Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Not everyone uses that fingering. For instance, I usually don't do any of the partial holing.
On a ni yon go no ha (a ha 2 4 5) you may have to adjust your head a bit to get the pitch right depending on the specific flute.
High notes like that should be held back rather than crudely blasted out, but you have to have the power first, then the restraint. It requires a strong embouchure, ie lots of practice.

BrianP wrote:

I am trying to refine my HA in Choshi and as I understand it the note is made by 1/4 holing 2,4 and covering 1/2 of the bottom of the 5th hole with the thumb and playing MERI.  Can anyone offer me any tips to getting a fuller note and is the fingering above correct?  Any tips or excerises are appreciated.

Brian

Hi Brian, That's a popular way of fingering HA. But do keep in mind that a proper combination of shading, holing and meri has to be "found" for the ideal  tone color and pitch. I think of #2 and #4 as shaded since I'm using the sides of my fingers to do this. Some flutes require more shading, some less. And, as Nyokai pointed out, not everyone plays it that way.

The Ha in CHOSHI precedes RO, a very common shakuhachi riff - Ha Ro. In this usage, Ha may sound softer to uninitiated ears because Ro is the anchoring note. But, a better way to think about it (or hear it) is that Ha is just "darker".  Visualizing the music may help. Try seeing Ha as a bit of light coming into a dark room from a door that is slightly ajar. When it swings open, it's Ro.  It can be dramatic or sublime. It's much like Tsu Meri Ro. Make sure the pitch of Ha is the same as Ri - #4.

As for getting a fuller tone during a Meri, I would close down my embouchure hole and get it closer to a corner of one blowing edge as opposed to the middle of the utaguchi dip. This gives me a flatter Meri. Meriing more and opening the tone holes will give you more volume. However, doing this and getting back up to Ro takes more effort, it always comes down to practice.


Enjoy the discoveries, Perry

BrianP wrote:

Nyokai:
What way do you play HA?  If no partial holing then...

Ah, from Perry's message I get that you mean the ha in ha-ro, not a high ha.

My previous message still holds in this context, except for the stuff about not blasting out high notes.
I think of ha-ro as a unit, rather than as a ha and then a ro. For the ha part of a ha-ro, head very low (I don't do any explicit partial holing on this either, though my 2, 4, and 5 fingers are close to the holes). Bring your head up smoothly and quickly as you put down the fingers for a ro. Ha-ro is actually a difficult technique to execute well, and I would highly recommend an in-person session with a teacher to get the sense of this.

Thanks.  I am going to be visiting with Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin in Baltimore and also attending his 4 day camp in July for some one on one.  I am just trying to get the technique pretty close until then.  I really appreciate the help. I just wish I had a teacher here in Florida.

Thanks!
Brian

I am scheduled to take lesons from Dale in the fall.  He is occupied until then.  I am looking forward to being able to take lessons closer.  Thanks for the heads up.

Brian