Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

I feel any instrument can bring enjoyment and relaxation.

As long as we do not mistake enjoyment and relaxation for something like Nirvanna.  Straight bourbon brings me enjoyment and relaxation, but it is hardly beneficial to Dharma practice.  As far as shakuhachi practice (and Dharma practice for that matter) I think it is a mistake to only pursue that which we find enjoyable.  Learning to remain relaxed when we are removed from our comfort zone is rather important.

The shakuhachi just tries to go one step further.

How? (rhetorical question)

Is it really the shakuhachi that goes (tries to go) one step further?  Keep in mind, it only has one foot. It just reacts to your breath like any other instrument.  Romanticizing it too much seems to make it something mysterious/uncontrollable.  Such sentiments would seem to hinder my practice.  But that is just me.
Hua Tuo: "Who is blowing this bamboo?"

Let's stay on the original topic:  What are the Pro's, Non-Pro's, Semi-Pro's, etc Practicing These Days?

If you'd like to stray, please start another topic.

Thanks.

Ken

I could see myself practicing at 5 oclock in the morning. My wife would love that.The dogs would really bark.

On the point of the subject though. I practice as much as I can which is sometimes 15 minutes if I am lucky a 1/2 hour a day. That is before the wife says shut up already. She is really killing my enjoyment. I can't wit till it gets warmer so I can go outside. My kan notes can get real pitchy right now

Last edited by purehappiness (2009-04-08 11:37:07)

singing the notes is great, also listening to a professional recording of it over and over is very helpful- if you REALLY know the song by listening, it will be easier to play it (worked for me w/ zangetsu just recently, actually always do it when working on a piece). i feel it's really important to just listen to sankyoku alot, whether pieces you are actively working on or not,  by cd's or ideally going to recitals (esp. if you are lucky enough to be in Japan) to develop a feeling for it.

for kurokami, with or without shakuhachi recording would be fine, as the shamisen is playing mostly the same melodic line.

Christopher B. wrote:

Hi There,

yesterday I had my first lesson with another Teacher. It was another great lesson but he teaches "Fuke", so I have another notation and other fingerings to learn. I am no practice Hi-Fu-Mi an reading the notation I dont know if it is good to learn "Kinko" and "Fuke" at the same time but for now it will work for me. I will see if this works in the future.

If you study consistently with both teachers it should be OK. Most shakuhachi players use more than one kind of notation, whether it's Western, Kinko, Tozan, or in this case Hi-Fu-Mi. The larger concern is trying one style and then moving on to another. You can study two at once but give both enough attention, don't flip between them.

Who's the teacher and what do you mean by "Fuke"? What ryu?

Guten Tag Christopher,

Great to hear how diligent you are in pursuing the shakuhachi!
Does Ditmar allow you to take lessons with your hocchiku?


Ciao, Perry

Last edited by Yungflutes (2009-04-24 06:52:51)

singing the notes is great

It is, but I would suggest singing and listening at the same time, at least at first.  Maybe that is what you meant.  Sometimes when I sing the notes to myself I begin to create my own time.  Then, I have to unlearn that time and relearn the correct time.

I think that the advantage of singing for a beginner is that the shakuhachi (and the various technical challenges of, oh, getting a sound and moving your fingers) is just out of the way. Thus it is a way to just focus your practice on reading the notation properly. Beating time whilst singing is good too. This is assuming you basically know how a piece should go from listening. Of course, after you run through by singing, play it on the shakuhachi.
And as Jeff said, as a teacher or advanced player it can help internalize a piece.

This is what I'm working on. http://www.4shared.com/file/103435314/5 … regen.html
I had to get another TASCAM PS5 because the first one was broken. I put together a 2 chord jam track on it and was jamming to it for the past couple of days and this morning jazz shakuhachist extordinaire Geni makes me an offer for lessons at half price. I guess when the student is ready a teacher appears. I recorded this so I could have a pre-Geni baseline. Let's see how I progress. I'm sure Geni's got a bunch of tricks up his sleeve

P.S. Perry, that's the Tensei you sold me. I think it likes me...

Last edited by radi0gnome (2009-05-04 19:50:45)

Hi all,

still practice "Hi-Fu-Mi" and the second octave, looking forward to my next lesson on 13th of May.

Last edited by Christopher B. (2009-05-07 11:18:35)

If you could post what you have I would love to try it. Miles davis

Christopher B,
    Your teacher's teacher "Iso Genyo Oshou-san" (Oshou-san means priest) is probably the current head priest of Itchoken temple in Hakata, Fukuoka. His father Iso Jyozan is quite old now and the temple has passed to his son. It is a very old komuso temple with a lot of history. When we talked last he mentioned that a player, possibly your teacher, had stayed and studeied there for awhile, kind of an uchi-deshi. Itchoken is a style of the Myoan school and many of their pieces are slightly more uptempo.