Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

World Shakuhachi Discussion / Go to Live Shakuhachi Chat

You are not logged in.


Tube of delight!

#1 2008-04-19 00:00:16

yair89
Member
Registered: 2008-04-18
Posts: 1

Hello from Amherst, MA

Hello lovely members of the Shakuhachi forum,

My name is Yair and I am a beginning Shakuhachi player.  I am currently studying my undergraduate degree in Amherst.  I began playing this past Wednesday evening (4/16/08).  The experience was a fascinating one in itself.  A great shakuhachi player, Perry Yung, performed in my "Lively Arts" class.  He played for us and explained how a shakuhachi can be made for under 25 cents by constructing it out of PVC pipes.  He brought out the pipe he had prepared and asked for volunteers to drill the holes.  I volunteered, drilled the holes, and then volunteered again when he asked if anyone wanted to try to play it.  I came up to try, for the first time in my life, to play the shakuhachi and he showed me how to play it by playing it himself, and then gave me some beginner's tips (smile, take a deep breath).  I got some notes out of it, and he later insisted that I join this forum and post this story, as he was so amazed that I had been able to play it so quickly, especially in front of an audience.  He said that I was probably the first one to ever play the shakuhachi for their first time in front of an audience.

With this story I would still like to humbly introduce myself and say that I understand the practice that the shakuhachi requires.  I have been practicing every morning since (there have been only two so far) and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

I am very happy to say that I have found my instrument..

Also, I have not yet designed a signature line, so please excuse any that appears.

Yair

Offline

 

#2 2008-04-19 00:44:09

amokrun
Member
From: Finland
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 413

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Welcome to the forum. Always nice to see new people.

yair89 wrote:

With this story I would still like to humbly introduce myself and say that I understand the practice that the shakuhachi requires.  I have been practicing every morning since (there have been only two so far) and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

Think of it this way. If you got through your second day, the worst part is already over. The first day is the easy one because you don't yet know how tough it will be and just how horrible you sound at first. On the second day the reality is starting to sink in and you have to start knowing that you most likely won't sound much better than day before. From this point on you just keep getting better and each new day will bring something new that you didn't know you could do the day before. Thus, if you somehow get through the second day you will find that each new day is better than the last one. Before you know it your playing will sound quite nice. The fact that you had fun on your second day makes it sound like you will enjoy playing quite a bit.

Offline

 

#3 2008-04-19 00:58:10

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Welcome Yair and enjoy your adventure with the shakuhachi. Try to find a teacher ASAP, that's the best way to learn.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

Offline

 

#4 2008-04-19 20:48:30

Yungflutes
Flutemaker/Performer
From: New York City
Registered: 2005-10-08
Posts: 1061
Website

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Hi Yair! Welcome to the Forum.

I would say that in all my comparatively short years of seeing people struggle with the shakuhachi, I never thought I would see someone take to it so naturally on the first attempt. Blowing a few notes in front of a class of 200 or so people seemed like an incredible feat.

I wanted to make the point that the shakuhachi was one of the most difficult instruments to learn by inviting an audience member to try it.  Then Yair, step up and got a sound right away. That certainly didn't prove my point so I invited another person up. The next guy fit the bill by not being able to get a sound no matter how much and hard he blew. One of the main difference between Yair and the second student was that Yair listened to my directions on how to shape the lip where as the second student just kept trying to blow. Because of that, I passed the PVC on to Yair.

I also want to add that by the end of the lec/dem, while I was packing my flutes and tools, Yair was able to blow a tune on my Jinashi 2.4. I would say that's rare.

Yair, if you truly want to learn the shakuhachi (as in playing some of the things I played for your class), you will need to find a teacher (warning, your GPA may suffer! smile

A deep bow to you my friend, Perry


"A hot dog is not an animal." - Jet Yung

My Blog/Website on the art of shakuhachi...and parenting.
How to make an Urban Shakuhachi (PVC)

Offline

 

#5 2008-04-20 07:38:37

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Welcome, Yair!

I have run into several people who could pick up a shakuhachi, never having seen one before, and get some pretty good sound out right away. The extreme is my friend Jessica, who has never played ANY wind instrument, but the first time she encountered shakuhachi she was able to play all the kari otsu notes on a 1.8, a 1.6, and a 2.8. She could also get the kan register pretty well on the two shorter flutes. It wasn't a fluke, we repeated the experiment several times later. Unfortunately, she has no interest in learning shakuhachi.

My ex-wife never had any instruction and could pick up most shakuhachi and get pretty good sound right away. Of course she had seen and heard me playing quite a bit, so I'm not sure that's the same. She, too, had no interest in shakuhachi, and ultimately not that much in me.

Sometimes when a brand new student brings along a friend to a first lesson, I'll have the friend give it a try, and more often than not he or she does better than the student. This may be because the friend is generally more relaxed than the new student in the "first lesson" situation.

When I first tried shakuhachi, I had trouble getting pitched sound out for a very long time. I sucked, but I was very disciplined about practicing. I think the idea of shakuhachi as an incredibly difficult instrument, which I'd heard somewhere (though not from my teacher), impeded my progress.

I don't really buy into the idea any more. Every instrument has a different set of challenges, and every instrument is hard to play WELL, with the possible exception of built-for-easyness instruments like autoharp, diatonic harmonica, etc. And yes, every instrument has a differently shaped learning curve -- with shakuhachi, as with several other instruments, there may be more steepness at the very beginning than with an instrument that offers up some reassuring sound right away. There was a time when I felt kind of good about the "shakuhachi is the hardest instrument" idea because it made me part of a very special club, and being able to play some pieces was like a secret handshake. But I no longer believe it, and I've found that students learn more quickly if they've never heard this idea. The real difficulty is not the bamboo tube, but our personal evolution in developing discipline, relaxation, and mindfulness.

When you get deeply involved in something, I think, the notions of "hard" and "easy" fall away pretty quickly. If you're interested in something enough, excited by it enough, you just do it, whatever it takes, and without comparing your experience too much with that of others.

Offline

 

#6 2008-04-20 09:00:44

radi0gnome
Member
From: Kingston NY
Registered: 2006-12-29
Posts: 1030
Website

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Hi Yair,

Just being able to breath when placed before a large group of people and attempting to do something you've never done before is a major accomplishment. I'd say by being that comfortable in such a situation that you're much further along in your path to enlightenment than most of us (well..., at least further along than me, I'd hate to project my state of being onto most everyone else).

As far as shakuhachi being the most difficult instrument to learn, as Nyokai pointed out, that's not true because any instrument is difficult to play well. However, if you judge difficulty by how difficult the instrument is to just get a decent sound out of, shakuhachi ranks pretty high. Turkish ney ranks a lot higher though. My perspective may be swayed some because I have a fairly extensive background with silver flute, I personally didn't find getting good sounds out of a shakuhachi all that difficult. However, it took forever and lots of hours just to be able to get poor quality sounds out of the ney. And now even that I can play ney halfway decently (saying "halfway decently" might be a stretch because, just like with shakuhachi, I don't know the music that's supposed to be traditionally played on it), if I try to play left-handed I'm back to square one and can spend hours without being able to get a peep out of the thing. Note here that this isn't a fingering issue, unlike shakuhachi, ney is played obliquely and switching to left-handed is essentially playing out of the other side of your mouth and is where the problem lies. It seems like it's just a super-hard instrument to get a sound out of.

Since I don't know the music from either culture I'm somewhat guessing, but I think that after a good tone can be achieved on the flutes shakuhachi is probably the more difficult of the two instruments due to the varied sounds you're expected to be able to make and control at will.


"Now birds record new harmonie, And trees do whistle melodies;
Now everything that nature breeds, Doth clad itself in pleasant weeds."
~ Thomas Watson - England's Helicon ca 1580

Offline

 

#7 2008-04-21 09:40:55

lowonthetotem
Member
From: Cape Coral, FL
Registered: 2008-04-05
Posts: 529
Website

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Hi, Yair.  I am kind of jealous that you got to meet Perry face to face.  I have only exchanged emails with him.  You are lucky to be "in his neighborhood" so to speak.


"Turn like a wheel inside a wheel."

Offline

 

#8 2008-04-21 09:55:23

Yungflutes
Flutemaker/Performer
From: New York City
Registered: 2005-10-08
Posts: 1061
Website

Re: Hello from Amherst, MA

Hi guys, You are exactly right! I personally never thought the shakuhachi was a difficult instrument. But, once I started lessons, I started to think learning the music was difficult.

nyokai wrote:

Welcome, Yair!

I don't really buy into the idea any more. Every instrument has a different set of challenges, and every instrument is hard to play WELL, with the possible exception of built-for-easyness instruments like autoharp, diatonic harmonica, etc. And yes, every instrument has a differently shaped learning curve -- with shakuhachi, as with several other instruments, there may be more steepness at the very beginning than with an instrument that offers up some reassuring sound right away.

Or like the drum and piano. You just touch or strike them with your hand and they make the sound. Sound production with the shakuhachi is a learned and honed skill for most people.

When you get deeply involved in something, I think, the notions of "hard" and "easy" fall away pretty quickly. If you're interested in something enough, excited by it enough, you just do it, whatever it takes, and without comparing your experience too much with that of others.

I personally believe that the only thing that matters is the feeling you get from the instrument. However, it may get complicated when one starts to perform. I read an interview with Eddie Van Halen once where he said something like, "I wanted to be be the best I could be so I looked to my favorite guitarist and said to myself, I need to play better than him." Of course, in his process of trying to be better, he became Eddie Van Halen.

radi0gnome wrote:

Since I don't know the music from either culture I'm somewhat guessing, but I think that after a good tone can be achieved on the flutes shakuhachi is probably the more difficult of the two instruments due to the varied sounds you're expected to be able to make and control at will.

The great thing about this forum is it helps us clarify our statements. It is true that we should not be perpetuating the idea that the shakuhachi is any more difficult than any other instrument. Getting a sound is not that difficult. Especially if there is guidance. But, for me, learning the techniques of playing a particular style can be challenging to say the least. smile

Namaste, Perry


"A hot dog is not an animal." - Jet Yung

My Blog/Website on the art of shakuhachi...and parenting.
How to make an Urban Shakuhachi (PVC)

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
© Copyright 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson

Google