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#26 2009-04-09 23:39:10

chikuzen
Dai Shihan/Dokyoku
From: Cleveland Heights,OH 44118
Registered: 2005-10-24
Posts: 402
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

I have an addictive personality which means I can only do a few things at a time but I can do them all day. So, if I get started in the right direction, like picking up the shakuhachi, then it snowballs. The instant I begin to play shakuhachi I forget about everything else, including time, of course. It's not something I think about as being difficult or something I have to force myself to do. I do get much inspiration from watching other musicians play. Seeing how much it's a part of them thru and thru; watching them "lose themselves"in what their doing. That's always an objective in my practice so I do what I really want to do to achieve that. Then, I do what I really have to do. But sometimes I start out doing what I really have to do and then lose myself in that and it becomes what I really want to do. I spend some of my practice time making shakuhachi connect with the rest of my life. That inspires me to play. I think that connecting shakuhachi to your life is very important from the early days of playing. When my son was young, I played a lot of simple things; songs he could hear and like and songs inspired by his existence in my life. It was the natural and easy thing to do. You can take one, or two notes and play them and try to make a connection with something in your life of like energy. A painting, a tree, a thought, a feeling, an intuition. I think music in a vacuum is harmful. Connecting with something animate is easier; something alive. This is like nature honkyoku music. You don't have to wait till you've learned 20 songs to start this. You should do it from the beginning but keep doing it as you develop more skills. Then shakuhachi can reflect your relationships with things in this world. 

We are all space and time challenged. I have a calendar and schedule book to keep me disciplined in a timely manner.  I have the experiences of playing shakuhachi to keep me "self" disciplined. From meditation arises one view of the world and self and from shakuhachi arises another view. An audible view of the self.  It's an experience that inspires me. The "self referential" aspect of experiential shakuhachi. I find it amazing yet natural that I can be part of this finding of oneself and the world yet creating oneself and the world at the same time using a shakuhachi. Remembering these things is one way I get myself to practice.

Last edited by chikuzen (2009-04-10 11:26:43)


Michael Chikuzen Gould

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#27 2009-04-10 14:21:12

axolotl
Member
From: Los Angeles
Registered: 2007-11-16
Posts: 215
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

I'm with chikuzen.  If I play shakuhachi, my mind doesn't wander, or at least, it only wanders in the worlds of music.  This is why I like hiking, too.  Perhaps wander is a decent thing to do when playing music or hiking; in the frantic pace of daily life, our minds (at least mine) tends to...I don't know, fritter, and try to multitask, or worry.  Shakuhachi narrows it down to two things: getting that tone right, and then enjoying the process.  I do skip days when I run out of time or have to do something (i.e. take my mom to Disneyland), but I try to get at least 30 minutes in daily.  I think there were some points made about discipline within one's practice, and that is important, but the beauty for me about shakuhachi is that, with most all wind instruments, even long tones are beneficial.  Er, what I'm trying to say is even if the music is packed away or one can't stand to slog through notation, there's always Ro.

Last edited by axolotl (2009-04-10 14:21:53)

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#28 2009-04-10 21:32:51

Jeff Cairns
teacher, performer,promoter of shakuhachi
From: Kumamoto, Japan
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 517
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Excellent point Michael.


shakuhachi flute
I step out into the wind
with holes in my bones

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#29 2009-04-29 10:32:29

Vevolis
Member
From: Toronto, ON
Registered: 2007-12-24
Posts: 175
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

This one might sound silly… but read a book.

I’ve convinced myself that I don’t have enough time in the day to practice Shakuhachi, compose music, go to work, exercise, walk, feed and evacuate the various animals around my house and cook and clean and spend time with my wife. All of these are cluttered and I never spend enough time focusing on the ones that are meaningful to me (aside from work, but I don’t really have a choice in the matter 

A friend simply suggested “read a book everyday”. I'm used to reading snippets of emails and documents and articles to fast forward to get answers at work to reach deadlines, but I never really absorb anything because my cognitive abilities aren’t nourished and as such, my life follows suit. Everything is done in fragments, my memory works in fragments and I am unable to retain information.

I’ve been reading a book every day for two weeks now. It’s now a discipline. Everything else I do seems to be more disciplined. When someone calls at work and says “this is so and so from such and such and I'm calling about this and that” when I reach the end of the office to relay the message, I don’t actually forget who called as much. I thought I had terrible short term memory.

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#30 2009-06-27 03:25:57

Jason Castner
Member
From: binghamton, ny
Registered: 2007-12-19
Posts: 80

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

I keep a flute near my bed..actually like 10 flutes..  I keep a flute in my vehicle...actually like 4 or 5 flutes.  I keep a flute in my moms and dads house..just one...  I keep a flute at my brothers and sisterin laws house..just one..  I keep a flute at my friends houses..just one..   then no matter where I go there is a flute..

I play in my van at stop lights that r to long.  I play while driving but just a couple notes as on hand is on the wheel.  I play before bed and when i wake up.  I play at my friends houses when I am bored of listening to them talk.. ;0

even if its only 10 minutes of playing here and there it adds up fast all through the day on a normal day.  other days I play for a couple hours or more because those days arent busy and i love playing.  occasionally I dont play at all but that is rare and I must be busy fighting off demons or somthing..lol

oh, Im not rich I only have a couple shakuhachi I bought.  I made the rest.


north south east and rest of my life...I'm single but the Tao is my wife?

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#31 2009-07-02 18:44:54

Ryuzen
Dokyoku (Daishihan); Zensabo
From: Maderia Park, BC, Canada
Registered: 2005-10-08
Posts: 104
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

For me, feeling in the moment is the best motivation for me to practice. I make a special place and time (in the early morning when it's quiet.) I want to immerse myself in the moment and feel the beauty of it. Playing the honkyoku creates a deeper moment. To explore honkyoku and bamboo by playing it and contemplating it in that special time and place is a great feeling. So, playing every day is not a chore, but joy.

I give my students a lot to practice so, that is also a great motivation to practice until their next lesson. Studying with a qualified teacher is important in developing a proper way to practice as well, since one who has never studied with a teacher most likely develop bad habits. If you REALLY want to make time to practice you will find it.

Being a musician as a profession, having a gig also makes it imperative to practice and rehearse. You don't want to disappoint the band or the audience!

Alcvin
www.bamboo-in.com


I live a shakuhachi life.

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#32 2010-02-26 11:00:16

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

andyshak wrote:

This will surely give you some reason to practice and improve.

Or to commit seppuku, whichever...


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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#33 2010-02-26 11:48:22

lowonthetotem
Member
From: Cape Coral, FL
Registered: 2008-04-05
Posts: 529
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Everyone is getting just a little too "zen" for me on this one.  Am I the only one who plays shakuhachi for the chicks?


"Turn like a wheel inside a wheel."

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#34 2010-02-26 12:08:59

baian
Member
Registered: 2006-03-28
Posts: 83

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

shakuhachi is a babe magnet?  who knew ?

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#35 2010-02-26 12:50:48

purehappiness
Member
From: Connecticut USA
Registered: 2009-01-13
Posts: 528

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

my wife doesn't think so. sad


I was not conscious whether I was riding on the wind or the wind was riding on me.

Lieh-tzu

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#36 2010-02-26 20:00:36

geni
Performer & Teacher
From: Boston MA
Registered: 2005-12-21
Posts: 830
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

I did play it for the chicks. Now I am married!!

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#37 2010-03-01 10:03:17

Christopher B.
Member
From: Berlin, Germany
Registered: 2009-03-17
Posts: 235
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Practice Daily? I have some big pictures of my favorite pieces in my guestroom and every day when I wake up I see theese pictures and so I always be in practice tongue


In reality it is Ha,Ro,Ha,Ro... ~Sensei~
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do you know that life is a dream? Cause there is a way to wake up!
http://naturalbreath.wordpress.com/

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#38 2010-03-01 16:16:31

Lodro
Member
From: Australia
Registered: 2009-04-02
Posts: 105

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Now that I can play all 5 notes there's really no need to practice much anymore - although I'll probably need to get that 5b so that I can play the blues properly tongue


Each part of the body should be connected to every other part.

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#39 2010-03-01 21:49:08

axolotl
Member
From: Los Angeles
Registered: 2007-11-16
Posts: 215
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Vevolis wrote:

This one might sound silly… but read a book.

I’ve convinced myself that I don’t have enough time in the day to practice Shakuhachi, compose music, go to work, exercise, walk, feed and evacuate the various animals around my house and cook and clean and spend time with my wife. All of these are cluttered and I never spend enough time focusing on the ones that are meaningful to me (aside from work, but I don’t really have a choice in the matter 

A friend simply suggested “read a book everyday”. I'm used to reading snippets of emails and documents and articles to fast forward to get answers at work to reach deadlines, but I never really absorb anything because my cognitive abilities aren’t nourished and as such, my life follows suit. Everything is done in fragments, my memory works in fragments and I am unable to retain information.

I’ve been reading a book every day for two weeks now. It’s now a discipline. Everything else I do seems to be more disciplined. When someone calls at work and says “this is so and so from such and such and I'm calling about this and that” when I reach the end of the office to relay the message, I don’t actually forget who called as much. I thought I had terrible short term memory.

Yes, yes, yes.  One can even read books on one's smartphone.  I am guilty of skimming websites, when a book is so much more pleasurable.

And there are some damn good books about learning shakuhachi, like Ray Brooks'!  (I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire at the moment--not that it is a shakuhachi related book at all)

Reading is a great way to relax and center the mind.  I don't know if it helps with practice of shakuhachi, but a relaxed mind is always good.

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#40 2010-03-02 06:42:44

purehappiness
Member
From: Connecticut USA
Registered: 2009-01-13
Posts: 528

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

I am rereading "zen mind Beginners mind" by shunryu suzuki roshi right now. I have found that his chapters are just perfect for quick reading. Each chapter is only about two or three pages and in ten minutes or so you are through one. Great for people with a tight schedule.

Last edited by purehappiness (2010-03-02 06:47:33)


I was not conscious whether I was riding on the wind or the wind was riding on me.

Lieh-tzu

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#41 2010-03-10 04:59:11

radi0gnome
Member
From: Kingston NY
Registered: 2006-12-29
Posts: 1030
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Lodro wrote:

Now that I can play all 5 notes there's really no need to practice much anymore - although I'll probably need to get that 5b so that I can play the blues properly tongue

Yes, but then when you're bored you will go and learn the other notes. When you do, every song in the world is theoretically playable. That's when the songs double-dog-dare you by sticking in your head and you are never left without anything to practice ever again.


"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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#42 2010-03-10 06:07:27

purehappiness
Member
From: Connecticut USA
Registered: 2009-01-13
Posts: 528

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

YOU WILL WANT MORE. smile smile smile


I was not conscious whether I was riding on the wind or the wind was riding on me.

Lieh-tzu

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#43 2010-03-10 17:48:54

Lodro
Member
From: Australia
Registered: 2009-04-02
Posts: 105

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

radi0gnome wrote:

Yes, but then when you're bored you will go and learn the other notes.

There are other notes?!!?


Each part of the body should be connected to every other part.

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#44 2010-03-11 00:21:14

chikuzen
Dai Shihan/Dokyoku
From: Cleveland Heights,OH 44118
Registered: 2005-10-24
Posts: 402
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

A couple things might help:


1. I have several flutes that I love. They call out to me every day. I can't ignore them.

2. There are many songs that I love. Why? Because they let me understand and bond with my flutes better and make me use myself more and more.

3. Yourself. When you have #1 & #2, your total concentration happens with ease. #1 & #2 above make complete concentration simple. When that happens, a lot is revealed.

So, Get a flute that you love. Get a song that you love. Be natural.


Michael Chikuzen Gould

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#45 2010-03-11 00:38:32

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

chikuzen wrote:

Be natural.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6453/mrnatural.jpg


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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#46 2010-03-11 01:01:15

Karmajampa
Member
From: Aotearoa (NZ)
Registered: 2006-02-12
Posts: 574
Website

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Michael wrote;
"Music in a vacuum is harmful"

I'm gonna try that !

K.


Kia Kaha !

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#47 2010-03-11 06:41:48

purehappiness
Member
From: Connecticut USA
Registered: 2009-01-13
Posts: 528

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Ten faults in kyudo from “zen bow,zen arrow” by john stevens

Under the chapter teachings of awa kenzo

1.    Concern about speed of the arrow.
2.    Attachment to set patterns.
3.    Fixation on theory.
4.    Concern about the quality of the bow and arrow.
5.    Worry about results.
6.    Concern about being skillful.
7.    Worry about what others think.
8.    Trying to be enlightened.
9.    Being self satisfied.
10.    Shooting as amusing diversion.

These could be easily used when playing shakuhachi. In a general sense.


I was not conscious whether I was riding on the wind or the wind was riding on me.

Lieh-tzu

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#48 2010-03-11 07:36:31

purehappiness
Member
From: Connecticut USA
Registered: 2009-01-13
Posts: 528

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

In other words be natural. Like chikuzen has said.


I was not conscious whether I was riding on the wind or the wind was riding on me.

Lieh-tzu

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#49 2010-03-12 09:25:59

purehappiness
Member
From: Connecticut USA
Registered: 2009-01-13
Posts: 528

Re: How do you get yourself to practice regularly?

Another quote from awa kensho’s book. It makes me want to go play. 

As you draw the bow, let go of your desires, and manifest your inner nature. Your real nature is the buddah nature. Buddah nature has no increase, no decrease, no birth, no death. When the bow is fully drawn, you and the bow should be one. You and your spirit should be one as you face the target. This is the state of “within each shot see your nature”.

Of course, shakuhachi should be substitued for bow in this quote.


I was not conscious whether I was riding on the wind or the wind was riding on me.

Lieh-tzu

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