Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Tairaku 太楽 · 2008-05-18 17:17:43

Steve Lacy recommends playing through the harmonics on every note as a warmup in his book "Findings". Of course he played sax so it's a different situation. But I've been blowing 10 or 20 minutes of harmonics every day. Seems to build up embouchure control.

These are the notes I'm getting on a modern 1.8 in ascending order.

Ro=D, D, A, D, F#, A

Tsu=F, F, F#, D#

Re=G, G, G

Chi=A, A, E

Ri=C, C, G, C

Has anybody else tried this? Obviously the results will be somewhat different between flutes.

philthefluter · 2008-05-18 17:39:27

Woodwind players offer use harmonics as warm ups. They are also used in many pieces. The intervals are always the same:

D to D is one octave.
D to A is a 5th.
A to D is a 4th.
D to F is a minor 3rd.

You can practise going up and down or down and up. It is also a good idea to slur notes of same pitch together:

i.e. alternate between A harmonic and normal Chi. Note how you feel when playing the harmonic as opposed to the real note. Usually we can do with more of the breath pressure needed for the harmonic in the real note.

You can also play some easy tunes like the 'Big Ben' tune.

amokrun · 2008-05-18 17:51:02

Tairaku wrote:
Ro=D, D, A, D, F#, A

This is one of my favourite exercises which I try to do every day, usually right after picking up the flute for the first time. I tend to focus on Ro because there seem to be more notes that you can get this way than with any other base note. Apart from just blowing those in order I also try to jump from one to another while skipping several notes in between. It gets pretty tough to reliably skip two steps, especially if you aren't jumping from or to the lowest one. It is also tricky to keep them all consistent in volume and sound color. Getting the higher notes through brute force is one thing but getting them to not sound forced makes blowing Kan notes seem easy in comparison.

I always wanted to make a short melody that I could play using only a limited number of fingerings as a form of practice. The unfortunate thing is that in many cases the notes that you get from this are just instances of the same note in the next octave. There might be some combination of notes that would produce at least some sort of melody that wouldn't sound just plain horrible. Like you said, the flute used for this would no doubt make a huge difference and such a melody would have to be designed around whatever that particular instrument happens to do. Then again, coming up with a piece that can only be played on the very instrument you are holding could be interesting.

philthefluter · 2008-05-18 19:07:11

Sorry about the errors in previous post.

D to D is one octave.
D to A is a 5th.
A to D is a 4th.
D to F sharp is a major 3rd.
F sharp to A is a minor 3rd.

The daikan fingerings often differ from shakuhachi to shakuhachi. Knowing the harmonics is a good way to work out a alternative fingerings if the ones in fingering charts don't work. Sometimes a harmonic fingering of a higher note will give the required pitch with a little shading. For example, fingering tsu meri will give a good high F on most shakuhachi.

geni · 2008-05-18 20:29:46

there is great book about harmonics & overtones...dont remember the name. It was from a german guy.
I love playing them. I m find them very helpfull.

Bruce Hunter · 2008-05-20 02:11:14

Hi Guys!

Check out the file "AmazingGraceHarmonics" at...

http://www.4shared.com/dir/5131393/30e8 … iSolo.html

YMMV according to your mouth, your flute, your weather, etc.

later...

bamboowind · 2008-06-30 15:06:55

Nice idea.

Thanks!

Bas Nijenhuis · 2009-01-07 08:09:06

geni wrote:
there is great book about harmonics & overtones...dont remember the name. It was from a german guy.
I love playing them. I m find them very helpfull.

I think you mean:

Sigurd Rascher's Top Tones for the Saxophone

Bas

geni · 2009-01-09 19:54:51

yes, that`s the book.

BERTRAND · 2010-01-07 13:41:15

I discovered vocal overtones 30 years ago hearing tibetan monks in India. From this time I practice every morning during twenty minutes in the nada yoga way (which is vocal Ro Buki), and I'm convinced that harmonics are the key to open the secrets of sound. When I began to practice Ro buki with the flute, hearing harmonics became the best way to understand what happens inside the vibration of the instrument, and how to control breath directly WITH THE EARS.

In fact, it was the discovering of Pythagore: the famous Tetratkis, symbol of initiation,
o
o o
o o o
o o o o

is a geometric representation of the first four overtones, numérical key of the "Sphere's harmony" (the frequencies of overtones are in precises numbers relationships: the number of vibrations/second of D at the octave is double than lower D, the A is triple; and the upper D is quadruple.

In practice, harmonics are the inner structure of sound, and the passage to octave on a flute is an harmonic phenomena. So, to practice the discernment of overtones inside the sound of the flute is really a precious exercice, I recommand to everyone wants to really adventure in a deep and flowering Ro Buki or Nada Yoga.

Links:
- about Pythagore (in french): http://www.trouveurdor.com/pythagore.htm ,
- about harmonics and instruments (audio video) http://db.hautetfort.com/archive/2008/0 … iques.html
- about harmonics and voice: (audio video) http://db.hautetfort.com/archive/2008/0 … iques.html

Dominique BERTRAND
http://db.hautetfort.com/archive/2008/0 … ement.html

Last edited by BERTRAND (2010-02-18 08:20:51)

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2008-05-18 17:17:43

What do you know about harmonics?

#2 2008-05-18 17:39:27

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

#3 2008-05-18 17:51:02

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

Tairaku wrote:

#4 2008-05-18 19:07:11

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

#5 2008-05-18 20:29:46

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

#6 2008-05-20 02:11:14

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

#7 2008-06-30 15:06:55

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

#8 2009-01-07 08:09:06

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

geni wrote:

#9 2009-01-09 19:54:51

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

#10 2010-01-07 13:41:15

Re: What do you know about harmonics?

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