Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

J Ross · 2011-01-07 15:46:29

I'm trying to find as much shakuhachi related material as I can at my local libraries,online and through ebay,etc. I have been able to secure Ray Brook's book "Blowing Zen",the Tai Hei catalog from Monty's company and have printed out enough articles and music to fill a decent sized binder.
But I see that there are some nice books out there that might expand my knowledge. The only issue is money.I'm saving to buy a few more books and in the mean time am curious what is considered a shakuhachi "bible" of sorts.

What is the consensus of the Annals of the International Shakuhachi Society volumes? Are they worth the higher price to purchase and should they be essential books for a player?

Any other "must have" books that everyone sort of agrees with? I know the question is relative to each taste but perhaps there are some books I'm not seeing online.

Thanks for all of your help folks. This journey is really enjoyable!

Jim
じぇいむず

Yuusui · 2011-01-07 16:09:32

Monty recently had them on sale, so I picked them both up. They are big hardcover books filled with lots of articles and music. I would definitely recommend them.

dstone · 2011-01-07 16:45:33

Reading good.
Lessons better
Blowing best.
Do all if you can $wing it.
Otherwise just blow.

Good luck!

Edit: Sorry, that was flippant. My review of the Annals: Great books, packs a lot into two nicely bound volumes. Good to curl up with. Cross schools and topics. Relatively few English publications on our obscure art, so might as well get them after the lessons and basics are taken care of.

Last edited by dstone (2011-01-07 16:46:59)

edosan · 2011-01-07 18:04:21

Put your money into lessons. The books are nice, indeed, but they will do little to improve your playing, compared to what a good teacher will do.

airin · 2011-01-07 21:15:31

As already emphasized, lessons are the best investment. I have the first of the two annals ... I rarely refer to it and found it only moderately impressive.

airin · 2011-01-07 21:22:51

In fact, if you still have money after lessons are paid for, lemne know, I'll sell you my barely used annal. :-)

J Ross · 2011-01-07 22:33:37

airin wrote:
In fact, if you still have money after lessons are paid for, lemne know, I'll sell you my barely used annal. :-)

Hehe. Thanks Erin. I appreciate the offer! For now, it is going to be lessons taking the limited funds. I found a few used copies as well online so they are out there in addition to yours. I just have yet to thumb through them and discern if they are essential. I have been sent a few emails that they are good and eventually I will buy them .Never hurts to ask around though,especially here with so many knowledgeable folks !!

Jim

Josh · 2011-01-08 08:42:34

I would say they're worth it. They are books I keep coming back to again and again. If it's a bible you are looking for, check out Dr. Riley Lee's site. He put his whole Phd dissertation up there! Very detailed, and I'm still not sure why it hasn't been published into a solid boook. It is definately worth paying for, but then again from a publisher's standpoint maybe there just aren't enough of us otaku nut jobs out there who are willing to pay for it. Maybe a good way to pay for it and show appreciation for Riley's hard work wuld be by buying a CD from him

edosan · 2011-01-08 12:29:15

Josh wrote:
Maybe a good way to pay for it and show appreciation for Riley's hard work wuld be by buying a CD from him

Or perhaps 4 or 5; he needs the scratch right now...

" I would say they're worth it."

Maybe, but keep in mind that Dr. Smith is a very experienced player, with years of lessons and woodshedding under his belt; still better at this
point to put YOUR resources into playing/learning, first hand, rather than reading words in books, they will always be available (and Dr. Lee's thesis
is indeed published, but it mostly resides in a dusty library stack somewhere, and I second Josh's recommendation) in the future.

Last edited by edosan (2011-01-08 12:33:43)

Tairaku 太楽 · 2011-01-08 17:41:26

Riley's thesis has been published in book form, I have a copy right here. Good read. I think the Annals are well worth it.

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2011-01-07 15:46:29

International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#2 2011-01-07 16:09:32

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#3 2011-01-07 16:45:33

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#4 2011-01-07 18:04:21

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#5 2011-01-07 21:15:31

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#6 2011-01-07 21:22:51

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#7 2011-01-07 22:33:37

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

airin wrote:

#8 2011-01-08 08:42:34

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

#9 2011-01-08 12:29:15

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

Josh wrote:

#10 2011-01-08 17:41:26

Re: International Shakuhachi Annals 1 & 2-Worth the price?

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