play the flute. Milan's work is detailed, precise, and professional. Motivated by a curiosity, Milan began buying damaged flutes in order to examine how they were crafted. His aptitude for hands-on work naturally lead him to try to repair the damage on some of the flutes and to restore others that were not so much broken as neglected.

I've had the benefit of Milan's work, often testing out flutes he has restored and frequently having the pleasure of seeing how beautifully he has brought old flutes back to life. Milan cleans the bore with care, polishes both root end and blowing end with the finest of sandpaper and than is not satisfied until he has used even finer steel wool to leave the bamboo with a silky smooth finish. He applies high quality stain and pure natural lacquer to the exterior and interior respectively on flutes that need it which brings out the unique qualities of each piece he works on. He binds cracks and repairs utaguchi. Amazingly, like a dentist capping a tooth, Milan will even replace broken root ends with a neatly matched new piece of root.

One evening as I was practicing, I checked a stable micro crack in one of my flutes for what must have been the twentith time that month. OK, now I'm becoming obsessive about this going-nowhere crack, I thought. I should just get some bindings above and below the tiny crack. So, I took a short break from playing to text Milan about the desired binding. "Bring it right over" was his cheerful and immediate reply. So, I walked the two blocks to his apartment, left the flute for the evening and by morning I had the instrument back in my hands with the new binding looking every bit as if they had been applied by a master in Japan. What good fortune to live next door to a shakuhachi man like Milan!

The Listening Project - Watazumi Week

2011-07-10T11:18:00.004-07:00

Inspired by a shakuhachi friend who listens repeatedly, as he commutes to work, to an old tape of Watazumi, I decided to listen to Watazumi's playing as part of my listening project. In my music collection I have a set of tracks where Watazumi is giving explanations in Japanese and then interspersing his talks with playing shakuhachi. As I began to listen to the various tracks I wished that I knew what he was saying and whether his pieces were demos of certain techniques or specific pieces.*

After a little googling, I discovered, thanks to Koji's blog, that this is a CD release of an older LP entitled "His Practical Philosophy".

The first seven tracks were performed live and each was preceeded with some explanation. The next five tracks were recorded in a studio and are played right through with no intro or explanation. When I reached the 9th track, 'Kaze' ('Wind') I was shocked and delighted by the diiference in this piece from the others on the CD. Doso plays a split flute with whimsy. Around the three minute mark, the piece sounds like music you'd hear at a fairground or inside a circus tent. Kaze makes me smile.

I was able to gain more insight into what Watazumi was explaining thanks to the european shakuhachi society article of May 2010 written by Clive Bell (Scroll to the page 29 of the newsletter to find the article.)
Here's what Clive had to say about the unusual playing heard in track 9:
"...“Kaze” (Wind) is remarkable: apparently a 90 cm bamboo split in the studio, so Watazumido seized the moment to tear out a wild improvisation on a small side-blown flute. It’s littered with trickery: flutters, Swanee whistle slides and unorthodox trilling, all done with warmth and a great tone."

This is truly an amazing recording which provides a wealth of shakuhachi sound to appreciate and study.

*UPDATE - August 10, 2011
Koji has kindly translated the spoken words found on the first three tracks of this CD. You can read his translation on his blog, "Shakuhachi Stuff".

"Blowing Zen" - Revised and Expanded

2011-07-03T12:47:00.001-07:00

I recently received my copy of "Blowing Zen - Finding an Authentic Life" from Monty Levenson's site. The book was a good read the first two times I read it but now with the addition of photos to enhance the stories in the various chapters, its an even more interesting account of Ray Brooks' own shakuhachi journey.

I enjoyed the short 'Afterward' that Ray added because of the insight it gave into where Ray is now at in terms of an 'authentic life'. The understanding of Presence, as a result of the distillation of the study of both Zen and Indian philosophies, does not surprise me. And, in fact, it is validating to find someone else who has reached these similar conclusions but by a slightly different route.

I'm glad that "Blowing Zen" is now back in print, pleased with the additions in the revised and expanded edition and I'd recommend it as a good read for both shakuhachi players and non-players alike.

The Listening Project - This Week

2011-06-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Listening Project

The goal: to listen, without interruption and not while doing anything else, to one shakuhachi recording a day.

The project got underway this week with a sampling of pieces recommended last week by blog readers.

Here are some observations:

Tsuru No Sugomori - by Okuda is an incredible piece with a lot going on! Somewhere I read that this is the last piece a student learns to play, listening to it I can totally understand why that might be a good recommendation.

Tsuru No Sugomori - by Chikuzen. This is just such an amazing piece that I find I can listen to it many times. Michael Gould's version is awesome.

first track - Dan Shinko -not sure of the name of this piece but it feels like gentle playing not overly pumped up still has lots of feeling.

Murashaki Reibo - by Stan Richardson is clearly played with very little ornamentation making it easy to soak in correct pitch and tone colouring. Stan leaves good long pauses between phrases which reminds me not to rush when I play.

Shin Kyorie - by Stan Richardson, is nothing like the Kyorei (Fudaiji) I first learned.

The Listening Project is already proving to be a meaningful addition to my schooling as a shakuhachi student and a calming daily activity.

Have you had a good shakuhachi listening experience this week too?

Listening

2011-06-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

I don't listen to music of any kind ... hardly ever.

I am not a multitasker. I do one thing at a time. If I am working out at the gym, I just work out. If I am eatting food, I just eat. If I am reading, I just read. And if I listen to music, I just listen.

Music in the 'background', so to speak, is noise to me. It gets in the way of giving my complete attention to what I am doing. Listening for the sake of giving my full attention to listening makes more sense to me. It is tempting to say that this is an intention I gleaned from years of studying Buddhistic philosophies but that wouldn't be true. It's how I am, simply. Yes, simple, one thing at a time simple. No additional background noise is needed, I already have enough whirring and humming going on in my brain, to add to this activity with external sounds such as music or tv would be irritating and highly distracting.

But I can enjoy music when it is the only activity I am engaged in. I prefer headphones so as to gain all the subtle nuances of the piece and help remove outside sounds that might detract from the pure listening experience. Yes, that's the best way to listen to music, for me, sit still, listen completely, savour the sound.

But the thing is, I rarely feel like sitting still. Though I am a single tasker, I am still restless. And giving my attention to music means that I don't move or engage in anything else and the truth is, I've always found it hard to just not move.

Here I am back full circle then: I hardly ever listen to shakuhachi music. And the point of that is, I don't have much of an idea of the sound I'm striving to achieve outside of the mp3's that accompany my lesson books and that I do use as a learning aid when I practice.

My shakuhachi teacher has encouraged me to listen to shakuhachi music regularly. I did follow his advice...ahem, for a week or so. It came up recently on a forum, the value of gaining ample exposure to shakuhachi music. So, I am going to take a public stand and announce right here on this blog, that I intend to listen to shakuhachi music on a regular basis from now on, for, say a month, for starters, eh? That's right, I will make it a project. To listen to at least one piece of shakuhachi music a day will be my goal for the next month. How's that sound? Manageable? Reasonable? I'll report back to let you know how its going.

If you have a piece you would highly recommend I incorporate into my little listening project, please let me know. At this point listening to any shakuhachi music will be better than no listening at all but if you have a favourite composition, it would be even more motivation for me to put on the headphones, have a sit down, and give my attention to the music of the instrument that I have been trying to learn to play for the past two years.

Cooling Chrysanthemum Tea

2011-06-14T10:01:00.001-07:00

Definitely not fruit juice - too sweet - beer, even the dark stouts, doesn't do it either, darjeeling tea, no milk of course, can do in a pinch but next to water, the best beverage to have while practicing shakuhachi, is chrysanthemum tea.

You've probably discovered by now that what you eat and, even more so, what you drink, before and while playing the flute, makes a huge difference to your embouchure. Coating the mouth cavity with anything sweet is death to making sound with the flute. Dairy also, with its milk residue, definitely affects playing negatively. You can't go wrong with water but if its tea you crave then you need to check out the floating flowers of chrysanthemum. I find that chrysanthemum tea leaves my mouth fresh and in no way detracts from my playing.

The flowers are particularly beautiful so I prefer to brew this tea in a clear pot or, as pictured above, in my Libre tea glass which I discovered thanks to a tip from my shakuhachi friend, Peter.

According to Chinese medicine, chrysanthemum tea offers many health benefits not the least of which is a cooling effect on the body and, I don't know about you, but for me often when I am having a very focused and intense practice session, I can work up a bit of a sweat and have found that, in fact, the chrysanthemum tea does indeed seem to bring my body temperature down somewhat.

Being a fan of tea, I rarely reuse tea leaves for a second cup preferring instead the full flavour of a fresh scoop of loose tea for every cup. But to my delight, chrysanthemum tea, I have found, is one of the few teas that can deliver full flavour from flowers that have already offered a previous cup of tea. That's a bonus feature of this refreshing, shakuhachi friendly tea.

Technique Teter Toter

2011-06-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Do you remember what it was like playing those first simple pieces on your shakuhachi? Maybe some nursery rhymes or folk songs, puffing and blowing to get the notes to sound and the pitch to resemble the melody. And do you recall what happened when the groups of similar notes sped up? Anything faster than a whole note and I started to tongue the notes, well, isn't that what you would do when playing an instrument? Of course, if you had any experience with a western instrument, this approach to playing flute music would seem natural.

It didn't take long for my teacher to correct this newbie method and, as he emphasized repeats, instead of tonguing I began the exciting process of entering into a totally foreign musical context. It felt strange at first to play triplets by lifting my finger and putting it down on the hole again but gradually it became familiar and then I no longer thought about it any more. Well, at least, until a few weeks ago when I started to work on a piece called, " Mori no Akebono". There are great sections of this lively piece that have repeated notes and, what was that little symbol, like a check mark, next to those notes? To my surprise, the symbol was to indicate that these notes were meant to be tongued!

Can you imagine how difficult it was for me to now tongue notes? I felt like a total beginner all over again. It was so awkward and felt so wrong to tongue the notes now. But slowly, with daily practice, the tonguing is starting to sound better. You simply can't let your guard down for a second while learning to play the shakuhachi because just when you get comfortable with the basic techniques, someone throws a piece at you that sends your playing backwards by two years!

Plateau

2011-05-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

Every journey had its exciting sights, meanderings, constantly changing country side and new discoveries. And every journey has its waiting in line, down time just chilling and absorbing the experiences and times of doing mundane practical tasks. So too, with the shakuhachi journey.

I have been taking lessons with Michael Gould with two years now and playing the flute for two and a half. And as my friend Jon said recently, the revelations are becoming fewer and farther between. The journey is taking me along a plateau, it seems, and because of this I have a little less to report here on the blog. Nevertheless, though the fireworks type of shakuhachi experiences are not so frequent, the more subtle sound experiences continue.

For example, the technique of 'suri', a type of slur or lilt, has come up in both a Minyo piece, Yamanaka Bushi, and then later, some what to my surprise in a more traditional piece, HiFuMi Hachigaeshi. And the trills often used to add colour to Minyo pieces, have been finger workouts not found, so far, in the more traditional kinko pieces. So there are certainly still many interesting techniques to learn and practice while my embouchure developement plods along. And you know what? I'm pretty comfortable with being right here, right now, with no major hurdles to leap at the moment, not huge shakuhachi hills to climb and, for the time being, just me, the flute and this long, open, smooth plateau.

Tea Tree Oil

2011-05-23T21:41:00.001-07:00

Tea Tree oil is your friend especially when your flute looks like this:

I had played this flute a few weeks ago, outdoors in quite cool conditions. Though I thought that the flute was thoroughly warm and dry when I put it away....I guess it wasn't! When I took it out of its plastic liner bag, I was a bit shocked by the sight.

Remembering the treatment for such a mold covered flute, I dug around for the tea tree oil and mixed up bath for the flute by diluting the oil with water. After cleaning the utaguchi and the rest of the blowing end of the flute, I gave the entire bore a rinse with the oil. The flute spent the next few days drying and then went back in the storage bag, without the plastic liner this time.

In our wet west coast climate the dampness can easily get trapped in the flute liner bags so I've opted to send the flutes 'neked' into their clothe storage bags in the hopes that there will not be a repeat episode of the mold surpise.

News Flash: "Blowing Zen" 2011 edition now available

2011-05-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

"Blowing Zen: Finding an Authentic Life" by Ray Brooks is now back in print, revised and expanded!

Ray mentioned, last year when he was a Featured Player on the blog, that his book, which has been out of print for a while now, was going to be reprinted and available soon. He just got in touch with me today to say that the book is now out and available through Monty Levenson's site.

The book has been published by Sentient Publications and has an additional chapter as well as an epilogue, afterword and many photos. Ray says that this edition will have a wider distribution than the first edition and that Barnes and Noble hopes to have it available in 80 of their stores soon.

"Blowing Zen" is a classic as far as shakuhachi books go and if you didn't manage to get hold of the first edition now's your chance to travel the shakuhachi path with Ray. I can't wait to get my copy of Ray's inspiring book. I'll be back with more details about the revised edition of "Blowing Zen" soon.

Favourite Flute: Jay Zakarius Poggenpohl

2011-05-17T09:55:00.002-07:00

If someone told me five years ago that my prized possession would be a piece of bamboo with five holes, I'd think they were nuts...

I began listening to shakuhachi in 2006 and shortly thereafter got my first piece. I realized early that I was drawn more to the deeper sounds of longer flutes and opted for a 2.4 instead of the usual 1.8 taken up by beginners. At first, I made the journey as a player by myself, relying on the gracious input of the former Shakuhachi BBQ Forum members and scores with accompanying recordings I purchased online. After a year, I felt I had really reached a plateau and started to consider the possibility of trying an online teacher, since I wasn't able to track down any nearby teachers here in Taichung, Taiwan.

Fortunately, Michael "Chikuzen" Gould was one of the earlier online instructors who also happened to be a fan of chokan (longer flutes). With his monthly sessions, I continued my practice and commissioned a Perry Yung 3.3 jinashi flute keyed to D#. As soon as I got that flute, I gave away my original flute and had renewed shakuhachi vigor, culminating in learning Taniguchi's Bosatsu. Though the piece is a difficult one (mainly due to its length), it's comprised of a number of folk songs which Taniguchi tied together with nice transitions -- so it's not a really technically demanding piece.

When it came to wanting to learn more advanced pieces (especially modern ones), my 3.3 proved to be a most unlikely candidate. I had acquired a couple other flutes in the interim, but their sounds didn't really grab me and call me out to play. Suddenly, a BBQ member posted the sale of a Monty Levenson 2.9 jinashi nobekan pitched in F for half of its original price. I had to have it and wrote the owner immediately only to be disconcerted that it was already out on audition. Surprisingly, the owner contacted me a few weeks later to ask if I was still interested. I started to wonder: if the original owner was willing to get rid of it at such a loss and this potential buyer wasn't interested, perhaps the flute really wasn't that great afterall. Nonetheless, I could always give the flute a try for a few weeks and only lose the shipping cost if I didn't want to keep it. So I wired the cash.

One day right after teaching one of my ESL classes, the package had arrived. I had a three hour break until my evening classes and thrashed the box open to give it a try. I told myself, "be patient," as I had experienced with other flutes that the first time one blows on an unfamiliar piece of bamboo, a nice sound is unlikely. But when I put that curve to my lower lip, it just felt right... and the sound was incredible. It had nearly twice the volume of my 3.3 with easy to control dynamics.

I immediately upped my practice from an hour per day to two and tried some technically demanding pieces. When I told Chikuzen via Skype that I wanted to learn Makiri, a ghostly piece written by Yokoyama Katsuya, his eyes widened as if to say, "uh-oh... Zakarius is trying to break the mold again." It proved much more difficult than I expected, so I started practicing 4 hours a day to compensate. In a little over a month, I could play the piece well enough.

"Zak plays Makiri on a Levenson 2.9, March 2011"

Give it a listen (click on the link then click on the speaker icon) and I'll let the sound speak for itself. (Note that the bitrate is decidedly low to keep the file size to a minimum.)

As for the technical specifications of the flute, it's perfectly in tune in the key of F (though I seriously doubt I'll ever be doing any ensemble playing). It is also clear through the top of the daikan octave (Hi chu meri). Another interesting tidbit is that the U (1, 2, 4 & 5 closed) doesn't need to be meri-ed. When playing faster pieces on such a long flute, this comes as a very important benefit.

Gamelan

2011-05-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

The melody was a simple one but still a few of us struggled with it at first. We were taught in the traditional manner, phrases of the piece were played for us and we immediately set our horn hammers to metal keys striving to replay what we had heard. We had a lot of help from more experienced players that were tutoring us in the hands-on gamelan workshop that was part of "Gong" the three day Gamelan festival held recently here in Vancouver.

It was not merely playing the musical phrases that I found challenging but it was also the fact that as the next note was struck the previous note was 'dampened' by the non-hammer wielding hand which grasped the still resonating metal key between thumb and forefinger. My hands wove patterns over the single instrument, one of many that make up gamelan - the name for the entire family of Indonesian instruments - that I sat at and I struggled to muster the coordination necessary to do the dampening in time with the note striking and still keep the melody straight and the rhythm true. And then, just when I felt like I was at the point of gaining some dexterity with this dampening technique, musical phrases were introduced in which not ALL of the notes were dampened, some were allowed to resonate while others needed to be dampened. At this point I was almost over my head ... trying to stay afloat in this new musical context was both an exhilarating and exhausting endeavour.

Later that same week, during my regular shakuhachi lesson, working on Minyo trill techniques, the gamelan workshop was to find its shakuhachi counterpart. In order to achieve some of the aesthetic of the Minyo music, I was practicing 'popping' one note just a shade after 'bouncing' off of the lower note next to it. Immediately I remembered this action from the dampening we had done in the Indonesian music workshop. How wonderful when a musical crossover like this occurs.

That said, I am happy to concentrate on just one of these musical traditions at a time since both share complexities that can take a lifetime to master. In fact, on the evening of the gamelan workshop as the main gamelan groups was preparing for the evening concert, I ran into an old friend of mine who I knew had committed years of his life already to the study and practice of gamelan. We were delighted to re-connect and as we caught each other up on our lives, I commented to Rod what a complex and daunting tradition gamelan seemed to be for one learning it. Shortly thereafter I mentioned that I had been studying shakuhachi for a few years now to which my friend replied in awe, "Oh, shakuhachi, I hear that is a very difficult instrument to learn to play!" At that point we shared a good laugh as we suddenly realized how each of us viewed the others' chosen musical interest as a challenging life path.

Long Flutes; Long Boards

2011-05-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

The wheels spun, for close to three minutes; clearly the bearings were in good shape and the tightness of the wheels on the axle of the truck was perfect. The grip tape was worn in a round'ish patch near the front but not so much that the whole board would need to be regripped. Work gloves with their hard plastic slide pucks, homemade pads made from cutting board and attached to the gloves via velcro straps, still had at least a season's worth of life in them, give or take a few months depending on how steep our chosen hills would be this year. The helmet was new last year so still offered good protection. A few spills had happened in the past. Head splitters for sure, had I failed to wear the brain bucket. As I spend the evening checking my gear, I recall the past seasons' of longboarding: wind blowing through the helmet's air vents, my warm breath on my sunglasses, the distinctive sound of urethane on asphalt, mellow pushing around the flats on a seawall path and adrenaline charged 40 plus kmph speeds downhill in the car free recreational forest road that is our favourite skate spot.

Like shakuhachi, I didn't take up the sport of longboarding early in life. In my 40's, I gave shortboard skateboarding a try. It felt just a little late to learn to ollie. My ability to nail a kickflip was severely inhibited by my less than youthful attitude toward the consequences of the inevitable failures that were all a part of learning process. Sensing the amazing feelings of flow that could be achieved in bowls, snake runs and other skatepark features, I committed a summer to the concrete playgrounds but again, age seemed to put a damper on my ability to handle anything more than a few inches of air time off of the rim of the lip.

But longboarding, like shakuhachi, can still be learned even if one is not in the first three decades of life. The longboards, two, three and four times as long as a standard skateboards, with their wide trucks and large, soft, silent, urethane wheels offer a gentle ride and secure hill carving. There's no need for air time and a safety slide can easily learned and applied as a speed check when going too fast for the classic foot brake technique.

My equipment check is complete. The timing is good; Spring is a great time to get back on the board. The weather is warming up, roads are often dry and the fragrance of many different blossoming trees will fill my nostrils as I skate. Tomorrow I will start the day with some long tones, on a long flute, then grab a board and helmet and hit the road, for a long skate.

Favourite Flute: Jim

2011-04-26T08:22:00.008-07:00

A few of my favourites.

Thanks Erin for asking me to write about my favourite flute. It will have to be an overall favourite as I'm fickle about favourites on a day to day basis. Sometimes deciding that this One is the flute that I will use now. Laughingly I find myself smitten with another soon. These range from a self-made and harvested 0.9 to a self-made 3.0. I have chosen this particular favourite flute to feature as I was strongly drawn to it. It is a 2.65 Jinashi.

In 2002 I had driven some two hours into Vancouver to finally meet Alcvin Ramos at Tonari Gumi a Japanese Community Volunteers Association, where he was to offer Honkyoku. Amongst the many Honkyoku he offered that day was Sanya (3Valleys) played on a 2.65 Jinashi. The sound of this flute, if we can consider sound to be of the flute and not of the player, struck me.

I had learned after the offering, that Al made and sold Jinashi Shakuhachi. I didn't imagine that this particular one would be for sale as I thought that one this beautiful he would keep for himself. Some time later I worked up the courage to ask about this flute asking something to the effect of “ When you
make a flute that is extraordinary do you keep that one for yourself”? No, they are all for sale he said. I immediately said I would like to buy it. I tried it and couldn't get a sound on it. It was much different than the 1.8 Jiari I had been playing for the previous 8 years. I settled on a different flute not quite so
long and fat. Still after playing it for a while I couldn't get “Sanya” off my mind. I decided the only way to quiet this noise was to buy the flute, sound or no sound. A deal was struck. After spending some time with the Bamboo I was able to manifest audible sound.

Where sound was struck.

One Verse One Song
My lessons continue
My self doubt still exists
but it is like a tired fly that can be
removed
from my arm
with a breath
Harmless
Persistent
even bothersome
but somehow charming
it is part of me
We arrive again at Sanya Hocchiku
MMMMMMMM so warm
The shape
its oval fitting right into my hands
like it belongs there
I play for hours
Crawling inside of it
Reaching in to the universe it holds
Reaching out to the universe it holds
Substantial in all ways
Can't believe it's sound is resonating in and through me
its weight, its size....
Reminds me of the first time I looked through a telescope with a 20 inch mirror
Standing on a step ladder looking out to the universe
swimming in the universe
consumed in the universe
One verse
One song
SHAKUHACHI

One day after sharing a meal with Okuda Atsuya and listening to him play some Honkyoku I brought out my flute to play for Okuda and the others. Recognizing it, Okuda remarked that he had harvested this bamboo. Al had made the flute though. I asked Okuda for his thoughts on it. He played Tamuke on it and said in English, smiling, Good Bamboo.

I am fortunate as well to have 5 friends with a flute of the same pitch. Some I get together with on a regular basis. Others when they are visiting. I once also met a Kyotaku player at a restaurant in Kyushu. He excused himself, went to his car and returned with his flute. We had a great time playing and eating. He stated that it was the first time he had played with someone other than his teacher. Same pitch. This flute has been a delight to have. It will stay with me.

Taimu Workout

2011-04-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

The weight room was nearly empty. I guess Sunday mornings are not most people's favourite time to work out. After a thorough warm up I start in on the soul of resistance training, the squat. This is an easy exercise to do incorrectly and can lead to injury if done carelessly. But being no stranger to this classic exercise, I set up the barbell to exactly the right height and add a few small plates to the already substantially heavy bar.

I like this exercise because is works so many aspects of the body and must be done with total commitment and focus. The benefits of regular squat workouts are many and therefore the exercise always has a central spot in my gym routines. After completing the sets of squats I am totally tuned into the day's training program and the exercises that follow flow naturally and seem comparatively easy after the squats.

During a break between sets my mind wanders to the poor-gal's taimu that I had recently bought from a shak friend on the forum. The instrument is not an actual taimu though it does have a lot of the aspects of the big bamboo flutes made by Ken LaCosse. This Mujitsu flute is still very fat bamboo and still well in tune in both octaves but it didn't quite made the high standards of a full on taimu but then again it didn't carry the hefty price tag of the foghorn Ro flutes either.

The 2.3 almost-taimu is amazing. The pitch is A, close to many of the 2.6 and 2.65 flutes we play at our weekly long tones sessions. The huge diametre of this flute relative to its length puts it in the tone zone of longer flutes. The finger holes are big and in combination with the fat boo are a challenge for me to cover. The flute takes a lot of air. I need to warm up well to call forth the sound. And then it takes total focus to sculpt the tones as they start to grow in this unique shakuhachi. And then I see it: the connection between the core of my resistance training program, the squat, and the wanna-be taimu. They both are a total body-mind workout. They both require concentration, good form and total commitment. They both build valuable and transferable stamina and skill.

As I leave the gym, feeling that pleasant workout glow, I look forward to the afternoon's workout, not with weights this time but rather with the big bamboo taimu.

Ohanami

2011-04-11T19:33:00.002-07:00

For the past 27 years the Mokuyokai Soceity of Vancouver has organized Ohanami, cherry blossom festival, at the University of British Columbia's Nitobe Memorial Garden. This year I was fortunate to have the opportunity to join my more experienced shakuhachi playing friends in providing some music for this event. We played Sakurra, of course, and some other popular folk tunes on 1.8's and then pieces such as HonShirabe and Tamuke on our 2.2's.

The day was chilly yet the garden looked serene and the cherry blossoms were at their peak. We tucked off to the side of one of the walking paths and played until our fingers and toes finally forced us to seek some warmth. The timing was good as our complimentary bento boxes were ready. We shared the meal inside the nearby Asian Centre and then headed outside again to play a few more pieces as people continued to arrive to admire the Japanese garden as well as to partake in the tea ceremony and to try their hand at origami.

I hadn't anticipated how cold the garden would be on this spring day, so hoped that no one would notice that I was wearing my down vest, and later my hoodie as well, under my kimono jacket. My partner's gray wool cap added to my rather unorthodox performance fashion. Visitors to the garden didn't seem to mind as they snapped photos and took videos of our group as we played.

After another break to warm up, we were invited to play at the offering of prayers and ringing of the bell for those affected by the recent earthquake in Japan. This felt like the most meaningful part of the day for us and we appreciated being able to contribute some shakuhachi sounds to this ceremony.

At the end of the day, the shakuhachi didn't quite make it straight into the car for the ride home. First we played a few more pieces in the parkade taking advantage of its excellent acoustics. This was a lovely and spontaneous way to wrap up my first ohanami.

Thanks to the Vancouver Mokuyokai Soceity, to my friends Peter, Jim and Milan, and, for the photos and hat, Sheila.

Embouchure

2011-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

I walked around the house flapping my lips. It sounded all too much like a horse had somehow made its way into our condo. The dog looked up sleepily from his corner on the living room couch, giving me that "you're in one of your crazy moods again" look. Luckily no one else was home; I had the place to myself, just me and the dog.

Keeping a bit of tension on the corners of my mouth so as not to let the air inflate my cheeks, I flapped through loose lips. I was conscious of the donut of air between my teeth and lips and the upper teeth not quite touching the inside of the lower lip. I blew a steady stream of air through relaxed lips just like my teacher had recommended in our recent lesson. The idea was to get a broad stream of air into the flute. He had explained that having too focused an airstream coming through usually quite tight lips results in a narrow tone that jumps easily from otsu to kan. Using a loose embouchure results in a rounder tone and a denser sound as kan can be mixed, if one likes, with otsu quite easily.

I liked the feeling of the child like exercise of lip flapping and soon I found it transferring nicely to my warm up exercises on my 1.8. It wasn't quite as easy to remember the loose embouchure when practising some of the pieces I was working on but I kept it in mind knowing that in the long run the improved embouchure would be a great benefit to my playing.

And, like many times in the past, I feel appreciation for being able to work with a qualified and experienced teacher. These individualised practise suggestions would be difficult or perhaps even impossible to arrive at in isolation. And, as a result, the process of learning to play the bamboo flute would undoubtedly be a much slower, and possibly, more frustrating one.

Excuse me now, the house is once again empty, I must take the opportunity to do some more lip flapping. See you later!

Favourite Flute: Justin Senryu

2011-03-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to write about a shakuhachi which has special meaning for me – not necessarily the instrument I play the most, but one “close to my heart”. So I considered this question. As a shakuhachi maker with particular interest in historic instruments, I have in my collection many fine examples of different styles and periods of shakuhachi making. Many of these have great meaning for me. Among these in particular are instruments made by my teacher's grandfather and great grandfather - the previous Grand-masters of the Kinko-ryu, Araki Kodo II (Araki Chikuo) and Araki Kodo III. These two masters's instruments serve as a great inspiration to me, Kodo III being regarded by many as the best jinuri (also known as jiari) shakuhachi maker, and Kodo II as the best jinashi maker, and highly sought after by Kinko-ryu players to this day. My teacher Araki Kodo V (now known as Chikuo II) has played a great part in my shakuhachi training, and furthermore is a great friend and one I feel most close to in Japan. So these instruments are certainly close to my heart, and playing these instruments, and studying them, gives me much joy, and furthers my feeling of closeness to the lineage itself and my teacher's ancestors. Alternating between playing these and my own instruments through the making process is also a valuable activity for me in the making of Araki-ha shakuhachi.

There are some other instruments which I feel particularly close to – an Edo period 2.0 from the Kanto area excellently suited to playing Kimpu-ryu, and a 1.3 from the mid 18th century would have to be near the top of my list. In fact, there is no “top” as such. There are instruments which I feel are the best for me to play particular repertoires, as the styles I play are varied, requiring different blowing styles and tonal expression. And, for my own study I appreciate the different characteristics of good instruments of different ages and regions. And of course among my favourite instruments are ones I have made myself – these days I probably play my own instruments about 60 or 70% of the time, and Edo period instruments the rest of the time.

Finally I decided to write today about one shakuhachi which I made myself. These days most makers buy bamboo from suppliers, but I wished to learn the art of harvesting myself. I have a good friend who is a maker and harvests his own bamboo, so he taught me how. We went out a couple of times together, one time of which was actually in my home area. I live in a place called Fujimino which is not far from Tokyo, and since there are some groves nearby, we went by bicycle. Now, I should explain that good shakuhachi bamboo is hard to find. It should be of suitable density, suitable width, and especially difficult is the spacing of the nodes. So it takes a long time to find good groves of bamboo. Even within one area, on one mountain, there may be just a small area with such suitable bamboo growing. This may be why shakuhachi harvesters generally keep their sources secret! And so, while harvesting in my neighbourhood was a very convenient plan, we were not expecting to get any amazing pieces.

The harvesting went well, and all the necessary skills were learned. The curing process is difficult too, so it's good to have the opportunity to do this on stock which is not so precious. Having harvested many pieces, I had a lot of practice to be getting on with, and many mistakes to make! That year and the next, I harvested many pieces in the area, and honed my skills, and later taught a fellow maker the harvesting process there who had up 'till then relied upon buying stock from harvesters.

By the time it was cured, most of this stock not reaching professional standards was eventually useless, although in fact it had served an invaluable purpose. But among these, there was one especially nice looking bamboo. I worked on this and it became a fine instrument, 2.6 in length. The node spacing was good, the diameter though wide was perfect for this particular type of instrument I wished to make. The root end though, was rather unconventional in its shape. According to traditional aesthetic, the root end should either be straight, or preferably bending up a little. This one was bending up but also off to the side, in a rather twisted fashion. While I could have been disappointed, as it was, this strange end almost looking like the twisted foot of an elephant, appealed to me in its uniqueness and strength of character. And while much of the bamboo I harvest now comes from far away in Kansai and Kyushu, this instrument stands out to me, and never lets me forget that this bamboo was growing a mere cycle ride from my home. So this is one for me to keep.

I wish I could give you an audio sample to hear it, but your request came just after the recent earthquake in Japan, and just before my scheduled trip to India. I am in fact here in India now, just about to go into retreat, and was unable to record anything in time before I left though I do at least have a some photos for you. I will be teaching in Europe after India, and returning home in September so perhaps after that I can send you some recording.

Justin Senryu

New! ESS Shakuhachi Forum

2011-03-22T10:29:00.005-07:00

The cherry blossoms here in Vancouver have appeared on trees all over the city seemingly overnight. One day bare branched trees lined the streets and the next delicate white and pink blossoms greeted us on our daily dog walk. The first signs of Spring are here on the west coast of Canada. And to add to the excitement of the ending of winter and from another continent, the new European Shakuhachi Forum has opened!

The forum with its calm green/brown template and inviting creatively named subsections was up and welcoming shakuhachi players from all countries of the world in just weeks after the long running and much loved Shakuhachi BBQ closed. Many thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of Kiku Day and the others who have brought this new meeting place for shakuhachi players online.

I'm registered there, are you?!

Tamuke

2011-03-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

A friend lay in the palliative care ward. She had terminal cancer. Facing death as she faced life, matter of factly and directly, she moved toward leaving her form body, faster than any of us expected.

I decided now was the time to learn Tamuke. I had barely memorised the first line when she passed away. I kept studying the piece, with her memory in mind. Little did I know that there was much more loss just around the corner.

The earthquake hit. The big wave swept away lives, lifetimes and dreams. I had only just memorised the second line. I played the piece, for the sudden loss, this time so many. And I kept studying, with the memory of many in mind.

Tamuke (1:15 - 6:30), played by many and introduced by Riley Lee at the 2008 Shakuhachi Festival in Sydney:

International Shakuhachi Forum Closes

2011-03-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

It came to a screeching halt. No notice for those driving on the same road. Just a sudden and simple, STOP sign, posted by Ken LaCosse.

Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciated the time, effort and years of monitoring that Ken and many others contributed to keep the Shakuhachi BBQ going. I liked to head over for some shak talk on pretty much a daily basis. I enjoyed the banter, valued the advice and cherished the community. I know something else will likely spring up or creep up to replace the BBQ, as is the way with the web.* But it was a bit sudden, to have it go like that; here today, gone the next. Well life can be like that sometimes, eh? Maybe its good practice to deal with things just suddenly ending.

Good bye Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ. Thanks for the good times. Long may your archives remain.

*Thanks to a forum friend, David E, I discovered that the flute portal site, in response to the BBQ closing, has added a shakuhachi section. As well, Michael Doherty has created a group on Facebook, "Shakuhachi Discussion", where players can meet to discuss and post about things shak related.

Shakuhachi Nerd Tips

2011-03-01T17:09:00.001-08:00

On the go but don't want to forget that third line of the piece you just started practicing...take it with you in your 'to go' mug of course!

Out and about and wondering if you are in pitch? The Tuner can be right with you in your iphone or ipod touch.

Running short of utuguchi caps? A kid's mitt, with the thumb tucked up against the blowing edge, can work just fine.

Favourite Flute: Derek Van Choice

2011-02-22T10:13:00.001-08:00

Derek Van Choice is a warm human being with a host of exciting creative projects on the go, glimpses of which can be seen on his website "hollowbamboo.net". When I contacted him about the Favourite Flute theme he was in the midst working on a video project that demanded intensely long days and yet he responded kindly and generously to my query. Not having the time to compose a thoughtful piece for the blog's theme he offered instead a piece he had written in the past about his experience with meeting and eventually making shakuhachi. Here is an excerpt from that piece, highlighting Derek's early fascination with the various aspects of the bamboo flute:

"At that time, the great allures were a silver or gold-lined inlay, a red urushi bore that you needed sunglasses to look through, a heavily mottled, dark lower half, silver rings/rattan at the joint, etc. As a budding maker, it was fun to emulate the aesthetics I had always admired.

As I’m sure happens with a lot of newer players, and makers, the sparkly appeal precedes tone, in some respects. Don’t get me wrong… there are some fantastic instruments with all the glitz. One I had purchased was a stunning player with wonderful tone, 24k gold around the utaguchi, a silver center band, a nice red bore, and the workmanship was absolute precision. I loved it. Problem is, one will also see a tremendous amount of maybe “not so great” shakuhachi for sale, with hastily attempted versions of the same aesthetics. I’ve even seen very bad external work with 2, and sometimes 3, hankos stamped here and there. Whether it is from a budding maker "trying to emulate the aesthetics they have always admired", or someone just trying to add a little superficial value to a sub-par instrument, is the big unknown. I suppose that applies to a lot of things... guitars, houses, coffee tables. Everything has its place and will bring joy to someone. For a serious student of shakuhachi, however, this is an area where a teacher is invaluable: Selecting an instrument that will yield the proper tool with which to progress for many years. Conversely (or in parallel), when one wants to make shakuhachi, playing and examining many other instruments is often a necessary part of the process.
For me, the shiny, glittery, new shakuhachi just began to seem a little less appealing, gradually being replaced by a great appreciation for the more simplistic, organic traditions… it just felt right to me. My primary instrument these days is a wonderful Inoue Shigeshi that is second to none, in my book. Other than beautiful urushi center rings, it is unadorned, yet striking. I can’t imagine anything more beautiful, and that relates to every aspect a shakuhachi can encompass. The tone quality of the vintage instruments, the sonic gifts that must be earned, became a priority. Looking at a 50 or 100+ year old shakuhachi with imperfections, dark finger wear around the holes, and the thought of a veteran maker pouring a life of diligent effort and experience into every note, is far more appealing to me now than anything else, not to mention the nostalgia factor: A shakuhachi is such an intimate instrument, and our mindset passes through it with each breath… we can never know how many different emotions held that shakuhachi through the decades."

Tsu Re

2011-02-15T08:35:00.001-08:00

The master and student hadn't met in a long while. The master because he no longer taught shakuhachi and now lived a great distance away, the student because he played and practiced mostly on his own now, no longer seeking regular instruction. They got together on a whim, after a brief phone call, and spent time comfortable with one another, playing and talking. As the evening came to its close, the student asked his old friend and teacher, "What should I pracitice?"

His trunk of oft played flutes and many sheaves of flute music spoke of his years of experience. The master, who had learned from his master in Japan, had taught many students in his time and though retired now was still a wealth of shakuhachi tradition, spoke his answer softly. "Tsu Re", was all he said.

The essence of this story was shared with me by a close shakuhachi friend and though I use a bit of writer's privilege when recounting it here, the master's advice has had a deep effect on my own practice.

I often practice just two notes. I often practice just 'tsu re'. So many possibilities to blowing 'tsu'. So many ways to offer 're'. I never seem to get bored.

I told my own teacher, also a master player and instructor, also taught by his teacher in Japan, "Sometimes I just work on 'tsu re'." "And", I added with a bit of wonder, "I never seem to get bored with that." "Ah", he answered, laughing, "that's the sign of a true shakuhachi student."

Friends

2011-02-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

The big flute stood in the corner of the music nook, the place of honour, for weeks after the workshop. I liked to be able to see it as soon as I walked into the room. It held good memories of new skills learned and new friendships formed. It was impressive in length, at 2.65, being my longest shakuhachi, and also in heft due to its thick walls and large diametre. I liked the slightly oval shape of the bamboo and the subtle flatter surface by holes one and two. But the thing was, there was this little shadow hovering just near the edge of my mind about this big self made shakuhachi. You see, the week after having made it, I played it every day. But it took a lot of effort. And I felt a little disappointed in myself, a little sad the the flute and I weren't becoming easy friends, that it was a struggle to bring forth the soft hocchiku notes that lay just waiting inside the big bore of the instrument.

So I waited. If nothing else, as a shakuhachi student, I had learned, there will be no rushing this process. The flute can not be forced to sing. And I could not use raw will power to push my way along the path.

I just enjoyed seeing the flute there in the studio. I savoured the details of its construction; I took my time. And then one day, on a whim, I picked up the big flute again. My mediation cushion was in front of my mat and as I sat on my bench, I set the relatively heavy flute on the edge of the cushion. The flute became instantly easier to play as I could use my fingers more efficiently to play notes rather than to bear the weight of the bamboo. And, suddenly, soft gorgeous notes filled the room. I played for an hour, effortlessly. The jinashi instrument played with such a gentle texture, the notes deep, full and rich.

As the weeks went by, I treated myself to a session with the big flute every now and then, always setting it on the mediation cushion for support, exploring the various subtleties of the sounds, sometimes playing just long tones, sometimes playing honkyoku and realizing that the big flute and I had become best of friends.

Ro Shinnenkai

2011-02-01T17:02:00.003-08:00

A little video clip of our 1.8 Robuki.

Shakuhachi Shinnenkai

2011-02-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Ro rolled out in long continuous undulating waves as the 2.6's gently opened the BC Shakuhachi Society's annual Shinnenkai - new year's gathering.

Flutes had assembled on the carpet and were renewing old friendships and forming new bonds with the recent additions to the community. Prayers were said for the wellness of shakuhachi players far and wide and for the flourishing of shakuhachi sound in the coming year. HonShirabe was offered.

Then food was shared and stories told. More music followed as each player presented a piece of music of his or her choice. More flute talk and food followed and gradually another wonderful shakuhachi new year's celebration came to a close.

photo by Alcvin Ramos

Many thanks to Peter for hosting this event, to Alcvin for organizing it and to my shakuhachi friends for making it complete.

Favourite Flute: Larry Tyrrell

2011-01-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

I'm Larry Tyrrell, based in Portland, Oregon, USA, and I've been actively playing shakuhachi for just over 29 years. I originally studied with Masayuki Koga in San Francisco but spent a number years abroad where I had the good fortune to study with Jakuzan Takenawa, Kohachiro Miyata and Katsuya Yokoyama in Japan as well as Baikyoku Iwami in Brazil.

In my years in Japan I made a living by teaching English conversation part-time to support my shakuhachi and Japanese language studies. I used to have a weekly company class in Machida, a suburb of Tokyo, where employees of varying degrees of interest, attention and ability in English would attend to make the company happy. There was one student who mostly slept through my classes until the night the subject was music. Hearing that I played shakuhachi he was motivated to contribute to the class for the very first time by saying, "I play the saxophone but my grandfather played shakuhachi and I inherited his flute from him when he died." "Next time I come I'll give it to you."

Well, about a month passed and he went back to his slumbers each week so I was very surprised at the end of a certain night when he rather unceremoniously set down two halves of an obviously fairly old shakuhachi in a gray manila envelope on my desk. After protesting that I could not accept a heirloom item from him numerous times he made a compelling argument. "My grandfather left me the flute because he wanted it to be played." "By playing the flute you will be fulfilling that promise in my place."

I then agreed to take custody of the flute. When I showed it to Miyata he agreed that it was a step up from what I had been playing. It was rather amazing to hear the flute's sound come back to life over the months that followed. A few years later I took the flute for repairs to the genius shakuhachi maker Ichijo Kobayashi in Osaka. Although I asked for very simple repairs of the rattan binding and a replacement of the chipped utaguchi insert it seems he couldn't resist tweaking the flute in his brilliant way. When I got it back the bore had been relacquered and had gone from being a very good flute to a professional grade instrument.

Thanks to Erin for asking me to write about this.

Bags, Bags, Bags

2011-01-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

No big deal, go ahead, store 'em in plastic bags... that will do just fine. But me, I like to spoil my favourite flutes. No languishing in a papuer's plastic cover, nope, all the best each have their very own single item wardrobe.

The first bag I got for my 1.8 was a beautiful black wool bag with an insert of Japanese fabric from Monty Levenson's site. Handsome and practical, these bags have a built in vapour barrier. The 1.8 has always been happy to snuggle into its cosy wool coat after its daily practice session.

Some of my favourite bags are ones that Perry Yung sends his flutes in. For example, when he sent me a fine 2.6 that he crafted this summer he modestly didn't even mention that the flute would arrive in a gorgeous thick bag with its dark crushed velvet exterior and a quilted purple lining. Luxury befitting the lovely toned long flute. He offers both basic corderoy bags and the more sturdy bags, designed after samarai sword bags, on his website for extremely reasonable prices.

Another excellent bag is the one that my long tones friend Milan made for the flute I bought from him. Milan made the flute bag from faux leather and added a very appropriate braided bronze cord to secure the opening. An even more skookum version of this shakuhachi bag made by Milan can be purchased from Alcvin Ramos's site, Bamboo-In.

After this fall's flute making workshop I thought I'd have a tough time getting a bag to protect and store the 2.65 that I had made. However, as luck would have it, a few weeks ago I discovered Heritage Music. They make bags for native flutes and shakuhachi and after I contacted them asking about a covering for my big flute, they kindly offered to make a custom bag for me. The folks at Heritage Music are super friendly and their work is solid. They had the bag sewn up in a day and it arrived in my mailbox within two days of me placing my order (of course it does help that they are local, being located in Salmon Arm, BC).

Another relatively new source of bags can be found on Ken LaCosse's site. Some very practical and handsome bags at quite a reasonable price are being offered there by Susanne Frey.

If you are the kind of guy or gal that can sew your own shakuhachi bags, well you're lucky and you've got it made, eh?! But, if not, don't neglect your best musical pals when you're done playing. There's lots of options for protecting your favourite shakuhachi: check out Monty's selection, look over the bags offered on Mujitsu.com or the one on sale at Bamboo-In, or buy one from Perry, or contact Heritage Music about making a custom leather bag that will fit your flute perfectly. Don't let your flutes go 'neked'!

The Morning

2011-01-12T08:10:00.001-08:00

The flutes slides easily out of its black corduroy bag. I pull off the handmade rust red leather cap. The bamboo is thick. The shakuhachi is light.

Root ends have been carefully shaved to avoid the dreaded sweater snags. The holes opened by hand and skillfully undercut where needed to place the flute perfectly in tune well into the third octave. Created by subtraction only and with nothing but a little oil to protect the bore, the flute plays lovely hocchiku notes as I warm up.

HonShirabe starts each winter morning.

The long slow honkyoku brings awareness to the day.

Thank you Jon Kypros for this 2.2.

Thank you HonShirabe for the day's beginning.

New! "Favourite Flute" Theme - starts this month.

2011-01-05T10:57:00.003-08:00

A new year, a new theme for the blog! Some of you may have read my recent post suggesting the "Readers Weigh In' theme for the blog. I tipped my toes in the water to test the temperature for this type of reader participation based theme and....ummm, well, the water seemed a bit chilly. So the blog theme will head in a slightly different direction in 2011. Let me introduce you to this year's theme:" Favourite Flutes"

The Favourite Flutes series will be inviting one player per month to share with us one of his or her most loved flutes. Hopefully we'll get a some insight into why this flute is so attractive to the player and the instrument's history. This choice of shakuhachi is not about 'if you could only own ONE flute which would it be?" because that may lead the player to a choice more related to versatility than pure love of a specific sounding flute but rather we are looking for the one instrument that resonates ( pun intended ) with the player, the one they naturally reach for most often, the one that is nearest to their heart.

Similar to last year's Featured Player theme, I will post this year's theme responses once a month. "Favourite Flutes" can be found posted up on the blog in the final week of each month. I think this will be another interesting series, I hope you enjoy it.

New for 2011?

2010-12-29T08:27:00.006-08:00

The 2010 Featured Player theme hosted by the blog this year seems to have been very popular, thanks to the generous participation of our 12 featured players. I would like to thank all the players both the featured players and those who posted comments and sent emails to the blog over the course of this year. You have added much to "A Shakuhachi Journey".

The Featured Players theme has now come to an end and, for the coming year, I will be launching another new blog theme. This year I'd like to try a "Reader's Weigh In" theme, again once a month. This theme is a little bit risky because like last year's theme, it depends on others in the shakuhachi community to participate in the blog, but unlike last year's theme, it won't be me contacting one player at a time. No, this time I am hoping that blog readers will enjoy providing topics and comments and basically participating directly in the blog.

The intent, however, is not to run a mini forum but rather to provide a safe space to discuss topics, specifically of interest to beginning shakuhachi players. I know I may be taking a chance here, asking for reader participation like this. It makes me think of some conference workshops that I have been to which start out by the presenter stating the the workshop will be created by content offered by the actual participants! Yikes! Sometimes one just wants to read (or in the case of a conference, listen) without needing to contribute. So, if that turns out to be the case, I shall be brave and pull back, allowing you time to just read at your leisure, undisturbed by requests to contribute to the blog. On the other hand, if there is enough interest, we'll forge ahead.

To prepare for the upcoming theme I would like to invite you to submit your suggestions for topics to be discussed, debated or even, occasionally, ranted over, respectfully of course. As long as the topic is shakuhachi related it will be considered for the Weigh In.

Please send your ideas and suggestions to me by email (address can be found by clicking on my profile which is found on the left sidebar of the blog) or post directly in the comment section below this entry.

Thanks and all the best to you in 2011!

Naughty or Nice

2010-12-22T08:28:00.003-08:00

I'll let you in on a little secret of mine: I'm very fond of otsu. It's just such a warm octave to play in.

Its not like I don't respect kan and dai kan. I do give the second and third octave their due time in my practice sessions. And actually I quite like the wee meri notes in kan that just make a hint of sound in a musical phrase. But truth be known, I'm a low note kinda gal. No matter what the flute size or length or finish, I always prefer the first register.

Otsu is peaceful and gentle. My ears relax in the company of otsu. Otsu breathes back to me. If otsu was the only octave I could play on the shakuhachi, I would not be unhappy.

Once in a while I am a rebel; I play a piece all in otsu, disregarding the notation that would have me go up an octave or two. I just stay grounded in that first register...dreamily floating along with my lovely otsu notes. Its naughty, I know, to disregard the rules of the notation like that. But there, I've told you - made my secret public. So now you know what to get me for Christmas...a little otsu is a very nice pressie.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Peter from Oz

2010-12-15T08:15:00.006-08:00

We met with all the gusto of friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time rather than strangers who had only just connected through emails. Leaving his sweet sons and wonderful wife to relax in their hotel after their action packed day of sight seeing around town, we hit the rainy streets under our umbrella roofs and chatted non stop all the way to our evening's destination: "...how many flutes do you have, what's your favourite length to play, what time of day do you prefer to practice, how many people are there nearby that also play shakuhachi, how did you get into it in the first place....? "

Peter had only just arrived from his home in Brisbane, Australia two days prior but he displayed no hint of jet lag. In fact, he seemed to be overflowing with energy and a warm positive enthusiasm that I remember being common to many Australians that I'd met in a my travels to the country down under some years ago. Peter is an artist who works in oils and mixed media and to my absolute delight and surprise he had brought along one of his pieces as a gift for me.

At Jim's home, our usual robuki spot, we shared a few stories and a nice cup of tea before starting in on our weekly routine of blowing the notes in both octaves for five minutes each. Peter quickly adjusted to the flute I had lent him and as our 2.6's started to fill the room with sound we began to move around the scales more than is our usual disciplined habit. Soon we were weaving notes in and out of each other's playing and creating small phrases of improv. It felt like pure and simple shakuhachi 'play time'.

Jim topped the evening off by making outstanding mugs of chai for us. As Peter and I headed out into the rain for the 45 minute walk back to his hotel, we again yakked all the way never running out of things to discuss and ideas to share. We both agreed that a night like this was one of many things that made shakuhachi playing so special. The instrument had brought us together from opposites sides of the globe and provided the context in which new and special friendships could grow with complete trust and ease. How wonderful!

Harmonic Singing

2010-12-08T08:07:00.003-08:00

Have you ever tried it? Harmonic singing is also sometimes called overtone singing or, more commonly in various parts of the world, 'throat singing'. The Inuit peoples have a call and response type of game which involves harmonic singing and probably some of the most well known and accomplished throat singers come from the Republic of Tuva which is located north of Mongolia in Russia.

My shakuhachi friend Jim first introduced me to droning and throat singing. When I listened to the Tuvan Throat Singers CD that Jim lent me, I was absolutely amazed at the incredible sounds created by their voices. The sound experience was to my ears as an extraordinary new food is to the palette.

Here is a simple explanation of the process: usually a musical phrase is sung starting with a short note or two,and then a single note, called the 'fundemental', is held by the vocal chords. On top of this one, two and sometimes even three overtones can be heard rising by octave steps above the fundamental note. These higher pitched sounds, somewhat whistle like, can be manipulated by movement of the tonge and throat and resonate in the nasal cavities and mouth creating amazing melodies while the fundamental note is held constant. The resulting musical experience is entirely magical.

Like shakuhachi, learning and practicing harmonic singing takes deep concentration, much practice and good breathing technique. Even as a beginner playing with this sound kaleidoscope, I felt such a thrill and a pleasant physical sensation of powerful vibrations up and down my sternum and ribcage as I practiced the basic techniques taught skillfully to a group of us during a recent workshop given by local musician and singer, Jerry DesVoignes.

It feels like shakuhachi and harmonic singing have much in common because both are an expression of the sound carried on the breath and so its no wonder that I am finding one to be a good complement to the other.

Featured Player: Peter Smith

2010-12-02T09:10:00.002-08:00

Its a delight to end this year's Featured Player theme with a shakuhachi player that I actually have come to know 'in person'! All of my the other featured players this year have been friends I have made online thanks to the wonderful connections possible in this digital age. But it is also good to have some face to face contact with shakuhachi friends and luckily for me Peter Smith was persistent in his invitations to the weekly long tones sessions that he and our friend Jim organize. I have come to look forward to these weekly get togethers not only for the time we spend blowing ro but also for the friendship we share. It is an honour to have Peter join us on the blog as this month's Featured Player. Here are his responses to the featured player questions:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?
About 15 years ago I heard a Chinese bamboo flute (xiao 箫) being played at an art gallery opening and loved the sound. When I went to the record store they only had a CD of Japanese shakuhachi. So I discovered shakuhachi by accident. I was learning Baroque recorder at the time but kept telling myself that I would like to take some music lessons on the bamboo flute. As I also study zen, the shakuhachi was the choice. My original goal was to learn it well enough to play 2 - 3 pieces proficiently. Well I've gotten hooked on the shakuhachi path and keep playing shakuhachi as part of my life. I find it very rewarding on several levels--as a zen tool, for playing music, and to connect with the shakuhachi community locally and in Japan.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?
I'll say that Shin Kyorei (真虚霊) is my favourite. I am not picking this for musical aesthetic but for how it makes me feel when I play it. The original Kyorei (虚霊) piece itself also brings my mind into a wonderful introspective mood. Shin Kyorei adds more technical complexity to keep me engaged.

The pieces I actually play the most are Hon Shirabe (本調) and Tamuke (手向). I really encourage everyone to memorize Hon Shirabe (or Choshi 調子.)

If I was really only allowed to play just one piece I think I would give them all up and just improvise.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?
Blow Ro for 10 minutes every day. This advice works both as a meditative practice and to help become proficient technically.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?
Others have mentioned that you should learn from a teacher, so I'll pick something else to say.

Try to find the balance between pushing yourself enough to practice and improve, versus pushing yourself so hard that you are no longer appreciating it. If you are tired, put the flute down and come back to it later. Don't push yourself so that you end up frustrated. But if nothing else, just blow Ro for 10 minutes. If it is weak and quiet, don't worry, that sound is perfect. Any sound you make in this moment is perfect. If you want to make those loud Ro tones that the experts make, they will come with time.

Do you have anything else you would like add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?
Thanks Erin for contributing to the shakuhachi community.

The Rise and Fall of Blogs

2010-11-24T22:23:00.002-08:00

With the recent anniversary of this blog, one of my shakuhachi friends remarked, "You are really a hard core blogger!". Yes, I think to keep a blog alive for two years is, in fact, hard core. As an avid blog reader, I have been disappointed by many a blog, some of them shakuhachi related, that start with gusto only to languish, neglected and forgotten, after sometimes only a few weeks and often in as little as a few months. Given programs such as Blogger and Wordpress it is so easy for anyone to start a blog and many, swept up in the excitement of a new adventure, do so. And I in turn am swept up in the excitement too as I read those early blog entries. I am diligent in returning to interesting blogs, frequently, to check to see if anything new has been added. Conveniently, some blogs are set up to roll into my RSS feed however many are not quite so savy about giving faithful readers that option so I need to bookmark them and just remember to check back. As well, most leisure time bloggers do not follow a set schedule of updating their blogs so it is hit and miss when it comes to knowing when they may submit new content.

Of course there is something to be respected about just writing when you truly have something to say. I am very loyal to following long running blogs that have infrequent updates but meaningful posts as they are really worth coming back to every now and then and I feel like I am receiving a nice little gift each time I arrive to find new content.

Two blogs that were started by shakuhachi players earlier this year are ones that I have bookmarked and am keeping my fingers crossed will stay alive for a while.

"Naturalbreath Music" was launched by Chris from Germany in April. Its Wordpress format makes it an easy read on handheld devices. The sincerity of Chris's posts which reflect his own shakuhachi journey is refreshing.

Tom Grimaldi also offers perspective on learning to play the bamboo flute in his recently created blog, "Shakuhachi Dream". Tom's blog too, this time using the Blogger platform, is comfortably devoid of pushy ads and other margin space robbers. His posts give us some insight into his motivation for learning to play the flute and some of the influences on his shakuhachi life.

Both of these web logs are good new blogs that I hope have some longevity on the web so that we, especially the beginning shakuhachi players in this intimate community, can continue to share the process and discoveries made as a result of our shared commitment to blowing the bamboo.

Conference with Kiku Day

2010-11-17T09:20:00.012-08:00

DIY Citizen Conference was held at the University of Toronto this past weekend and Kiku Day had arranged to give me a demo shakuhachi lesson live as part of the conference offerings on Saturday afternoon.

The shakuhachi demo lesson that Kiku engaged me in via Skype was offered as part of the "Hack Space" an experience described as follows on the conference website:

"The Hack Space is a room showcasing all that is exciting in experimental and DIY production. It features a variety of works, the majority of which are physical and interactive explorations of the larger topics and themes discussed at the conference. From DIY artefact hacking to digitized teaching experiences, the Hack Space provides a space in which to discover the new and fascinating."

Kiku and I worked through the honkyoku "Sokkan" while our lesson could be viewed by conference partipants on a second monitor nearby. Kiku's co-presentor, Margaret Lam, was available to anwser questions as Kiku and I proceeded with the lesson in a format that is pretty typical of Skype shakuhachi lessons.

It was interesting for me to see the people coming and going around Kiku and to note another presentation happening in the distance behind Kiku. The room had a bit of a buzz with the movement and converstations of people but it didn't affect our lesson adversely, in fact, it felt like it added a bit of energy to our interaction and in doing so took the lesson from the usual one on one feeling into a place that felt a little more like 'being at school'.

I really enjoyed my lesson with Kiku and felt that her teaching style was much like that of Michael Gould, my regular teacher. I also found that many tips that Kiku gave me supported and complimented suggestions given to me by Michael. It was a treat to have the lesson on Sokkan and honestly made me wish I could on occasion add a lesson or two from Kiku to my schedule of shakuhachi lessons through out the year.

Thank you to Kiku and Margaret for giving me the opportunity to particpate, in a small way, in the University of Toronto's DIY Citizenship Conference.

(All conference photos posted here were provided with permission by Kiku Day.)

Happy Anniversary !

2010-11-10T10:24:00.007-08:00

Yes, the blog is now two years old! And I am also celebrating this second anniversary; I have now completed two years of shakuhachi study.

A few months ago there was a thread in the World Shakuhachi Discussion Forum about the features common to many beginning shakuhachi players. It was mentioned, in that thread, that most of the beginning players disappear after two years or so of attempting to learn to play this instrument.

I can understand the two year hump only too well. Those early months of struggle to get a sound from the bamboo tube are in the past but the blush of exhilaration at being able to play all the tones in the first two octaves, mostly in pitch, has worn off and the long, slow, and bumpy climb up the shakuhachi road of technique and studying traditional pieces stretches dauntingly ahead.

Once the exotic infatuation with the instrument has subsided one is left with either a desire to escape to yet another new life adventure or the decision, often somewhat unconscious, to really commit to this strange form of training in sound and breath.

Its a long and sometimes lonely road learning to play this piece of bamboo that your friends think you were really crazy to have paid so much of your hard earned coin for. And you must brave the strange looks of your loving partner who silently wonders if all those squeaks and squawks from behind the closed den door will ever amount to any pleasant sounds that could be called "music".

And then there's the quagmire of temptation to buy various cheap flutes in a bumbling effort to see if they sound any better than the one you already have which, in retrospect, you discover was more than adequate for someone learning to play. You buy long ones and short ones, you sell them, you buy more, they sound like the one you sold and you fleetingly agonize over maybe having lost something that you never realized you had found.

You learn that pitch doesn't always relate to length, you painfully experience the effects of newly applied urushi, you spend far too long struggling with alternate fingering on a too-long-for-your-hands flute with your teacher's words, "spend the majority of your practice time on your 1.8" ringing in your ears. You record your best piece only to find yourself, as you play the recording back, suspecting faulty software or a damaged mic.

But you've made some new friends and feel somewhat a part of the scattered and unlikely worldwide community of shakuhachi players. And there's something compelling you to push on, some strange wonder at this process which feels so different than learning to play a conventional western instrument and so you sign up for another set of lessons, put the too long flute up for sale and quietly close the den door for another evening of trying to perfect your tsu meri.

Featured Player: Jeff Cairns

2010-11-03T14:09:00.004-07:00

This month's featured player has been a pleasure to get to know. Jeff Cairns has lived in Japan for a long while now though originally he made his home in BC. When I contacted him, in the past, about flutes he had for sale on his website and subsequently purchased an older 1.6 during one of his frequent 'blow out' sales, he was ever so patient with all my beginner questions. I was able to rely on him to be completely honest about the flutes he had for sale and found him to be so helpful when it came to assisting me in deciding on the most appropriate choice. Since then I have enjoyed my email communication with Jeff and have also found his comments on the shakuhachi forum to be good reading.

I'm delighted to feature Jeff as this month's player. Here are his responses to the featured player questions:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?
In as much as I know that I was drawn to the shakuhachi now, I didn’t recognize it as such 25 years ago when I started. When I expressed to a language student of mine that I wanted to explore some aspect of Japanese culture as a legitimate means of staying in Japan a little longer, the student, whose father was studying shakuhachi, suggested that I have a look at the shakuhachi. I had no idea what it was and was told that it was a traditional bamboo flute in Japan. Since my background was transverse flute and sax, I thought I would ‘check-it-out’. I was introduced to my teacher, heard him play and thought the sound was appealing. It all began from there.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?
I thought about this question a lot and a number of pieces come to mind as pieces that resonate with me for different reasons.
I like Shika no tone for its imagery and attempt to appeal to something concrete in nature.
I like Chidori no kyoku for its quirky harmonic structure that impressed me as being ‘non-Japanese’ in nature.
I like Kuro Kami because it was the first piece I played in public and still presents new paths to explore.
I like Onoe no matsu for its sense of flow.
I like Zangetsu for its narrative nature.
I like Ao yagi because I haven’t quite figured out what made the composer think that way.
And, I like Marty Regan’s Shinonome no uta for the way it reaches down deep and plays with space.
I guess I’d really like to say that I don’t have a favorite, but appreciate all of the pieces I play for their uniqueness.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?
Very few words actually passed between my teacher and I in the early days simply because I didn’t speak Japanese and he didn’t speak English, but I have one story to tell:
One evening after a day of takehori (digging bamboo)and abura nuki (removing oil) as the initial steps in the preparation of madake for shakuhachi making in the early winter, my sensei Turugi Kodo, his father Tsurugi Kyomudo and I went into their house for dinner. A spread of dishes decorated the top of the horigotatsu we sat warmly under and the beer flowed. The food ended and the beer turned to shochu. Somehow, the topic of our broken and slightly drunken conversation moved toward the concept of wabi sabi, a difficult concept to pin down at any time. My teacher’s father, a man in his mid sixties who is truly one who lead a shakuhachi life as a maker and teacher and who felt he had a firm grasp of the concept, told me that he couldn’t put it into words, but could play it. He stood up in front of us and commenced a non-verbal communication that left me spellbound. His statement started with a long lament that fell into a depth and sprang out with surprise and astonishment. It flowed like a steam, but not completely smooth. It was punctuated like rocks punctuate the flow of a stream. My words don’t do it justice, but I heard it. That stuck with me and I’m grateful.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?
I would say to find a good teacher then abandon yourself to the process. Put everything behind trying to do what is asked of you and above all, be patient. Listen to many players. Add colours to your palette of technique through experiment, playfulness and repetition and relish those times when the music comes from your heart because that’s where it speaks best.

Do you have anything else you would like add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?
As a final thought to those who are starting out on their Shakuhachi journey, I’d like to recommend that you let your playing pose your questions rather than your spoken voice. Skill in playing starts with skill in listening. When you pose a question with your spoken voice, it starts as an inwardly interpreted cerebral act, but when the questions are evident in your playing to a trained listener who hopefully is your teacher, the communication remains visceral which is the level that you want your playing to be at when you are starting. If you trust your teacher, then trust that your questions will be answered at that level. There is plenty of material available to answer questions of history for the inquisitive, but learning all of the intricate nuances of style and technique must be done in the body by the body.

iShak

2010-10-27T11:00:00.006-07:00

The ipod Touch is a mini computer that has a good relationship with my shakuhachi. I use the 8 gig 4th generation device to record music, send sound files to family, check my pitch, work on my timing, email a photo of a flute to a friend and as a portable music book. And of course having wifi access allows me to check in with the the international shakuhachi forum almost anytime from almost any place.

When my old Palm TX, "Patti", needed to go in to the Palm hospital in Texas to have its digitizer replaced, I looked long and hard for a temporary replacement PDA. There really weren't many to be found and though I had had bad experience with some Apple products in the past, my online handheld device friends spoke glowingly of their successful migration from their Palm Pilots to the new ipod Touch. I decided to take a chance with a refurbished 3G 8 gig Touch. I was blown away. "Mindy 1" made "Patti" feel like an old school hard wheeled, rattly popsicle stick skateboard and the wee Apple device like a modern carbon fibre silent urethane wheeled downhill longboard.

The Touch did everything the Palm had done but faster, smoother and in a much more sexy way. I was won over. With the introduction of the new 4th gen Touch, I didn't spend too long thinking it over before I placed my order. Once "Mindy 2" had arrived I prepared to offer "Mindy 1" up to the craigslist wolves but alas what was that... a flicker of interest in my non tech partner? "Mindy 1" with her colourful icons, fast connections and intuitive operating system had drawn my partner in. I deleted the craigslist ad and we became a two Touch family.

There are heaps and heaps of apps for the ipod Touch and iphone, many of them free. Sometimes it takes a bit of testing out to find the one or two the work best for your particular use. I tend to download quite a few at at time then systematically try each out until I have discovered my preferred choices and then will delete the others.

Here are the applications that I have found to work particularly well for shakuhachi related activities:

Chromatic Tuner - "eTuner"
Tuner and Metronome - "L&M Guitar"
Recording - "iTalk Lite" and "Quickvoice"
Practice Timer - "MultiTimer"
Photo Management - "Album Pro"
Photo Modifying - "PictureShow"
Musical Diversion - "Ten Gongs"

If you are an iThings fan, please add your own comments and include some app suggestions if you have some favourites that you are willing to share.

Making The Community Flute – Day Two

2010-10-20T17:40:00.006-07:00

I arrived early on Sunday, my new flute in hand, to get a bit of a head start on the finishing work that Peter had outlined for me the day before. The root end, mouthpiece and bore all still needed quite a bit of sanding.

Once the shakuhachi makers had all arrived, Peter showed me how to go about opening up the holes by hand. We had drilled them relatively small so that we would have some leeway for tuning and customizing the shape. For this purpose Milan's specialized hole trimming tools were superb.

Given how big the bore of the 2.6 was, we decided to cut and shape an insert for the mouthpiece. Again Peter skillfully guided me through the process and when we were finished the new flute sported a handsome insert and a completed utaguchi . Jane and I shared a few chuckles at the realization that the bamboo dust we had used to fill in the insert actually came from her new 2.3. In so many ways my 2.6 was a great example of interconnectedness.

We tuned the new hocciku by checking the notes with the tuner and then removing more node material at specific points. This was a rather technical process and really quite fascinating.

I was shocked to discover how the day had raced alongside of us as we worked on our flutes. I barely had enough time to do some final sanding and put a few finishing touches on the flute and then there I was playing the first few phrases of Honshirabe on a absolutely stunning 2.6 shakuhachi; a custom made shakuhachi that was born from a group sharing their skill, knowledge, tools, food and humour.

Thanks to Peter, Jim, Jane, Milan, Darren, Barb and, behind the scenes, Paris.

Making the Community Flute - Day One

2010-10-13T17:23:00.005-07:00

The invite to join the local shak community in their annual flute making workshop came a few months prior to the actual date. I felt privileged to join these more experienced players and makers in a weekend of working with bamboo and eagerly anticipated the workshop.

I looked over the list of things to bring to the workshop carefully. Well, no I didn’t have any bamboo rasps, especially not the esteemed ‘bastard rasp’ that was to be a popular and much used tool during the weekend. No, also I did not own any porcupine rasps, those bullet shaped metal rasps at the end of a long metal rod. Nor did I have any fine Japanese hand saws for cutting the utaguchi. And definitely no drill press to drill the finger holes. Sandpaper, some coarse, some fine...yes, I did have some sandpaper somewhere...let’s see now, where did I store it years ago after I had completed my little side table refinishing project? As it turned out my sandpaper didn’t even come close to matching that on the professional sanding blocks that Milan shared with us. In fact nothing in my humble tool box came close to matching the beautiful tools, many of them Japanese, that Milan brought along to the workshop and shared happily with all of us.

Saturday morning things heated up right away as Peter showed me how to use the propane stove to warm the bamboo and then quickly place the piece in the bender as we endeavoured to bend the madkae for a better hand position. We gave it a few good tries but in the end settled for a fairly natural angle.

Next I cut a bit of the root end off for a cleaner look and gave the roots a bit of a trimming. Then a good part of the day was dedicated to breaking through and cleaning out the nodes. This was a hefty piece of madake that Peter himself had harvested in Japan and I was very conservative in my attack of the nodes so the cleaning out of the bore took quite a while.

Next I needed to cut off the excess bamboo at the mouthpiece end so we could make the utaguchi. I could make the cut straight across or even at a slight angle down from the blowing edge but try as I might, my nervous caution caused me to cut the end at an angle up rather than down from the blowing edge. Peter was gracious as he looked at my handiwork. He gently stated, "There'll be a bit of sanding to do here later." And then I returned to the relative safety of sanding out the bore a little more.

I couldn’t hide in the bore rasping for ever. Peter drew the guidelines for cutting the utaguchi on the bamboo and to the delight of my workshop friends he insisted I do the actual sawing to shape the utaguchi. Let me tell you this was pretty nerve-wracking for me. I had visions of cutting the angle all wrong and totally destroying this new flute. But with lots of guidance from Peter and careful supervision by the others in the group, the cut was made and a beautiful utaguchi was born.

Peter tested the flute and that first Ro, in F#, sounded gorgeous.

The last task for the day was to mark and drill the finger holes. Just when I thought my head couldn't fit in any more flute making instruction, Peter patiently guided me through the process of marking the location of the finger holes. Then Jim took over helping me to drill holes two and four along the centre line of the flute. With Jim's help I sought out the optimum offset position for holes one, three and the thumb hole so that I would have as comfortable and ergonomic hand placement as possible.

As we collected up bamboo dust in small plastic containers and put away the tools I reflected on the amazing results of the day. All of us had newly made fully playable flutes in our hands - definitely a good reason to celebrate with a fine Japanese meal.

Featured Player: Brian Tairaku Ritchie

2010-10-06T11:05:00.004-07:00

This month's featured player is none other than one of the creators of our much loved and frequented World Shakuhachi Forum, Brian Tairaku Ritchie. You'll see him post often on the forum and can check out some of his music and photos on his myspace site.

Here are Brian's responses to the blog's featured player questions:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?

I am a multi-instrumentalist so my usual method is to try every instrument I see. I noticed some flutes in Sharaku, a shop in Japantown San Francisco. I tried these flutes and could not even make a sound, which impressed me because I usually have no trouble with any instrument. That was my first hands on encounter with shakuhachi.

Some years later I moved from Milwaukee to NYC. I was interested in Japanese culture and used to read a magazine called "Kyoto Journal". There was an article in there by Monty Levenson talking about unorthodox uses of the shakuhachi. Although I didn't know much about orthodox uses much less unorthodox, the article stuck in my mind. I was also doing zazen at this time. I read an article in New York Times about a flute convention going on at the Marriott Times Square featuring flutes from around the world including "the elusive shakuhachi bamboo flute of the Zen monks of Japan". Between Monty's article, my previous defeat with the instrument in SF and the connection with Zen, I thought I'd go check it out. I went to the convention. John Niemi had some of his flutes there and I started tooting on one, happy that finally I could make a sound. At this moment someone came up to me and handed a business card and said, "If you want to learn how to play that thing, give me a call."

Normally I would not have been interested in such a proposition because I am self-taught but something made me call this guy, James Nyoraku Schlefer. I thought I would take a few lessons and then get off on my own but once I encountered the notation and got a sense of the depth of the practice I decided to stick with the lessons. James was just starting his own dojo and it was a good time to get in with him. He was and is a very dedicated teacher who creates a lot of performance opportunities for the students, sets up workshops with visiting teachers, takes us to concerts by players coming through NYC and other extra-curricular shakuhachi activity. After 7 years of study with James primarily but also with Kurahashi Yoshio, Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin and numerous visiting teachers I was offered the name Tairaku and my Jun Shihan license. I am very happy to have met James at that time and to have been able to partake of the NYC shakuhachi scene, which is probably the most active outside of Japan.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?

I play in public almost every day. I suppose my most frequently played pieces is "Choshi", a piece every player should memorize. I usually do a few warmups and then play "Choshi", which I use as a prelude to improvisation. It's a good way for me to start my shakuhachi day, because it activates many different areas of shakuhachi playing. Tone, pitch and improvising. It's a good barometer to play the same piece everyday because you immediately can tell what condition your playing is in, whether your breath is strong, memory clear, pitch accurate.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?

I can't limit this to one thing nor to shakuhachi.

I studied jazz with Kaye Berigan, who is the nephew of jazz trumpet legend Bunny Berigan. Kaye told me, "If you make a mistake, repeat it, then it's not a mistake any more." This is a common jazz principle but that was the first I heard of it, about 35 years ago.

With shakuhachi, I started out like most beginners, doing an up and down vibrato with a steady pulse. Ronnie Seldin heard this and said, "Stop that, you sound like a drunken sailor!" Ha.

Later I was under the spell of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, who did not use vibrato. I was doing a lesson and playing honkyoku without any vibrato and James Schlefer said, "Why aren't you using vibrato?" I said, "Steve Lacy doesn't use vibrato." James said, "You're not Steve Lacy, and this is not a saxophone."

I suppose the reason I remember those incidents is because they are funny but also because I think it's crucial to be in control of your vibrato and know when to use it and when not to. It's creepy when you hear a good player and still realize that he/she has a habitual form of vibrato.

Another good thing I remember is Yodo Kurahashi II (Yoshio) saying, "For the first ten years play as loud as you can all the time." I think that's good advice because most beginners try to start playing interpretively before they have any power. And you can't, you really need to have the power and hold it in reserve before you can hope to express anything. Anyway that's how I interpreted his statement.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?

"Only one thing" would be find a good teacher, even if it means moving to Japan or some other city, take lessons and practice obsessively. Oops that's three things.

Do you have anything else you would like add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?

Find the music you like, learn how to play it, and play it as much as possible. Then you are living a shakuhachi life and it will change you in unforeseen ways.

How to Make a Shakuhachi in One Short Weekend

2010-09-29T21:24:00.002-07:00

Bamboo dust hung in the air, files rasped, strong tsu’s and weak chi’s made tuner needles flicker; I was at my first shakuhachi making workshop. And what a wonderful weekend of shakuhachi immersion it was. Under the gentle and skilled guidance of my shak mentor, Peter, and with the help and support of the rest of the weekend’s shak community by the end of the two day intensive I had fashioned a lovely and very playable hocchiku 2.65 shakuhachi.

Before beginning the workshop, I thought I had some appreciation for what it took to make a shakuhachi. After all, in typical beginner fashion, I had managed to accumulate quite a basketful of bamboo flutes in the two short years since I started to learn to play the flute. I had had a look a few good jiari flutes, played quite a few different jinashi’s and been exposed to various hocchiku and jinashi flutes made by some of my shakuhachi friends locally. But I now understand why traditionally many shakuhachi teachers ask that their students to harvest bamboo and make at least one flute themselves. You really have no true picture of what is actually involved in making these instruments until you try to make on yourself!

And try I did. But without the help of my flute making teacher I am most certain I would’ve wasted a fine piece of bamboo at worst or had a good looking piece of bamboo that was unplayable at best.

It was not only the making of my first flute that made this weekend memorable but also the pleasure of being in the company of some really interesting friends while we worked together in a beautiful workshop and lovely back yard breaking only to share a delicious potluck lunch and late in the evening collapsing into the diner style couches for a well earned Japanese meal. Completely absorbed in the process of flute making I totally lost track of time. My normal striving to be in the moment and not be distracted by what had to be done next or what had recently been left undone was dispelled by the natural and effortless focus on the task at hand, nothing more, nothing less.

The shakuhachi making weekend workshop was a great experience for me on many levels. Next month I will go into more detail about the actual steps I followed to make my first flute. In this way I will be able to document, to some degree, the shak making process and at the same time share my fascinating adventure with you.

In Search of the Perfect Flute

2010-09-22T21:30:00.003-07:00

The perfect 2.6 in the key of G for my long tones sessions must exist. Hah! Who am I kidding?

Once I ascertained that the lovely 2.6 the my friend Peter had lent me for our long tones sessions early this year could not be wrestled away from him I went in search of my own flute. It needed to play in the key of G, which was the key that our group had in common. I actually did not, at first, fully realize how much an art shakuhachi making is and also that as the flutes got longer the key they played in was less standard than that of, say, a jiari 1.8. And there then there's other variables such as whether the flute has urushi or another lacquer in the bore which would also affect its tuning.

At the start, my search seemed simple enough and things looked good when the urushi rubbed 2.6 arrived from Ken LaCosse. Those of you who regularly read this blog know now what the outcome of that flute was as my shakuhachi adventure played out. A severe reaction to the new urushi separated me from this lovely 2.6 which played so nicely in tune with the group.

Ken made me another, even more simple, 2.6 to tide me over while I let the urushi allergy settle and decided what to do next. Missing the more interesting texture of a root end flute and slightly embarrassed to bother Ken for yet another long flute, I contacted Perry Yung. Perry crafted a really beautiful sounding and playing flute to my exact specifications. Yup, it was 2.6 all the way. Who was I to know that 2.6 and the key of G are not in a perfect relationship? The flute was perfectly tuned...in the key of G# as per what was normal for a flute its length. Ah, so, I should've emphasized the required pitch of the flute not the length....hummm, I was learning a lot.

Now I had a nice G# flute for my collection but still did not have my own root end shak to play at our Wednesday sessions.

Another player in the weekly group offered to sell me one of his two 2.7'ish key of G flutes but after auditioning it one evening I decided the flute didn't seem a good fit for my relatively small hands.

So, I bit the bullet, shook out my the remaining cash in my thin wallet and contacted Ken again. He graciously fashioned yet another shak for me. This flute is closer to 2.7, nicely tuned in the key of G and an instrument with pleasing dimension to its sound. And, wouldn't you know it, requires a really, really long and serious stretch for me to reach Re! Too long to be comfortable.

And, so, at this point, I am still searching...searching...for the perfect flute, in the key of G.

Dan Shinku - Smooth as Mango

2010-09-15T09:14:00.004-07:00

My friend Peter shared some music by Dan Shinku with me the other night at our weekly long tones session. Have you listened to any of Shinku-san's shak playing? Really smooth. I was eating some very ripe, very delicious mango as I had the music playing one afternoon when I was home alone, and I thought, 'yeah, this shak music is like a mango, smooth and sweet'.

The sound is quite different from many of the other professional shakuhachi players' CD's that I have in my growing collection. Most of the pieces Dan played did not have quite the extremes in volume and intensity that seem common to lot of the traditional shakuhachi music. And there seemed to be obvious note phrases that could be heard quite often through out a piece or pieces.

This lineage also apparently have their own distinctive tuning so some of the notes sound a little 'out of tune' but definitely not in an unpleasant way.

Dan Shinku, check out his website and try have a listen to some of his music if you get a chance.

The Last First Day

2010-09-08T12:30:00.005-07:00

Do you remember what your first day at school felt like? How you always had something new to wear and a binder with fresh lined paper and maybe even a new lunch kit; purchases made, probably by your Mom, a few weeks before that first day. You slept fitfully the night before, thoughts of seeing your old classmates, finding new classrooms and figuring out a new schedule at once both exciting and nerve wracking.

This has been my life for fifty years. Ever since starting school at the age of five, I knew the new year, not as January 1st but as the first day of school in September. This year was no exception. There is the hint of cool in the air as summer dutifully switches gears towards Fall. I pull out a pair of socks and search for shoes buried somewhere under the sandals and flip flops that have been my only footwear for the past two months. I delay leaving for school a little as I pick up the 2.6 for a few runs through my latest project, HonShirable. Then I grab my new hoodie, bought at this year's kite festival and serving as my obligatory new piece of clothing for the First Day.

The routine is so familiar, so comfortable and so much a part of who I am. After finishing high school, I went right on to university and from there I jumped into the deep end as a teacher and later counsellor in a number of schools in various small towns in BC. Later, moving to the city, I tried out various niches that interested me but always within the school system and always within the cycle of a September to June school year.

And today, well today, was the last First Day. At the end of this calendar year I will be starting a new, exciting and also slightly nerve wracking chapter of life, I'll be retiring from this career.

I think I'm going to have a lot more time available to practice HonShirabe soon....

Featured Player: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin

2010-09-01T09:46:00.006-07:00

I'm delighted to introduce Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin as this month's Featured Player. When I first read about Ronnie leading the way in distance shakuhachi lessons through the use of audio tapes I had an instant respect for this accomplished musician and teacher. Here was someone thinking creatively, well before the digital age, about ways to make shakuhachi instruction available to students anywhere in the world as long as they had access to a tape recorder and a mail box. It is with a deep sense of respect and appreciation that I post Ronnie's responses to the Featured Player questions.

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?
When I first went to Japan in 1973, my friend in Kyoto played the Shakuhachi. I fell in love with the sound and he was willing to introduce me to his teacher, Kurahashi Yodo I, after I learned the first "Introductory" Book on my own. Within 2 weeks I knew that it was what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I have never doubted that decision, nor have I done anything else.

What is one of your favorite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?
Jinbo Sanya (written by Jinbo Masanosuke) is probably my favorite piece. It is so dramatic, that when I only have the option of showing people one Shakuhachi piece, it seems to cover a lot of the various techniques, and tone colors. I take groups to Japan annually since 1980, and in May 2011, I will be following the Eastern route of the Haiku poet Basho's "Narrow Path to the Interior". On the Path, we will visit the grave of Jinbo, where I will play Jinbo Sanya with my more advanced students on the trip. (It is also the location that he wrote Renpo Ken - Tsuru no Sugomori).

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?
My teacher told me that he played Shakuhachi to find the perfect sound that would cause World Peace. I am always endeavoring to find that sound. It is a wonderful goal to have.
It is what we mean by ICHI ON JO BUTTSU- To cause enlightenment from the sound of one note. To be a Boddhisatva, and wait until the world is saved before you enter Nirvana yourself.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?
It would also be words from my teacher. You should play with the mind (and innocence) of a three-year-old, And if you are teaching, you should have "Ha-Ha-gokoro" (Mother's Heart).

Do you have anything else you would like add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?
Just that the Take No Michi (Path of Bamboo) has been wonderful for me, and that I would encourage all people to follow it or wherever else it is where their Hearts tell them to go. I have been so lucky to have found what I wanted to do at the age of 26, and to have stayed with it for my entire life. The beautiful thing about it is that whenever I pick up the Shakuhachi , I learn something new, and I am never bored !!

Happy to Be Back

2010-08-25T07:55:00.007-07:00

I find holidays refreshing in a stressful sort of way. I end up in places I've never been which are always interesting and always imperfect. Take our campsite at Long Beach on Vancouver Island for example, it had a spectacular view of the beach and the Pacific beyond and was a mere shaku length away from the neighbour's site which offered us intimate glimpses into parenting, country and western music and free range dogs sans pooper scoopers.

I didn't play the shak there very often. The nylon tent fabric, though a visual barrier, does little to protect unfamiliar ears from a beginner's rendition of HonShirabe.

Of course there were long stretches of beach offering solitude and quiet and also, as our timing would have it, huge heavy day long banks of misty fog. This is such a common phenomena on the west coast during a hot summer that the locals refer to the month of August as "Fogust".

Long Beach Washington offered a little more shak playing potential as we settled into our seaside cottage but still the curious looks of other guests in the little complex, as they passed by while I improvised on the 1.6, again reminded me that a newbie shak player should do her best to not damage the reputation of this fine instrument by playing too loud or for too long.

The annual International Kite Festival that I have attended for many years empolys air and wind in a delightfully creative manner. Colourful wind art partied in the sky. No place to blow the bamboo but lots of space for flying a kite.

Now that I'm back home, and let me tell you, delighted to be back in familiar surrounds and the comfort of my own Ikea bed, I am more appreciative than ever of my little shakuhachi practice space. It feels great to be back in the routine of disciplined practice. Being away always makes coming home feel so good!

SJ Goes On Holiday

2010-08-06T08:16:00.004-07:00

That's right, the Shakuhachi Journey is hitting the road - kind of fitting, don't you think?

We're going camping for a few weeks. Wifi is likely to be either nonexistent or spotty. So the blog is taking a two week break. Feel free to leave comments or chat among yourselves.

Enjoy the summer and see you later this month.

Featured Player: Ray Brooks

2010-08-04T13:20:00.004-07:00

"Blowing Zen: Finding an Authentic Life"* made a deep impression on me as I set out on my own shakuhachi journey and I know that it has impacted so many other shakuhachi players over the years as well. In fact, as a case in point, Michael Muller, June's Featured Player, attributes his actual decision to learn to play the bamboo flute to this book. I am delighted that its author, Ray Brooks, has agreed to join us on the blog as this month's Featured Player. Here are his responses to the Featured Player questions:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?

I first heard the sound of the shakuhachi during a 3 day Zen meditation retreat in Shizuoka, Japan. Ozawa Norburo was the player that day and we are still in touch today. My wife, Dianne and I visited Ozawa-san in Kyoto in March of this year. So, I could say that it was Ozawa-san that drew me into playing the shakuhachi but what made the pursuit choiceless was 'Yokoyama Katsuya' sensei. The sales assistant played one of his CD's while I was visiting Mijero bamboo flute store to buy my first shakuhachi. It would be about two years from that fateful day before Yokoyama sensei appeared at my practice place in Aria Yakushi temple. To this day, I still have the meishi (business card) that he gave me.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?

I love to play and listen to SAN AN. I was having troubles with this piece and Yokoyama sensei advised me to learn to memorize it and find the pitch by using my voice. Not an easy task. I have fond memories of sitting at the temple humming a few lines of SAN AN, then playing it.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?

"If the mind is clear, it acts like a mirror and gives an undistorted view of the world and not an interpretation." This was like a complete Upanishad and was said to me by Teruhito Ota, an old monk I visited with Ozawa san. At the time, It struck me that this was the aim of the Komuso monks. It was certainly what I was interested in. That interest has lead to the great Zen classics and on to Advaita Vedanta. I have an old note book I copied Ota san's above saying in. It is followed by, "It is so simple, it would be difficult to fill a whole book about it."

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?

Learn to listen and play with your whole being. Keep a beginners mind.

Do you have anything else you would like add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?

Nothing to add. Thank you for creating this interesting and enjoyable blog.

__________________________

* Note: "Blowing Zen - Finding an authentic Life" will be re-released next year by Sentient publishers. The new edition with have one additional chapter, an updated epilogue and an afterword and pictures of the journey.

Progress

2010-07-28T08:15:00.003-07:00

I had such a good practice session the other night. I played four pieces without a mistake, I was actually able to hit all the notes in Kan cleanly, stay in pitch and make it through the phrases to the breath marks. This resembles an enormous accomplishment for me. It is the result of over a year of practice, an hour a day, every day. It is indicates an understanding of the most basic of shakuhachi skills.

It felt like such a long slow journey to reach the point where I could play at note in Kan anytime I wanted to. I started out with no idea that I wasn't playing the notes in the correct pitch and now, though I can hear more clearly when I am in tune or out of tune, I still regularly check my pitch with the tuner . Breathing is so critical to playing the shakuhachi and yet It was so tough for me to get enough air to play an whole phrase without stopping midway for another gulp of air. And I knew these aspects were just givens for most shakuhachi players yet they seemed so far away for me, so elusive, there were times when I wondered if it would be possible for me to develope these fundamentals.

But I warn myself not to get carried away with celebrating this experience of progress. I know that one good practice session can be followed by weeks of struggles. Best just to acknowledge the moment... and then... get back to playing.

Shakuhachi Summer Camp

2010-07-21T16:12:00.005-07:00

The day doesn't start unreasonably early; we roll out of bed at 7:30 am and smoothies are on the patio table on the sunny deck at 7:45 am. The flutes are waiting but first there's the warmup...before the temperatures rise and the crowds flock outside. We jump on little folding bikes and zip a few blocks north to the bike path along Coal Harbour and along the waterfront, past the seaplane docks and along the front edge of the new Vancouver Convention Centre with its green (now slightly brown) grass roof. Next we cruise through Gastown and I pass my friend Jim's place. He hosts our weekly Robuki sessions but he's at work by now, not everyone has the time off to attend Summer Shak Camp.

We pedal along the new bike path through Chinatown and then arrive at yet another seawall bike path, this time along False Creek and heading towards English Bay and Stanley Park. The air is cool on the north side of the park and only a few tourists are meandering along the path at the water's edge so we make good time and keep our heart rates up for a reasonable cardio workout.

Back at camp, we have time for a quick shower and a nice cup of green tea. Then the flutes are slide out of their bags and the day's play begins with long tones, followed by a few of the technical exercises from Schlefer's book. Next we each start to practice a piece or two that we're working on. The teacher is close at hand thanks to mp3 recordings and the internet. Some of us take up the challenge of some new sankyoku. Completely new to me, I start to work on Kurokami, the last piece in Michael Gould's level 1 book.

Lunch time finds us relaxing out on the deck, squeezed between the palm plants, petunias, lavender, strawberries and tomatoes. The golden patio umbrella does its job to provide necessary shade as the Vancouver summer temps, high for this part of the province, hit the low 30's.

The afternoon is a treat of honkyoku on longer flutes; tough to decide whether to play 2.4 or 2.6.

Pilates is on the schedule and so before dinner we head to the nearby studio to enjoy an hour of stretching and core strength building with the satisfaction of knowing that this practice is a valuable complement to our playing.

Dinner is sushi, or donburi or udon soup, maybe spicy eggplant or some other delicious treat depending on what the kitchen offers up.

The evening session brings the day to a satisfying close with a little improv play and some folk tunes or duets.

I don't really mind that its just me and my dawg at Shakuhachi Summer Camp this year, 'cause you know, the company is good, the price is right and the location is terrific!

Shakuhachi Beat

2010-07-14T09:09:00.005-07:00

Shakuhachi Beat is often informative and always entertaining. The blog is the creation of Chris Moran, an active member of the shakuhachi community forum.

During the recent temporary closure of the forum, Chris treated his blog readers to flute related and less related youtube snippets to keep us laughing and tide us over until the forum came live again.

Chris also offers regular 'shakuhachi watch' posts where he draws attention to flutes for sale that he feels have merit. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise to read his impressions of my Kazan, the 1.8 Tozan flute that I recently posted for sale on ebay. Here's what Chris had to say about the Kazan:

"I actually played this flute and liked it. At the time I was looking for a very loud, strong, hard sounding flute, so I didn't purchase it. It's thick but relatively lightweight, mellow in tone, but very, very capable. Great looks and feels good. I think it's at least a Cap size 8. I found it very comfortable to play. Made by an old Tozan master maker using the KAZAN hanko. As I recall it was culled from the collection of Yoshinobu Taniguchi and was resold through Alcvin Ramos of Ryuzen Shakuhachi in British Columbia."

Note: this flute is now SOLD

Shin, Gyo, So

2010-07-07T11:19:00.003-07:00

I've been working on a couple of honkyoku lately and trying to get them down, to start with, as they are written. Building this foundation is called 'shin' according to my teacher Michael Gould. It means learning to play the piece with no personal interpretation. Of course, being honkyoku, there is always some personal input but when first learning the piece Michael stresses learning it as it is written together with the presentation offered by the lineage. So, take HonShirabe, for example, there are many recordings this piece and there are even varying notations for this piece, each sounding quite different from the other.

I am learning HonShirabe in the lineage of Michael Gould and the teachers that taught him. This transmission of music via a lineage adds a new dimension to studying music. The only other time I felt this kind of connection to a line of masters was when I took empowerments in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It is meaningful to understand the history and roots of a practice and therefore I think that 'transmission' is a useful process.

Michael went on to point out that after a student has mastered the piece in the manner that her lineage usually plays it, she can go on to start to add some personal interpretation to the piece which is called 'gyo'. It makes sense to play around with the piece only when the basics of the music have been firmly established or else, as a beginner, I think there can be a tendency, after distorting a note or technique due to one's lack of skill or in other ways not playing with clear intent to call these mistakes 'my interpretation' of the music. Especially with pieces like HonShirabe that have so many variations, it is helpful to know, as a beginner, what the fundamentals of the piece are so that the 'jumping off point' is clearly established.

Once a player is well established in their musical career, the third stage, 'so' may be reached. When playing a piece they now, almost can't not, add their own 'signature' style to it. In this case they have developed their 'gyo' to the point that their style can be recognized in most pieces that they play. Of course for many leisure time players such as myself, the 'so' stage may not ever be reached but playing at the 'shin' level can be abundantly satisfying.

Featured Player: Brian Purdy

2010-07-01T09:37:00.003-07:00

Brian Purdy has long been an inspiration to me because of his passion for learning to play the shakuhachi and his dedication to disciplined practice. He is also one of a handful of players documenting his shakuhachi experiences via a blog. I'm delighted that Brian accepted the invitation to be a Featured Player. Here are his responses:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?

Initially I was playing the Native American Flute and learning to make them. I was at a flute festival when my NAF teacher was handed a shakuhachi. He threw it on the ground jokingly and said no one could play those things! I picked it up and made a sound. I asked if I could have the flute and was told "no!". I went in search of one on the internet and heard what the shakuhachi was capable of. The breathy sounds and soothing meditative qualities captured me immediately and I was hooked. I had to get a shakuhachi and learn.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?

This is easy, for me it it Tamuke. I love the melody as well as the meaning of the piece. It has some great technical parts in it that are great exercises and the piece makes me feel very connected to the flute. It is a song I play often enough from memory that sometimes I find myself near the end of the piece and I didn't realize I had played it that far. Like when you drive your car home and barely remember the drive home. It just flows.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?

My Sensei Michael Chikuzen Gould told me to practice linking the notes. That has helped me through a lot of difficult tricky pieces. He was referring to grabbing 2 notes and practice the transition between the 2 notes and then add another and so forth. It allows you to really concentrate on the passage and get it perfect so it isn't something you play sloppy every time you come to it in a piece.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?

Practice perfection. When you practice a piece make sure you listen to a recording and try to get the subtleties. Don't be afraid to slow down and only practice one line in a song until it is right and start slow and build the speed up. Make sure the pitches are right as well as the transitions. Also, take lessons from a teacher you are comfortable with that sounds like you want to, it makes a huge difference!!

Do you have anything else you would like add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?

Thanks for asking me to participate. Readers can find my blog at: http://www.honshirabe.com and the camp I organize quarterly at http://www.floridashakuhachi.com . I really enjoy your blog and am honored to be included it!!

Stillness Speaks

2010-06-23T16:24:00.003-07:00

I should have been paying more attention to Eckhart Tolle years ago. But then again, his book "Stillness Speaks" might have made a lot less sense to me had I not had years of Buddhist studies first. I'll tell you right now, I'm not a very quick learner and when it comes to philosophy I have been plodding my way along, well, basically all of my adult life trying to find a system that helps me understand what life is all about and how I fit into the bigger picture.

"Stillness Speaks" is not a big book, it doesn't even have much in it, just snippet type of 'signposts' as Tolle calls his tips for returning to our true nature. Tolle presents the essential facts and he asks that we reflect up them rather than look for tonnes of information to read about them. His pointers are easy to understand and also, being brief, easy to remember. Were it as easy to function according to his tips as it was to read them, I'd be almost free right now!

Tolle says that we are "awareness disguised as a person". He feels that our thoughts are really interfering and cutting us off from our true nature which is alert and very alive stillness. He says that "the inner space of pure awareness..." is our unconditioned consciousness.

He talks about allowing things, events, people to just be and that accepting 'now' leads to a realm of inner peace. Tolle encourages listening and looking and a dropping of resistance, judgement and criticism.

At the beginning of chapter two in his book, Tolle says: "Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made personalized sense of self that is conditioned by the past." Though Tolle suggests that chapter one has all that is really necessary to get the idea of what he is pointing at, it is chapter two that led me to much contemplation. Consider this, taken from Chapter 2, page 18: "The mind exists in a state of 'not enough' and so is always greedy for more." "Boredom means the mind is hungry for more stimulus, more food for thought, and its hunger is not being satisfied."

Tolle is saying that we are not who we think we are and we are not our thoughts. He draws attention to the fact that we are the awareness from which thought and perception arise. His book, true to what he is teaching, doesn't offer a lot of words which of course will become thoughts as we read them, but rather tries to illuminate inner stillness that is awareness or consciousness from which all life unfolds.

No major complex concepts to think about here but rather lots of encouragement for practicing being, mere being, in the present moment.

Urushi Wanderings Continued

2010-06-16T13:30:00.007-07:00

So, as you probably know, urushi oil when it comes into contact with objects can still cause problems and problems were definitely still being caused.

Perhaps because I had handled a lot of my other flutes, my cleaning clothe, my tuner....who knows exactly....or maybe I was now overly sensitive and the urushi in my 1.8, though in a more cured state, nonetheless, was now possibly affecting me? In any event, my eyes were red and puffy, my cheek starting to sport a light rash that looked vaguely like someone had drifted me a mild shiner and my colleagues at school were looking at me slightly doubtfully as I explained, "No, really, its just an allergy...honestly I haven't been driven to drink by the more demanding students on my case load!"

The doctor was blunt about it: "You've got to get this cleared up pronto and no more contact with anything even vaguely containing this allergen!"

So I rubbed antibiotic corticoed ointment on my swollen red eye lids and placed all my flutes and accessories out of bounds. Now what to do with myself in the evenings during that relaxed time of day when I usually squirreled away in the bedroom nook rambling through honkyoku, folk tunes and various techniques on my list of musical skills to perfect......

With the prospect of not only missing evening practice sessions there was the disappointment of not having a 2.6 to play for the Wednesday long tones sessions.

Enter my second 2.6, completely 'neeked', free of any urushi.:

Yup, Ken made me yet another 2.6 for long tones, a simple and light non root end flute to tide me over while my original 2.6, the urushi rubbed flute, cured.

This flute lived at the far end of our condo not even remotely close to urushi land. Not only was I again able to attend Wednesday long tones but I actually had a safe flute to play while my puffy eyes regained their original shape and my other allergy symptoms subsided.

Urushi Adventures

2010-06-09T21:59:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago I posted a photo and a write up about my new 2.6 with its gorgeous dark urushi rubbed exterior. I had played numerous flutes with urushi in the bore but never handled or owned a flute with urushi this new nor one that had urushi used as a finish on the outside of the bamboo. To my surprise, after I played the new flute I began to experience puffy and itchy eyelids. No rash on my lower lip where the flute rested on my chin nor any irritation on my hands from holding the flute but my eyes puffed up almost immediately after playing the freshly coated flute.

I inquired on the shakuhachi forum about his experience and here's what Toby had to say:

"Rhus sensitivity often manifests on more delicate skin areas. Urushi is still volatile while fresh, so "fumes" might explain why your eyes are affected. I used to get urushi rash on my arms but not on my hands, since the skin is thicker, even though the urushi contact was much heavier on my hands. FWIW the irritant chemically bonds with skin, so if you don't wash it off in the first few moments it is going to do its thing no matter what. I would assume that after a few weeks at most the urushi will be mostly cured and the problems should stop. BTW usushi doesn't dry; it polymerizes in the presence of moisture, so keeping the flute in a slightly humid place might help."

This really intrigued me so I did a little more research on urushi. I found that urushi is collected from urushi or 'laquer trees' which grow in China, Korea and Japan and are often cultivated for their sap which contains urushiol (see footnote #1). Urushiol is actually an allegenic compound but due to its durability and glossy finish it is used broadly in Southeast Asia as a finish for tableware, musical instruments and jewelery. While in its liquid state urushi can cause extreme rashes even from vapours (see footnote # 2), as it drys it hardens as it absorbs moisture from the air (see footnote #3) and then as a waterproof finish it tends to be much less of an allergen.

Supported by what I had learned about urushi and guided by a message from Ken LaCosse, I placed the new flute back in its plastic bag with a damp clothe and allowed it a little more curing time. Once I took the flute back out, a week later for Wednesday longtones, I again experienced eye irritation so back into the bag for another week. Two weeks later, still the same problem.

You know there's still more to this story, don't you? This saga does continue.

1. wikipedia

2. lacquer tree

3. quote from pentrace.net:

The urushi sap contains an oily substance called urushiol. When exposed to warmth and humidity, an enzyme is activated and extracts oxygen from the water and supplies it to the urushiol. The urushiol solidifies, forming a hard film. Even after it has hardened, the urushi retains some water content, making it look perpetually wet and shiny.

Urushiol is the exact same substance found in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac which causes rash and itchiness, so it is not advisable to handle liquid urushi with your bare hands unless you are one of the lucky few who are immune to it. Apparently, Asians and Native Americans are less likely to be sensitive to urushiol.

Featured Player: Michael Muller

2010-06-02T12:02:00.005-07:00

Michael is a very experienced and accomplished shakuhachi player from Germany who has quietly and gently been one of my mentors since I started to learn to play. His passion for the shakuhachi runs deep and his commitment to playing and performing is a huge inspiration to me. I am thrilled that he agreed to be a Featured Player on the blog and urge you to take some time to listen to some of the pieces that he has posted on his myspace site. In particular please have a listen to "Mononoke" a collaboration between Michael and a French composer. The piece brought tears to my eyes when I first listened to it - so beautiful. And now, here are Michael's responses to the Featured Player questions:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?

The triggering incident was my wife’s coming across Ray Brooks’ book ‘Blowing ZEN’ some years ago. It was a bargain offer and she knew that I was interested in ‘ZEN’. Reason enough for her to make this fatal purchase.

I was fascinated by this book from the very first pages on and I can say that I almost absorbed or inhaled the content of this book within a day. Then, after having read the final page, I held the book in my hands, looked at the SHAKUHACHI on its cover - and I knew that I wanted to learn to play the SHAKUHACHI.

Sound and music of the SHAKUHACHI were not absolutely new to me at that point, for I already had been ‘using’ this kind of music for ZEN, REIKI and TAI-CHI-CHUAN practicing and teaching before. But I had never even thought about learning to play such an instrument before.

So my journey on the ‘path-of-bamboo’ began. I must confess that it took some weeks and months of inefficient studying without a teacher and two purchases of more or less unusable so-called SHAKUHACHIs until I found myself back at the start again, now desperately looking for a suitable instrument and a good teacher. The search and the desperation fortunately ended when I found my teacher, the SHAKUHACHI grand master Ronnie NYOGETSU REISHIN Seldin. I am deeply thankful that he has been teaching me since then and hopefully will be for many years more. I am proud to be his student.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?

I can definitely say that I like the traditional HONKYOKU pieces more than the classical SANKYOKU or the MINYO folk pieces. But there is not the one HONKYOKU piece that I enjoy much more than others. Sometimes it depends on my personal mood, on situation and occasion. In shorter performances for instance, when there is only time to play 3 or 4 pieces, I often decide to play MUJUSHIN KYOKU on a 2.4 and JINBO SANYA on a 2.0 SHAKUHACHI. Performing these two pieces and perhaps one or two other pieces on a 1.8 flute gives the audience a very good impression about this specific kind of music and the art of playing SHAKUHACHI. But basically I believe that each of the traditional HONKYOKU pieces has its own uniqueness, its own specific character – like a child. And I have always been trying to avoid giving preference to just one of my children.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?

I have had personal face-to-face SHAKUHACHI lessons with Ronnie NYOGETSU REISHIN Seldin, KURAHASHI YODO II and Dr. Jim Franklin. But most of the time Ronnie has been teaching me remotely by recording lessons for me on his Computer and uploading them to a personal student folder on an internet data server, where I can download them from. In return I record and upload the results of my practicing efforts for him.

From the beginning on this approach was very convenient for me basically, but it took some time to develop a good deal of additional self-discipline and ability to be appropriately self-critical. And so every time when I was for some reason about to postpone one of my self-imposed, self-scheduled, lonesome and sometimes deeply frustrating practicing sessions, I remembered Ronnie’s voice reminding me: “Miss one day – go back one week”. This is one important thing my teacher told me that I will always keep in my mind.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?

“Always trust your teacher and be patient with yourself”. If you are working with a good teacher and he does not always explain everything to you at once and right down to the last detail, or seems not to be willing to answer all of your questions to your utmost satisfaction – trust him. He might just want to protect you from becoming overchallenged - by yourself.

There are many things about playing SHAKUHACHI that have to be discovered and experienced by yourself – patiently and step by step. But I can assure you that it is worth every effort - and the patience.

Your teacher will always know exactly when the time has come to give you the additional information and the appropriate explanations you need to make the next step.

Do you have anything else you would like add?

I think this blog is an enrichment for the online SHAKUHACHI world, for students as well as for teachers. Some time ago I told Erin that the ‘path-of-bamboo’ would lead her ‘over mountains of joy and through valleys of frustration’, and I’m glad and thankful that she has been keeping us informed about her own personal way to deal with these ups and downs.

Dan Moi and More

2010-05-26T08:45:00.009-07:00

Its a long story which I will share with you next month, but as circumstance would have it, I can't play any of my shakuhachi at this time. So much to the alarm of my partner, I threw myself into a deeper exploration of the jaw harp. My long suffering sweetie, brought the little packets up from our mail box every few days and listened patiently as I twanged and bo'inged testing the various styles of trumps. There were dan mois scattered around the house and I was known to pluck the wee instruments even while luxuriating in a late night bubble bath. Gradually my favourites emerged from the growing pile of morchangs and vargans. I'll share the best the bunch, as far as my taste for jews harps goes, here along with a audio file of each. Yes, yes, I know, its not shakuhachi but hey, this is all a part of the journey, my friends!

The Potkin vargan is made in Russia and is beautifully crafted. I find it an easy size to hold and really enjoy its musical character.

I sought out this wooden jaw harp, in the key of C, because of its unusually deep tones as you can hear in this audio file:

The mini dan moi came to me as a gift given to me by a seller in New Zealand. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be and the tiny harp quickly earned a spot on my short list of favourites.

The triple dan moi, hand made by a Vietnamese craftspeople, also offers deep tones, similar to the wooden jaw harp but with its own unique sound.

Yes, I do have a few more of these instruments from various far flung places in the world made by people who also have a love for this slightly odd but very playful instrument and, as with shakuhachi, I tend to pick up the one that suits my mood on a given day and then just relax into the infinite range of sounds a little plucking can produce.

The Long Tones 2.6

2010-05-19T19:15:00.003-07:00

This handsome dark chocolate urushi rubbed 2.6 is a shakuhachi that Ken LaCosse crafted for me so that I could have my own instrument to play at our Wednesday night long tones sessions. The guys in our little shakuhachi group often like to play long tones on the 2.6 and it didn't take long for me, playing a beautiful sounding 2.6 loaned to me by Peter, to fall in love with the sounds that filled the room when as many as five shakuhachi played long tones together on 2.6 flutes.

Ken selected a light piece of Chinese bamboo for me, placed the finger holes so that they could comfortably be reached by someone with relatively small hands and gave the whole flute a coating of urushi, rubbing the outside until the flute had a strikingly deep black/brown glow. The flute has a smooth, quiet, and very rich sound.

As I offered the new flute to my friend Jim to 'test drive' I was immediately surrounded by a awesome range of sound as Jim played sequences of notes from honkyoku and improvised on the new long flute. Clearly the flute was a very capable instrument and Ken's years of shakuhachi playing demonstrated the flute's vast potential to me. As I wrestled the flute away from Jim, (ok, just kidding, he did give it back fairly easily but at the same time seemed seriously fond of the instrument) he stated that there I had an flute for life. Not a bad recommendation for a new flute, eh?!

But wait, there's actually more to this 2.6 story....I'll take you along on this little shak side trip again next week.

I Ching

2010-05-12T17:46:00.003-07:00

For years I used to have a tattered copy of the condensed version of this well known oracle device that I had picked up on my travels, in a book shop in Katmandu or Singapore perhaps. Though I'm not one for keeping many souvenirs from my travels or items of nostalgia, I did have a fondness for this book with its rippled pages - it had fallen into a bathtub once while I was doing some laundry in one of the many hostels I stayed at as I travelled throughout Asia. I consulted the I Ching every now and then when I was in a quandary about a decision I was trying to make. And it always did support my intuition at times when the intuitive feeling was different from that of my intellect. Not always preferred advice but always worth taking serious, was what I found to be true from consulting the I Ching.

Some months back I came across the three coins with holes in their centres that I picked up back in those roaming days and had used for my I Ching readings. (OK, so I don't have many keepsakes from my travels, but the coins are small, eh?!) But nowhere was the book itself to be found, sent out with a box of books during one of my many moves when items that hadn't been put to use for more than a year were cut free from my life, I'll guess. I did kind of miss that book. So I began to visit used book stores hoping to find an inexpensive replacement but strangely I just couldn't find a suitable copy of the I Ching. In fact I didn't find many I Ching's at all making me feel a little guilty thinking, "See, other folks don't cast their I Ching's aside as easily as you did!" I mentioned this feeling to friend of mine who suggested it was just a fluke that I hadn't found the book....only to surprise me a few months later, on my birthday, with a nice fat complete version of the guidebook.

What a treat! My new I Ching was substantial and much more involved than the first version I had owned. I spent some time getting acquainted with it and then asked my first question. Questions for the I Ching need to be considered as carefully as the answers it provides so I gave this one some thought and then when I asked it of the oracle it wasn't really a surprise that the answer immediately resonated with a gut feeling I had. The more I read however, the deeper I was able to probe my situation and the complexities of responding to it. After all these years and with a lot more life experience I was really appreciative to have, once again, the I Ching as my guide and friend.

Featured Player: Michael Chikuzen Gould

2010-05-05T10:40:00.003-07:00

I'm excited about featuring Michael Chikuzen Gould as this month's featured player not only because he is a great player, not only because he is a great inspiration, but also because this is my first anniversary of taking lessons from Michael.

Michael's teaching style is outstanding. He adapts his approach to where a student is at and according to the student's needs and strengths. His gentle approach quickly put me at ease and I found I could play 'in front' of him long before I could peep out a note in front of anyone else. He uses examples that make sense and stay in my mind clarifying the many and varied techniques necessary to play the basics. Michael is a skilled shakuhachi player and a master teacher. I feel priviledged to offer his responses to the Featured Player questions here on the blog.

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?
The sound and the experience I had when first hearing it. I was walking down the street in Kyoto and saw a poster of what I thought was a samurai. I had lots of time so decided to duck in and check it out. I was struck immediately by the sound. It took me to places inside myself I hadn't been in a while. I didn't sleep at all for the next two nights and went looking here and there to find out what this shakuhachi stuff was. From the first encounter on, shakuhachi was always an experiential activity. I went to Japan to study Buddhism, or at least get near it as I had been drawn to it in college. Otherwise, I wasn't sure why I was there as I was more interested in China and India. I realized later that it was the shakuhachi pulling me there.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?
I have many favorites so this is hard. I like Sanya a lot, mainly because I had some good experiences playing it early in my playing days. The same with Sanan and Tamuke. They are all prayer type songs so I guess I'm drawn to this although they all seem wonderful to me. Not the least bit dark or morbid. Not even sad for the most part. Only in context does that come out.

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?
"Always play using your KOKORO (spiritual self)".

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?
Initially, I understand the urge to do it yourself. But you should find a good teacher early and get the basics of how to hold the flute, breath, etc. Devloping good habits early will allow you to do many things easier without developing bad habits later. And ask your teacher many questions. You'll have to come up with many answers yourself through the course of playing, but ask a lot early.

Is there anything else you would like to add to the Shakuhachi Journey blog?
I think that it's important to find 1)a flute that really works for you, 2)a song that you love, 3)and a teacher that works for you. These three relationships are very important. Don't romanticize about them. If they are really working you'll know.

Wabi Sabi II

2010-04-28T11:55:00.003-07:00

The "Wabi Sabi II" is a very organic looking jinashi 2.4 that Jon Kypros made for me recently. The shakuhachi is very light weight, beautiful wabi sabi, naturally curred goma madake with funky finger hole placements perfectly suited to my hands. Not only do I get great pleasure from the appearance of this flute but also the timbre is just oh-so rich. The better I get as a shakuhachi player the more I think I am going to be able to maximize the wonderful sounds this flute offers but already while I am playing just basic pieces in a very simple way the flute makes me sound better than I think I really am!

I like to mix shakuhachi into my workday when I am working at home. Taking short 'shakuhachi breaks' gets me away from my desk and from the computer screen and provides a relaxing change of pace as I pick up a shakuhachi and play around with some note sequences or a piece I am currently studying. Of course this can hardly count as a practice session but it definitely helps me get unlocked from my online work. The Wabi Sabi II is one of my favourite flutes to play on a shakuhachi break. Its timbre is so interesting and the instrument just feels good to pick up. Of course, one of the biggest challenges to this kind of break is the effort it takes to put the shakuhachi back down and return to work.

Here are a few more photos of the Wabi Sabi II:

Shakuhachi as Meditation

2010-04-21T09:02:00.003-07:00

Can shakuhachi practice serve the same function as meditation? Big question, I know, but I'm contemplating this all the same.

For the 12 years I have had a regular practice of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and for the past year I did zazen and then for the past few months I practiced in the Shambala method and now, well now, I just play the shakuhachi. Things change, they always change, they simply can not stay the same, so too with my practice of meditation.

Maybe, you would say, I am just 'taking a break' now and not doing any meditation. Maybe playing the shakuhachi is just another activity having nothing to do with meditation. However playing the shakuhachi, in the evening during the same time slot that I would usually reserve for meditation, has some similar feelings to meditation. It is hard. Like meditation, I sometimes need to push myself to go do it. It requires concentration. I can't at this point in my practice of shakuhachi, sit down and play with ease; I need to totally focus and pay complete attention to what I'm doing, my mind can not wander. My mind is more settled after I finish. Because of the discipline, because of the single pointed focus, because of the absence of distraction, because of emptying the mind of all else, whatever the reason, at the end of a shakuhachi session my mind feels rested.

I don't presently have the time (or inclination) to do both meditation and shakuhachi practice daily so I have opted for shakuhachi practice only. But my experience is that I haven't really traded meditation for shakuhachi practice, rather I have replaced sitting meditation with blowing meditation...or have I?

Jaw Harp

2010-04-14T17:52:00.003-07:00

They're known as the jews harp or jaw harp in North American, trump is what they are called in some parts of Europe, guimbarde in France, morchang in India, vargan in Russia,and kumbing in the Phillipines. Its said to be one of the world's oldest instrument, seen in a painting from the 3rd Century BCE, supposedly migrated to various parts of the world from Asia and is just crazy fun to play!

A flexible vibrating reed set in a metal frame, it doesn't look like it could amount to much when it comes to making music. But place the instrument against your teeth and allow the mouth and throat to become the resonating chamber and you've got hours of creative experimental music ahead of you. Even more so, perhaps, than with the shakuhachi, you are a big part of the instrument. The range of sounds produced by the vibrations of the reed are completely dependent on you, the rhythm of your fingers strumming the reed and the shapes you create with your mouth and tongue.

How I was inspired to go jaw harp hunting even I am not sure but I began by checking with my local music stores where I found that they either didn't stock these simple little instruments at all or, if they did have them in their inventory, the wee harps were tucked in an out of the way display cabinet and, in one case, almost buried by a stack of chromatic tuners. I had the best luck with some quality jaw harps by going to the Mouthmusic site and to Jonny Cope's Sound for Health site.

Its really not difficult to play a jaw harp and even the better quality ones are not going to break the bank to buy in fact they're positively cheap when compared to the price of a shakuhachi. The instrument might not be one that you'd choose should you find yourself in the spotlight at a party or family gathering (well depending on how much of an attention seeker you are) but more likely you'd feel like picking it up when you're just hanging out by yourself of maybe jammin' with a couple of friends. Should you round one up to experiment with, be prepared to find yourself mesmerized by the various sounds and effects you can produce. There's only one thing to be careful of when getting started on playing the jaws harp, its very addictive! So don't say you weren't warned.

Warming Up

2010-04-07T22:04:00.002-07:00

Warming up seems like a good topic this time of year with Spring in full swing and a hint of summer already on the way. Besides the weather warming up, I seem to have had a distinct fascination with warmups in my shakuhachi sessions of late. It was something that seemed to creep up on me until I found myself spending almost as much time on the warm up as I did on actually practicing pieces.

As my teacher gave me more and more ideas of things I could practice on a regular basis, I added them to my warmups and because I felt one wasn't more important than the other, I just couldn't seem to drop one aspect of the warmup as I added another. And then what really clinched my warmup obsession was getting the Daily Technical Exercises workbook by James Schlefer that I talked about in an earlier blog post. So now I was not only working my way through, some Ro buki, followed by slow scales during which I checked my pitch, then some pulsing tones, after which I worked on repeats and meris, followed by note sequences and combos and finally finishing off with some flexibility exercises before diving into Schlefer's book for some long tones, intervals and scales.

Well the thing is, I really liked all these warmup drills. As I reflect on that fact, I ponder why the warmups ended up appealing to me so much. Was it the familiar routine they offered, or were they a method of measuring progress or perhaps a 'legitamate' activity that bought me some time in the practice session before I had to tackle some of the pieces of music that I found somewhat difficult?

Spending an hour warming up and then an hour playing a piece or various pieces was alright when I had a lot of time like during Spring Break but really was a bit long for those weekday evenings after a workday. So eventually I had to be a bit more ruthless with myself and insist that I pick and choose a little more so that in the course of a week I would do all the various warmup up drills but not every drill or technique every night. I have it back under control now, more like half and hour on warmup and then another half hour to an hour or playing.

How about you, have you ever had a 'warmup addiction'? What does your warmup look like? And how important do you think warming up is to your actual playing? Please comment, I'm always interested in the experiences of other players. Thanks

Featured Player: Bas Nijenhuis

2010-03-30T08:46:00.003-07:00

This blog post is a little early because I am about head out of town for an adventure which will likely mean no wifi for a week or so. But I wouldn't want to disappoint you by making you wait to read about April's Featured Player, so, I thought, better a little early then a little late.

I'm delighted to be able to showcase my friend Bas Nijenhuis as April's Featured Player. Bas lives in the Netherlands and he started to learn to play the shakuhachi around the same time as I did. However, Bas is no stranger to wind instruments given his background with the recorder which was then followed by the saxophone. Bas has a relaxed approach to learning to play the bamboo flute and at the same time his commitment to instrument is clear. We both take Skype lessons with Michael Gould and often share emails and even the occasional Skype 'visit' in order to exchange ideas and impressions of this interesting musical journey. Bas also has been keeping a shakuhachi related blog - please check it out some time if you aren't already a follower.

Here are Bas's responses to the Featured Player's questionnaire:

What was it that drew you to learn to play the shakuhachi?

How I have learned to know about the shakuhachi is actually not a 'romatic' tale. I was watching -and enjoying- the movies Kill Bill and later Kill Bill 2, even though they are very brutal in a way. In the second film Bill is playing an Asian flute outside on a porch. He plays a sideways flute that sound quite esotheric. I looked it up on the internet searching for eastern flute and then came to find and first hear the shakuhachi. There even seemed to be a national organisation (Kaito) about this flute, which surprised and pleased me. I listened a bit more, read and found the international forum. The aspect -wich was stated more then once- that this flute was hard to learn I found mysterious and challenging: I wanted to play is and see if I could do it. After contacting the local organisation about purchasing a Yuu (cheap, but good student shak) I got a letter in return if I was sure I wanted to play this instrument due to its difficulty level. I was! ha ha. I contacted the chairman and he helped me on the way finding a teacher nearby and so it all began, little more then a year ago.

What is one of your favourite shakuhachi pieces and why do you enjoy it so much?

I cannot say I have one favourite shakuhachi piece. I feel I have still very little grasp of what is out there. I hear many songs, some traditional, like Honkyoku, some more jazzy or modern. I find the music of Fukuda Rando quite pleasing. They are straightforward and easy to listen to, maybe due to the western influence in them. More intrinsically rewarding and 'deep' are the Honkyoku. Listening is a start, but playing them and really listening to them makes quite a difference. It will take time and devotion to 'get into' them. I find these songs the most gratifying. Especially the more melodious Honkyoku from the Yokoyama line. Momentarily I keep comming back to Hon Shirabe and play it quite often. So time will tell if there is one piece wich I can call my favourite...

What is the one thing a shakuhachi teacher told you that has always stayed in your mind?

There are several, not just one...The first and most memorable to me is: 'don't worry about sound, just play'. It is about the notion not to worry too much about your playing: just try and do it, even if it isn't perfect; in other words: it will come. I think that gentle spirit is my spirit in playing this wonderfull instrument. One other is in the same line: if it sounds good, it is good. This one is a bit of a double edged sword: it has the same aspect of just play and make it sound nice. One the other hand there is the Japanese traditional heritage of learning to play and which is much more strict in that matter. I am in between: I want to sound good, but also want to honour the tradition. So one part of learning this instrument is learning what to play excactly, what to play more freely and what to play as I like it.

If there was only one thing you could share with a beginning player what would it be?

If you really want to learn this instrument: press on (and take lessons!!!) Lessons are most valuable especially from the start. And they are helping staying inspired and to keep the fun.
If you aren't sure to learn it: give it up.

Is there anything else you'd like to add to the "Shakuhachi Journey" blog?

No not really. Knowing what it is to have a blog about the same subject, this can be tough. Blogs can range from totally idiosyncratic to totally devoted to 'the readers'. I like the first better. I like the blog to read about your personal experiences with the flute and in that you just do that. What I am secretely hoping is to hear more from you literaly: hear or see you play. That is not about hearing you (Erin) play nice or beatyfull, I just want to hear 'you' play. Well don't feel pressed in anyway to do so anyway. It is your blog: keep it like that and....press on!

Have Tunes Will Travel

2010-03-24T22:14:00.004-07:00

My shakuhachi and I are taking a little trip down to Nevada during the first week of April. Well, actually, the shakuhachi is more of a tag-along. I'm going to the playa near Las Vegas for some kite buggy racing. I suppose I'll be wind blown and dust coated by the end of each day of this week long annual kite buggy event but I can't imagine not playing the flute at least briefly on a daily basis as is my routine when I am at home.

Most of my kiting gear will be traveling down south in the back of a friend's 4 x 4 while I take the quick and easy route, flying West Jet. So its not like I'm really pressed for space nevertheless I decided to work out an idea I got from one of my long tones friends. He had reduced his shakuhachi music and then slipped each piece into the sleeve of a little photo album. What a good idea for a travelling music book, I thought. So here we have it, my shakuhachi work book for on the road. Compact, light weight and packed with all the essential pieces a gal might want to play while on the road.

I'll let you know how the shak playing works out, in the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for some good steady winds out on the playa.

Daily Exercise

2010-03-17T22:08:00.003-07:00

I recently ordered James Nyoraku Schlefer's Technical Workbook for Daily Exercises from Monty's site. James has two of these workbooks out and, on good advisement, I choose the first one as it was recommended to be more suited to beginners and intermediate students. The drills are clearly explained and laid out and the CD that accompanies the book provides excellent opportunities to listen to how each exercise should sound.

As suggested in the book, I am using the drills during my warmups to my daily practice sessions. Its not like I'm short of of things to work on as my warm up, no, not so, as Michael Gould always gives me lots of ideas of what to work on and sequences and techniques to use in my warm ups. But I find it useful to have a broad variety in my practice repertoire and I am finding that Schlefer's book does a good job of complementing my teacher's instructions.

The strange thing is, I really enjoy practicing drills, yes, I enjoy them at least as much as playing the pieces that I'm currently learning. I find that the shakuhachi exercises are generally uncomplicated and provide a clear idea of what is meant to be achieved. As well I can measure improvement via drills which, though I try not to be overly focused on getting 'better' per se, it is always a bit of a boost to notice that a drill is starting to run more smoothly or evenly than it did at first. And I find it pleasant to move through a series of long tone combos or feel my fingers start to dance up and down scales or along intervals. Really when it comes down to it, I like the sounds of the flute and even when doing daily exercise drills, the sounds of the shakuhachi are just so beautiful!

Long Tones on Long Flutes

2010-03-10T08:50:00.002-08:00

The long tones sessions have become a highlight of my week. Now never mind laughing, and, "yes, I do have a life" I want you to know! The point is that hanging out with the other shak players and blowing long tones, uninterrupted for an hour or so, is just such an uncomplicated smooth way to spend a weekday evening. Of course, the fact that I can actually play all the notes in the two octaves is a bonus and does make the evenings much more pleasant than back in those early days when I could hardly squeak out Otsu and was lying on the floor gasping for air when it came to Kan. I'm lucky the guys persisted in their kind and gentle invitations to these weekly flute get togethers and they are so right in saying that there is something special about the sounds merging and mixing like they do when everyone blows steadily lost in their own shak meditations while still holding an awareness of the tapestry of sound the flutes are creating.

The sound art manifested in yet another dimension last week when we played our long tones on 2.6 flutes. The boys had suggested this a few weeks prior and when I mentioned not owning a 2.6 they quickly volunteered to lend me one. And what a fine flute it was, soft, rich sounds and surprisingly easy to play, I was sorely tempted to sneak it out with me when the session was over but there's not many ways one can stash a 2.6 in a messenger bag and slip out of the apartment unnoticed. "Hey, what'cha got there?" "Oh this, hummm, well just a trinket I picked up downtown, Olympics souvenir,....eh?!" Nope I don't think that would've cut it. Anyways, I had to give the flute back to Peter who had harvested the bamboo and made the instrument himself.

Peter was playing another flute of his own making, It was a beautiful piece of bamboo that he had bound well as a precaution against cracking and especially because it was one of his favourite flutes. I gave it a try later in the evening as it has more back pressure and I wanted to feel that in comparison to the flute I had been playing but I was some what 'blown out' by then and couldn't really get a good feel for it. In Jim's case his 2.6 was made from a gnarly piece of bamboo that had a bit of history to it. The bamboo was originally harvested by Okuda and flute had been an even longer shak at one time but was later shortened when the original owner didn't want it any more. The sounds were as interesting as the bamboo and I could see why Jim had noticed this shakuhachi long before he had the opportunity to own it.

We have been ending the evenings by playing Hon Shirabe together and on the 2.6 the piece had a whole different feel - it was great! Those low Tse-Re's.....wonderful! And the music collected in a almost tangible swirl of energy at a spot just below where the flutes ended. It was really quite amazing.

Again, my thanks go to the local shakuhachi players for so kindly including me in their community and especially to Peter and Jim for always making me feel welcome at the weekly long tones sessions.