Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

amokrun · 2006-11-16 19:23:22

It being this time of the year once again, I was thinking about traditional christmas songs that would be easily playable with shakuhachi. I figured that it would be nice to learn a piece or two that I could play and my girlfriend could sing. I would love to find some songs that I don't yet know about, especially ones from other cultures that may not be well known outside.

To start this, here's one that is especially suitable for beginners who can get a sound but not play some of the more difficult notes at all. This is, as far as I understand, a traditional finnish melody that just about everyone here knows. Not sure how popular this one is outside Finland. Like many traditional finnish songs, it's rather melancholic. The name, "Joulupuu on rakennettu", translates roughly as "Christmas tree has been decorated". I'm unsure of whether or not there are english lyrics for this.

http://www.helsinki.fi/~jnuotio/mids/joulupuu.html

That page has a midi file and the lyrics (in finnish). The midi is rather complicated, but the basic melody is very simple. I have a kinko notation sheet for it as well, but given the current copyright situation around here (which means, I have no idea what is legal anymore), I chose not to post it. If anyone is interested in saving some trouble, let me know and I'll send it to you.

The basic melody goes from C to C, so only one octave is needed. To make it really simple to play on shakuhachi, make that D to D. When played from D to D, the only "difficult" notes are Tsu Chu Meri, Ri Chu Meri, Ri Meri and Ro no Kan. However, I prefer to play Ri Meri with the alternative fingering and Ro no Kan as I, both which seem to fit this piece better. This also makes it rather easy to play because there is very little chin tilting or shading involved. It's a rather slow piece as well, so there should be no trouble keeping up with the pace.

If you know any interesting pieces that work well on shakuhachi, please do post them here.

Tairaku 太楽 · 2006-11-16 19:36:16

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Greensleeves" are both very easy to play on shakuhachi.

Ambi · 2006-11-17 02:47:24

"Silent Night" is a great simple christmas song to play. Try searching and I think there is an MP3 on the web somewhere, its played in Kan but works nicely in Otsu too.
Cheers

Daniel Ryudo · 2006-11-17 02:54:17

I second Brian's suggestion of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"; that's one I often play. "Good King Wenceslaus," "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and "The First Noel" are also good.

Larry Tyrrell · 2006-11-17 11:03:49

Hello,

I'd suggest 'We Three Kings'; quite evocative on shakuhachi, and 'Coventry Carol'. Of the two
the former is probably easier to adapt to sing. Enjoy!

Yu-Jin · 2006-11-19 00:32:43

Hi,
The book "Play a Song of Christmas" by Ruth Zimmerman (publisher presser.com) has 35 Christmas carols in easy arrangements.

We are playing this year
Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming
Away in a Manger
Angels We Have Heard on High
Joy to the World
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
Deck the Hall
Silent Night
We With You a Merry Christmas
O come, All Ye Faithful

Last edited by Yu-Jin (2006-11-19 00:33:20)

Ralf · 2006-12-12 15:53:00

I'm planning on putting together a bit of a Christmas music book for myself, and am just playing with how best to do it. I've put up a sample of the format I'm currently thinking of at http://ralf.muhlberger.com/Shakuhachi with Silent Night. I'd appreciate any and all comments, or help :-)

Ralf

PSTL · 2006-12-12 16:34:23

Excellent work! I'll be playing through some "Silent Night", tonight.

Thank you.

edosan · 2006-12-12 20:18:25

Looks great, Ralf.

Now all you need do is rearrange it for orchestra...

eB

Ralf · 2006-12-12 21:10:44

Thanks for the positive comments.

I wonder how long it will be before someone complains about the Ro dai meri at the end though ;-)

Ralf

Josh · 2006-12-12 23:31:30

Hi Ralf,
Looks great! Yeah, the ending Ro dai meri is a tough one to hit, but hey, it's a tough one to sing too:) You might want to give yourself one line of space in between the western notes and the kinko notes because they overlap in the last section. I'd love to see more of your compilations.

Josh

Ralf · 2006-12-13 02:50:05

Thanks Josh. I think it's also nice as it makes the piece a bit quieter at the end, more reflective. And I've fixed up that overlap, thanks for pointing it out.

Ralf

Josh · 2006-12-13 05:27:21

You could also start with notation to play it once through in Kan and then a second time around in Otsu, ending on that quieter note. Just a thought

Josh

Bogert · 2006-12-14 04:51:55

Can anyone switch "God rest ye merry gentlemen" or "We Three Kings" to Kinko notation? I'm not very good at figuring that stuff out. If anyone has something like that or can do it I would highly appreciate it. I wanted to try to play something on Christmas for my family. Go ahead and e-mail me or just post on here. Thanks.
Chris

Ralf · 2006-12-14 06:00:25

Bogert wrote:
Can anyone switch "God rest ye merry gentlemen" or "We Three Kings" to Kinko notation? I'm not very good at figuring that stuff out. If anyone has something like that or can do it I would highly appreciate it. I wanted to try to play something on Christmas for my family. Go ahead and e-mail me or just post on here. Thanks.
Chris

I've put a version of God Rest up at http://ralf.muhlberger.com/Shakuhachi

Enjoy,

Ralf

philthefluter · 2006-12-14 16:16:00

There is a beautiful Irish carol called Don oiche ud i mBeithil (A Night in Bethlehem). I'll write it in simple notation. All notes have one count (about a second each) unless otherwise stated:

Ro (upbeat) Re Ri-meri (Bb) Chi Re Tsu Re (2 beats) breath
Re (upbeat ) Ri-meri Ha (2 beats) Chi Tsu (3 beats) breath

Ro (upbeat) Re Ri-meri (Bb) Chi Re Tsu Re (2 beats) breath
Re (upbeat) Ri-meri Ha (2 beats) Chi Re (3 beats) breath

Ro-kan (upbeat) Tsu (kan) Ro-kan Ha Ro-kan Tsu Re (2 beats) breath
Chi (upbeat) Re Tsu-Ro-kan (2 eight notes or quavers) Ri-meri Ha Ro-kan (3 beats) breath

Ro (upbeat) Re Ri-meri (Bb) Chi Re Tsu Re (2 beats) breath
Re (upbeat) Ri-meri Ha (2 beats) Chi Re (3 beats)

Let it flow!

Bogert · 2006-12-14 19:11:03

Thanks guys thats awsome. I already started playing them, great fun.
Chris

dstone · 2006-12-18 00:08:23

Inspired by Ralf and others here, I cobbled together fingering cheats on some carol lead sheets.

"It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" and "What Child Is This?" Here.

I had to transpose so hopefully I didn't botch any pitches or fingerings. Ho ho ho.

-Darren.

Last edited by dstone (2007-12-20 13:16:10)

dstone · 2006-12-21 00:28:59

Apparently "White Christmas" is also suitable. Here.

(That's John and Elizabeth Falconer.)

-Darren.

dstone · 2006-12-22 01:02:56

Oopsy. Too much egg nog.

My transposing of "What Child Is This?" (Greensleeves) messed up some ri meris and one ro. The PDF in the sheet music link I gave above has been fixed.

-Darren.

philthefluter · 2007-12-15 06:56:28

Christmas is approaching and time to brush up on some carols. Here's a link to a score and MP3 of the Irish carol 'Don oíche úd i mBeithil'.

http://www.shakuhachizen.com/index.html

jumbuk · 2007-12-15 09:10:39

The First Noel works nicely as well. I have been using it and Silent Night as ways of practicing smooth meris (there are only a few notes that require meri).

mrosenlof · 2007-12-15 16:15:13

Silent Night also works well starting on Ri

philthefluter · 2007-12-15 16:40:45

Sorry to anyone who looked at the Irish carol on my site. I discovered several mistakes in the score. I made the mistake of thinking Tozan when writing Kinko notation and used ha instead of ri. It has been corrected and the new version uploaded.

TC · 2007-12-20 11:41:59

I had been wondering if this thread would be brought up again this year. I started reading the forum around this time last year and could barely squeak out the first few notes of Jingle Bells. Now I've improved enough where I can at least play most of the melodies. I think having them pounded into my head every year made them very familiar and fun to figure out on the Shakuhachi.
I enjoyed reading the notations linked above even though I had begun writing out "What Child Is This" starting out on a Ri-meri (Key of Bm)
"Little Drummer Boy" is another easy one to figure out. O Holy Night also sounds nice with the sustained high notes.

Peace,
Tom

Last edited by TC (2007-12-27 10:40:55)

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2006-11-16 19:23:22

Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#2 2006-11-16 19:36:16

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#3 2006-11-17 02:47:24

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#4 2006-11-17 02:54:17

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#5 2006-11-17 11:03:49

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#6 2006-11-19 00:32:43

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#7 2006-12-12 15:53:00

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#8 2006-12-12 16:34:23

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#9 2006-12-12 20:18:25

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#10 2006-12-12 21:10:44

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#11 2006-12-12 23:31:30

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#12 2006-12-13 02:50:05

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#13 2006-12-13 05:27:21

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#14 2006-12-14 04:51:55

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#15 2006-12-14 06:00:25

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

Bogert wrote:

#16 2006-12-14 16:16:00

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#17 2006-12-14 19:11:03

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#18 2006-12-18 00:08:23

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#19 2006-12-21 00:28:59

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#20 2006-12-22 01:02:56

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#21 2007-12-15 06:56:28

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#22 2007-12-15 09:10:39

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#23 2007-12-15 16:15:13

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#24 2007-12-15 16:40:45

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

#25 2007-12-20 11:41:59

Re: Christmas songs suitable for shakuhachi?

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