Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Hey there,

One of the things that I believe messes people up is that when they play in kan, they tend to get a little bit "too" close to the utaguchi.  If you practice hard enough, you can play meri or Kari by changing the embouchure alone (although I dont think this method is recommended).  It could perhaps be an issue with the bore of the flute.  I know that when I switched from a 2.4 to a 1.8 and try to play the kan notes in meri, it became much easier, but on the wider bore , I found it more difficult.  Also, make sure you arent blowing "harder" to get the kan notes, you should try to just make the air more pressurized.  With good diaphragm control, you can unlock many secrets.  : )   good luck!

Amokrun asked

Can you play Tsu Meri in both Otsu and Kan without changing the angle of the flute or the way you cover the hole or is there some kind of secret to this that nobody told me?

Yes, you should be able to play both without changing the angle of the flute or the way you are covering the holes.  There's no secret except except consistent practice and the fact that you should try and narrow your airstream when playing kan, as Shinkage Ryu noted.

Last edited by Daniel Ryudo (2007-07-13 03:42:58)

Hi Amok,

amokrun wrote:

Greetings,

Is there something special you need to do with Meri on Kan or am I just unconsciously changing the way I play so that despite the chin tilt I still get the same Kari notes?

A chin tilt is what most people consider to be the thing that flattens a pitch but what really should be happening is the embouchure should be closing down so that the the utaguchi and lip gap is smaller. Many experience players meri with a tilt to the side as opposed to the front because that gets the lips closer into one of the side edges of the utaguchi as opposed to the middle. Try pushing your lips into the flute to meri instead of tilting your head and see what happens.

Another question on the same topic is about notes like Tsu Meri where you open a hole only slightly. Is there something special that needs to be done on a 1.8 flute when you play Tsu Meri in Kan? I can't really produce any sound whatsoever - not even a bad one - if I try to play the note the same way I play it in Otsu. On a large bore 2.5 I can actually get Tsu Meri no Kan almost right thanks to the holes being so big that it's much easier to get the meri right while still leaving the hole open enough. On 1.8 it just doesn't happen. I need to open up the hole almost to the point where it gets closer to Tsu Chu Meri and then it sounds both funny and sad at the same time.

I remember hearing from my teachers that the my Tsu meri should be flatter when I was first taking lessons. It took a long time to develope the technique to produce the proper pitch and tone color on any flute.

Can you play Tsu Meri in both Otsu and Kan without changing the angle of the flute or the way you cover the hole or is there some kind of secret to this that nobody told me?

Thank you in advance.

It is not a matter of doing the same thing and blowing harder. Each flute is different and behaves accordingly. It's a matter of finding how your flutes likes it to be played. Here is MY secret on how to get a good Tsu Meri.:

Start by working on your Kan no Tsu so that you can play it loud and confidently. Make it last as long as you can, 30 seconds at least. When you can consistently do this, start to meri the pitch to the flattest pitch possible without covering hole #1. As you work on this, you will notice that the pitch will go flatter and flatter as time goes by. When you feel you have reached the flattest , confident Tsu, it is then that you should add your finger. Add it slowly during the middle of a breath and you will feel how the flutes wants it to be played. You'll have to pay attention to find the balance between how much hole coverage and how much to push or pull back on the embouchure pressure. It may be that only a quarter or half  holing is all that t needs to bring it to proper pitch and desired tone color.

I hope this makes sense.
Good luck, Perry

Last edited by Yungflutes (2007-07-13 21:36:19)

Yungflutes wrote:

Start by working on your Kan no Tsu so that you can play it loud and confidently. Make it last as long as you can, 30 seconds at least. When you can consistently do this, start to meri the pitch to the flattest pitch possible without covering hole #1. As you work on this, you will notice that the pitch will go flatter and flatter as time goes by. When you feel you have reached the flattest , confident Tsu, it is then that you should add your finger. Add it slowly during the middle of a breath and you will feel how the flutes wants it to be played. You'll have to pay attention to find the balance between how much hole coverage and how much to push or pull back on the embouchure pressure. It may be that only a quarter or half  holing is all that t needs to bring it to proper pitch and desired tone color.

Thanks for the idea as well as thanks to everyone for all the tips. On our last lesson my teacher mentioned that I tend to cover the hole in Tsu Meri too much and thus it becomes hard to play it like that in Kan. Once I started to bend my neck more and cover the hole less I started to get a better Tsu Meri in Kan. It is still far from perfect but at least I can get it and the pitch comes out right.

As for going back and forth between the same note in both octaves, I do that practice every day. It has been one of the things I do the most apart from playing pieces. Very useful thing which I recommend to everyone. It is very hard to get it right for notes like Ri/Hi and I.

axolotl wrote:

Perry, Tairaku, et al, could you elaborate on the meri side-tilt technique?

The best way to grok this is to watch someone do it; in this case, Tairaku, playing 'Kyushu Reibo':


         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQl0pjipzVk


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