Next Gathering, Saturday 28 May at 10:00 AM

 

The next gathering of Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends will be Sunday 28 May. Shakuhachi players of all levels are welcome, even if you've never played but are simply interested in knowing more about the shakuhachi come join us.
Contact me if you'd like to join us, there's no cost and again everybody is welcome.

Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos Tsuru no Sugomoris at Phil Gelb's dinner series

One of Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos’s Tsuru no Sugomoris at Phil Gelb's dinner series, April 16, 2011

Technorati Tags: Video,Shakuhachi

Komuso Zen Priest Playing Shakuhachi

Komuso Zen Priest Playing Shakuhachi

Play Meris Lower… Lower…

Most new players don’t get meri note low enough. So this 101 tip is to take time in your practice and work on bending you note lower and lower.

If you’ve got a tuner, great use that to see where you  are, how low you’ve gotten. You need to get to the point where you can move to a meri note and feel it naturally. Most meri notes will not be as full sounding as a natural note but during your practice concentrate not just on pitch but keep in mind the note’s quality. Play them until you get the most beautiful note you can get, low, a bit breathy and even by its self, a beautiful sound.

Technorati Tags: 101,shakuhachi,tips,Phoenix,Arizona

Tuner App For Android Devices

gStrings is a chromatic tuner application for android. It will let you tune any musical instrument, such as the violin, viola, violoncello, bass, guitar, piano and wind instruments. Its free as in free beer, available for download through the android market.

Also here’s the creators web site: http://www.cohortor.org/gstrings/Documentation.html

I’ve been using it and its as good as my KORG TM-40 tuner.

Shakuhachi Flute Lessons for Beginners : How to Play the Shakuhachi Flute

As I find Shakuhachi videos I’ll start adding them here and here’s our first.

Next Gathering is 23 April at 10:00 AM

The next gathering of Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends will be 23 April. Shakuhachi players of all levels are welcome, even if you've never played but are simply interested in knowing more about the shakuhachi come join us.

Contact me if you'd like to join us, there's no cost and again everybody is welcome.

Shakuhachi glossary, Meri & Kari

Kari, in shakuhachi music, is both a property of a note and a technique. To play a note kari means to play it with raised pitch, relative to playing the note meri. In addition to sharpening the pitch, playing a note kari also modifies the tone color or timbre of a note.
The usual technique to play a note kari is to raise the chin, increasing the angle and distance between the embouchure and utaguchi (blowing edge).
The opposite of Kari is Meri where the chin is lowered to and the pitch becomes lower.

Site link(URL) changed!

Hello All,

The link (URL) to the site has changed. it's now http://phoenixazshakuhachi.blogspot.com/

Best wishes,
Chuck

Shakuhachi 101, Embouchure

The very first thing to learn about the shakuhachi is embouchure. I believe this because if you can’t even make a bad sound you get discouraged pretty fast.
The general method of making sounds with the shakuhachi is sorta like making sounds with a beer bottle. With a shakuhachi and a beer bottle you’re blowing a stream of air across the far edge of the opening. Many beginners get light headed from blowing the shakuhachi. This tends to happen because the embouchure is too big and inefficient. It takes a lot less air to play than you’d think at first.
Your embouchure should be somewhat like a smile but obviously without completely closing your lips.  The edge you’re blowing across is called the Uta-guchi and the opening in your smile should typically be a little smaller than the cut curved edge.
Also the horizontal slit in your smile should be small vertically, you’re trying to be precise about the air your blowing. If you’re not quite getting it, try watching how you look like in a mirror as you play,
One last tip, most new players, play flat, sometimes to the point that they think the flute is out of tune. Most times it’s not the flute, really! Keep trying to push the tone up or even get a cheap electronic tuner to see where your at.

Shakuhachi 101 Topics

I will be starting up a series of post called “Shakuhachi 101”.
What will be in these posts are not the definitive statement on any of the subjects. The posts will be geared to new players who are looking for a simple very basic overview about the subject. I have no belief that these posting will answer all your questions or even 100% correct by everyone’s interpretation. I hope they will be a value to some.
Chuck

New Shakuhachi Forum

There’s a new Shakuhachi forum. It’s called the ESS Shakuhachi Forum. The ESS Shakuhachi Forum is a place to interact with the world shakuhachi community on a variety of shakuhachi topics.

The link to this new forum is http://www.shakuhachiforum.eu/index.php

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The old forum http://shakuhachiforum.com/  is now an archive only site. Posting has been disabled but the archives are available to all.

What Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends is and is not!

Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends is:

• A place for any level shakuhachi player to share tips and help others.
• A place to get help and support from other shakuhachi players.
• A place to hopefully build some friendships with other players.
• a place where hopefully we can play songs together.

Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends is not:

• A place where you’ll receive lessons from a professional shakuhachi teacher.
• A place that should be your only source of shakuhachi learning.

I truly believe learning to play the shakuhachi on your own is a very difficult path. Even if you can not find a local teacher, I recommend taking lessons with a professional teacher over Skype or some other remote method.
With that said, if the only place you get any help learning the shakuhachi is at our get-togethers, that may be your path and we will do what can be done to help you along.
Best wishes,
Chuck Peck