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#1 2009-09-02 22:43:08
Ro octaves
Preamble:
-Noob
-I am practicing Ro-buki, Ri-Ro, Mary had a little lamb, and trying to learn Kimigayo.
Question:
-Can Ro (the finger position) be blown in all three octaves? Hitting it in Otsu is going well now, and I am getting better at hitting it when doing Ri-Ro. Hitting it in that higher octave straight off is still quite hard.
"Every day is a good day" -Ummon
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#2 2009-09-03 07:26:27
- Bas Nijenhuis
- Member
- From: Groningen, the Netherlands
- Registered: 2008-10-30
- Posts: 160
- Website
Re: Ro octaves
yes you can hit it in all three octaves, two you seem to have found! the third in dai Kan (very high) is harder mostly then the lower ones.
just keep to it!
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#3 2009-09-03 08:00:03
- radi0gnome
- Member
- From: Kingston NY
- Registered: 2006-12-29
- Posts: 1030
- Website
Re: Ro octaves
Rob Bondy wrote:
Preamble:
-Noob
-I am practicing Ro-buki, Ri-Ro, Mary had a little lamb, and trying to learn Kimigayo.
Question:
-Can Ro (the finger position) be blown in all three octaves? Hitting it in Otsu is going well now, and I am getting better at hitting it when doing Ri-Ro. Hitting it in that higher octave straight off is still quite hard.
The 3rd octave Ro can be fingered with just the thumb hole open, that makes it a little easier and makes it sound a bit less like a harmonic. It's still a tough note to get sounding good though.
"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
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#4 2009-09-03 08:12:45
- Jeff Cairns
- teacher, performer,promoter of shakuhachi
- From: Kumamoto, Japan
- Registered: 2005-10-10
- Posts: 517
- Website
Re: Ro octaves
aside from radi0gnome's advice, the third octave with the thumb open is played in a meri position and typically with less force or strength than ro would be played in the lower octaves. Though the pitches are an octave apart, they are usually thought of as different notes from a timber point of view.
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#5 2009-09-03 15:05:33
Re: Ro octaves
One can get the 3rd RO up by opening the thumb hole but you can also get it by only partially opening the thumb hole(underside of the thumb, please). This allows you an out (closing the thumb a little more) when the pitch is too high or when going from this note to another quickly one can make the transition quicker since you don't have to meri as much. Many many people play this note too high in pitch anyways.
Michael Chikuzen Gould
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