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I've been practicing kurokami for about 6 months, and am just coming up on my first year anniversary. My teacher is a man of few words, and when he does speak, I can't understand him anyway.
My kurokami is a long, long way from being even remotely executed. My timing is way off, my notes way out of tune. But I diligently practice and I do very much enjoy playing and practicing.
That said, I sometimes wonder when I'll ever be able to play the song. And by play, I mean, play it in time and not suck.
I asked my teacher in my childlike Japanese, "kurokami wa, itsu furikata wakarimasu ka?" Meaning, "When will I understand how to play kurokami?"
He said, "ni ju nen"
I blinked. Did he just say '20 years?' I asked him once in Japanese "20 years?"
He said yes. I blinked again.
"Only?" I asked. He thought about it.
"Maybe 25," he said. I nodded and we went back to the teaching and learning.
My friends, one thing I really appreciate about the shakuhachi is that it is teaching me humility, it is teaching me to sit and practice with little to no expectation of results. It is teaching me to practice for the sake of practice, for the breathing, to sit still, and most of all, I get to focus intently on two songs, kurokam and rokudan, and with each practice I appreciate that music more deeply. This is enough, more than enough to keep me practicing.
But you know what? I kind of hoped I could play these two songs and not suck sometime before 20 to 25 years from now.
I just wanted to share (whine) that with you.
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ssakamoto-san,
I think you will be able to play Kurokami (and other pieces) with some satisfaction long before 20 years. Your teacher probably meant that it would take at least 20 years to gain some sort of mastery of the piece (i.e. feel really comfortable with it and feel that it is your own, so to speak). You have only been playing for a year. In a bit you will become at ease with the piece (but by no means a master of it). You will later be able to pick up the piece and get more out of it (this will happen over and over again throughout the years of playing). This will be true of every piece you study (even simple children's songs). Listen to recordings of this piece with shakuhachi, shamisen, and voice. Once you feel like you can mostly play the notes, try to play along with the recordings. Find a sympathetic shamisen player (one that won't through her pick at you :-)) and practice live. Most of all, try to enjoy playing the piece. It will be frustrating at times and perhaps even boring at times, but it really should be a fun activity (I know some people will probably disagree with me on this point, the "You got to suffer for art" types). Anyway, I think the "ni ju nen" comment was more philosophical than practical.
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Kurokami is a really special piece.
Actually, in NHK's series last year, called "Dandan", one of the twin-sister heroines is a maiko, learning the jiuta dance for kurokami, and isn't able to do it until in her own life she falls in love and learns heartbreak.....
I heard a shamisen player also say when she was younger her teacher told her she wouldn't be able to truly play it until she was older- had gained a depth of life-experience.
Technically, you'll get it soon, and it will sound good I'm sure. But it is one of those pieces that you grow with as you go along. The words and the melody speak from a depth of emotional experience- love, heartbreak and finally acceptance but with both of the previous states in place. we should aim to express all that in our playing of it, just as much as if we were singing it. That said, it's easy to over do it and bring it into melodrama... so finding that perfect place is a long-term process.
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ssakamoto wrote:
My friends, one thing I really appreciate about the shakuhachi is that it is teaching me humility, it is teaching me to sit and practice with little to no expectation of results. It is teaching me to practice for the sake of practice, for the breathing, to sit still, and most of all, I get to focus intently on two songs, kurokam and rokudan, and with each practice I appreciate that music more deeply. This is enough, more than enough to keep me practicing.
What a great post to read first thing in the morning! Well said Sean!
With that approach it's easy to understand how dead ends like arrogance and competitiveness are energy wasters. It really is up to ourselves. It's refreshing to be so eloquently reminded of that from time to time. Bravo!
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I have the extreme good fortune to be able to play with Hiromi Hashibe, a really excellent Miyagi School koto player. She always tells you what the song is about to help you get into the proper feeling. Her Kurokami story is particularly poignant.
A young women is married to a man she loves and he takes her to his home somewhere in the northern climes and proceeds to leave her there alone and completely ignores her. The title Kurokami means Black Hair and refers to the idea that as she looks out over the expanse of white snow she thinks to herself that maybe when her black hair is as white as the snow he will then pay attention to her. It really helped me relate to and understand the depth of feeling of the piece.
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Thanks for the wonderful replies. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I said 'yes' to shakuhachi lessons. If I did, I never would have agreed. More evidence that I myself don't know what's good for me.
Back to kurokami and rokudan, and glad about it.
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Jim Thompson wrote:
I have the extreme good fortune to be able to play with Hiromi Hashibe, a really excellent Miyagi School koto player. She always tells you what the song is about to help you get into the proper feeling. Her Kurokami story is particularly poignant.
A young women is married to a man she loves and he takes her to his home somewhere in the northern climes and proceeds to leave her there alone and completely ignores her. The title Kurokami means Black Hair and refers to the idea that as she looks out over the expanse of white snow she thinks to herself that maybe when her black hair is as white as the snow he will then pay attention to her. It really helped me relate to and understand the depth of feeling of the piece.
It is important to understand the meaning of the words in sankyoku to properly express it. Very lucky to have someone to help you with that.
The words are of course open to interpretation- definitely based on a woman's unrequited love for a man- i always though took it as more of a one (or two) time affair, with a broken promise to be together (tsuma ja to iute) rather than actually having a marriage occur. Given alot of jiuta pieces are from a geisha's(or courtesan's) POV (mama no kawa, chaondo, kaji makura, etc.) and dealing with the fickleness of men, it seems to fit right in here as well. Somehow more tragic.
Compare the words to "Yuki" as well- i almost think of Yuki as Kurokami 20 years later, with the leaving the world buddhist theme more pronounced. There are translations of both on Komuso.com.
http://www.komuso.com/pieces/Kurokami.html
http://www.komuso.com/pieces/Yuki.html
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