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.
A place to find Shakuahchi info and players in the greater Phoenix AZ area.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Next Gathering, Saturday 28 May at 10:00 AM
Friday, April 22, 2011
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
Thursday, April 21, 2011
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.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
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.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Shakuhachi Flute Lessons for Beginners : How to Play the Shakuhachi Flute
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Next Gathering is 23 April at 10:00 AM
Contact me if you'd like to join us, there's no cost and again everybody is welcome.
Monday, April 4, 2011
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!
The link (URL) to the site has changed. it's now http://phoenixazshakuhachi.blogspot.com/
Best wishes,
Chuck
Sunday, April 3, 2011
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
The link to this new forum is http://www.shakuhachiforum.eu/index.php
The old forum http://shakuhachiforum.com/ is now an archive only site. Posting has been disabled but the archives are available to all.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
What Phoenix AZ Shakuhachi Friends is and is not!
- 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.
- A place where you’ll receive lessons from a professional shakuhachi teacher.
- A place that should be your only source of shakuhachi learning.
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