Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Karmajampa · 2006-03-07 21:17:48

I am having a bit of trouble with half or partially covering a hole to get the semi-tone, i.e. tsu. I have had more success on some flutes than others so this is part of the overall picture. I am trying to place my finger over half of the hole, depending on the pitch I want, with a little success but not enough, also lifting my finger, sort of point it upwards at an angle to the hole, feeling the air pressure and pitch.

I don't have access to a teacher here in New Zealand, or I could have him/her demonstrate to me, I run the risk of developing bad habits, can this technique be described in words.

Appreciated,
Kel §

Daniel Ryudo · 2006-03-07 22:22:03

Tsu (F on a 1.8) is made by completely covering holes 2-5. In addition to half holing for the meri notes -- the semi tones that you referred to -- you also need to change the angle between the shakuhachi and your lips, decreasing it by tilting your chin down a little bit, which will lower the tone. With tsu chu meri (E) you want to cover about half the hole from the top, but with the full meri (D#) you want to cover almost the entire hole. It's something that takes some experimenting around with. As you mentioned, if you had someone to demonstrate it to you it would make it easier to follow.

nyokai · 2006-03-08 13:17:17

Tsu no meri is almost always difficult at first.

I think the head is more important than the partial holing -- you should practice getting down to a full tsu meri with just your head (keep the flute in the same position, lower your head to change your angle in relation to the flute).

There are two reasons it's important to get the pitch down mainly using your head:

1. There are several pieces of music in which you need to play a full tsu meri (on a 1.8 that's E-flat or a little lower) and hit the bottom hole for a repeat, which means it can't be partially covered with your finger.

2. There are many pieces that call for a dai meri or "ni dan meri", meaning that the tsu no meri is the same pitch as ro (D). I have found the best way to learn to play this pitch is to get good at reaching a full tsu meri with your head alone, then lower it even further with a little help from your finger.

As for how you cover the hole, it's from the top down, nothing fancy about it. I have found that most students cover the hole too much at first.

Another problem students often have is that they think they are lowering their head in relation to the flute, but in fact they are lowering the flute at the same time they are lowering their head, which of course doesn't change anything (except making you look like a sax player). Think of a hinge going through your neck from left to right, and your head rocks easily on this hinge while the flute remains lightly fixed in space.

Remember that there are three levels of tsu no meri: chu meri, meri, and dai meri. Chu meri is easy: just cover the hole a little, don't worry about your head. Or, some teachers teach you to just lower your head a little and don't worry about the partial holing. To get the other two, it's definitely head adjustment -- just keep on working your pitch downward with your head a little more each time you practice.

Also it's good to practice ro meri, which requires just your head since there are no more holes left to partially cover. Try to get your ro meri all the way down a whole step, not just a half step -- in other words to C on a 1.8. This is excellent pre-practice for getting a good tsu no meri.

Karmajampa · 2006-03-09 22:18:51

Thankyou Phil, Daniel.
I understand your instreuctions. I appreciate the point regarding tilting the head in part preference to partial hole covering. My main flute, I am making my own, has a great tone but poor response to head tilting, I am working on this by not having too deep a curve.

However, part of my question is how the finger may be used to partially cover a hole, as I notice I can use different approaches, for example, the obvious of moving the finger towards the mouth, exposing the lower half of the hole, or, with the finger still over the hole, raising it slightly, still touching the edge of the flute but the air flow is being suppressed by its proximity. Tricky to explain.

Kel §

jumbuk · 2006-03-10 00:58:24

Karmajampa wrote:
Thankyou Phil, Daniel.

However, part of my question is how the finger may be used to partially cover a hole, as I notice I can use different approaches, for example, the obvious of moving the finger towards the mouth, exposing the lower half of the hole, or, with the finger still over the hole, raising it slightly, still touching the edge of the flute but the air flow is being suppressed by its proximity. Tricky to explain.

Kel §

My teacher just recently showed me how to do Tsu meri using your second method. The advantage is that you can quickly drop the finger flat to go to Ro.

nyokai · 2006-03-10 08:19:47

Karmajampa wrote:
However, part of my question is how the finger may be used to partially cover a hole, as I notice I can use different approaches, for example, the obvious of moving the finger towards the mouth, exposing the lower half of the hole, or, with the finger still over the hole, raising it slightly, still touching the edge of the flute but the air flow is being suppressed by its proximity. Tricky to explain.

Kel §

The basic technique is exposing the bottom portion of the hole, covering the top. Yes, it is also sometimes useful to lower pitch by "shading" a hole (the second approach you mention) while lowering the head, but obviously it does not lower the pitch as much. An example of when this shading may be useful is for helping to achieve a dai meri after doing a regular meri, for instance when there's a hiku after an u (shade 3 as well as lower head further) or after an i-meri (shade 4 and maybe 5 as well as lower head further). I think of the shading as an adjustment rather than a set way of playing a pitch. That's the way I learned it and that's what's useful to me, but different teachers are going to have different approaches to this. This is a great example of why it's good to follow the guidance of a particular teacher so as not to get too confused and not make one's playing a hodge-podge of different techniques.

Karmajampa · 2006-03-10 13:58:30

Thanks again, 'Shading' that is an excellent term. I like this idea as it connects to the sensitivity of the air flow in another form. I appreciate hearing that this is an accepted technique.
As I have mentioned in other posts, I have not yet had the oportunity to meet with a teacher of Shakuhachi, so have to resort to my own devices, and allow my intellect to guide me.

Kel §

Daniel Ryudo · 2006-03-12 21:56:44

Our branch of Kinko uses the 'shading' as Phil called it, in a kind of technique or ornamentation called oru, a sort of a subtle pitch alteration or note bending which we often make use of in honkyoku phrasing. It's good to hear these explanations of 'shading' and such in English (thanks Phil!) as I receive all my shakuhachi instruction here in Japanese (which is often a matter of mostly following the sensei's example, with little verbal explanation).

evan kubota · 2006-06-24 02:39:58

Is it preferable never to shade the lower hole if you can get down to the right pitch with head adjustment only? Somewhere along the line I seem to recall reading that head movement only should be enough. From tsu I can get about to E flat on a Yuu without using any shading, but obviously for tsu dai meri that's not enough.

nyokai · 2006-06-25 10:55:50

Different teachers teach this differently. Yoshio Kurahashi advises NOT using the finger on hole 1 for a tsu meri in the older honkyoku, such as Mukaiji, Koku, etc., but advises using it on other pieces. Most teachers I know generally recommend partially covering the hole, but emphasize that getting the head low enough is the more important aspect. At least sometimes trying to get in-pitch tsu meri's without using the finger is great practice and will make it much easier to get dai meri's (aka ni-dan meri's) when needed.

edosan · 2006-06-25 12:01:54

Kurahashi-sensei even has a name for this, calling it, naturally, the 'no-finger meri'...

caffeind · 2006-06-26 21:00:11

I think that if you rely on finger shading too much, it makes the movement from normal notes to meri notes more jerky and sudden than if you use your head to dip more.

edosan · 2006-06-27 00:44:52

To be sure, the 'no-finger' meri mentioned above, even though written as a tsu-no-meri (Eb on a 1.8), is not quite as flat as a shaded tsu-no-meri, and it has a different timbre. It's a Jin Nyodo styling, I believe.

It's possible to get down to Eb with no shading; even though it does have a different sound quality, it's a good thing to practice, especially as it facilitates the skills required to play tsu-no-dai-meri (tsu-no-meri dropped down another half-step to the pitch of ro), which occurs frequently in Honkyoku.

Last edited by edosan (2006-06-27 00:51:10)

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2006-03-07 21:17:48

Partially covering hole

#2 2006-03-07 22:22:03

Re: Partially covering hole

#3 2006-03-08 13:17:17

Re: Partially covering hole

#4 2006-03-09 22:18:51

Re: Partially covering hole

#5 2006-03-10 00:58:24

Re: Partially covering hole

Karmajampa wrote:

#6 2006-03-10 08:19:47

Re: Partially covering hole

Karmajampa wrote:

#7 2006-03-10 13:58:30

Re: Partially covering hole

#8 2006-03-12 21:56:44

Re: Partially covering hole

#9 2006-06-24 02:39:58

Re: Partially covering hole

#10 2006-06-25 10:55:50

Re: Partially covering hole

#11 2006-06-25 12:01:54

Re: Partially covering hole

#12 2006-06-26 21:00:11

Re: Partially covering hole

#13 2006-06-27 00:44:52

Re: Partially covering hole

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