Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Hi Justin,
        Greetings from the UK.

Boe Pyne wrote:

Hi Justin,
        Greetings from the UK.

Hi Boe
Ah, whereabouts? I'm originally from the UK too, but came to live in Japan to study with the teachers here. Every once in a while I come back to England to visit family, show my instruments and offer lessons too.

If you're near London, there's Michael Coxall teaching there if you didn't already know. He's a very traditional teacher and really has the Japanese nuance. He's also  great guy, well worth studying with if you are interested in the traditional music.

Best wishes
Justin

Boe Pyne wrote:

Though I intend to get lessons at some point, with Michael probably, I can imagine my technique being torn apart; I have, what I've come to realise is, a rather strange embroucher. With it I can get a fantastic control of the tone that is immediate, but it somewhat precludes tonguing as the tongue is intimately involved.

Tonguing is not a part of traditional shakuhachi playing. That's one of the main differences between shakuhachi and western wind instruments. It is STRONGLY advised to get lessons as soon as possible because the notation does not have all the information you need to play the pieces (even if you understand the notation) and while you might be able to imitate the pitches on a recording, there are numerous ways of obtaining those pitches and the likelihood that you'll stumble upon the correct ones on your own is very slight. Welcome to the forum and the shakuhachi odyssey that awaits you.