Ronin

Through Zen, martial arts, aikido, and guitar, I have very clear understanding about the importance of having a teacher.  A teacher does not just demonstrate technique, but they recognize the process that the student is going through.  Having navigated that path before, and seen the challenges, the teacher can help the student steer their way.  Sometimes they prodding, sometimes they demonstrate, sometimes they just step back and let the expreience unfold.

Studying anything, without a teacher is difficult.  Studying the shakuhachi seems doubly so.  With so many technical details, both gross and subtle, it is hard to know where to focus.

Although I am making good use of the Taniguchi book "How to Play the Shakuhachi", I know it is not the same.  There are questions I just can't answer in this method.

I know that the my breath needs work, as does my embrochure. 

In the end I am going to have to make a priority of having a teacher.  Unfortunately, given the nature of life right now, that means saving up.  For the moment, I am appreciative of what I have, and I am learning.

Early Christmas

I have been playing on a Levenson 2.1 since I began playing the Shakuhachi.  Check out my first post for the backstory.

This year I got an early Christmas present from my wife and my mother;  a Shakuhachi Yuu,  an instructional book by Yoshinobu Taniguchi, and a cleaning cloth.

This is going to be of great benefit to my practice regime.  Taniguchi Sensei's book comes with sheet music and a CD.  Now that I have a shakuhachi tuned to the most common key, there is a lot I can play along with.

Having exchanged gifts with my Mom last night, I returned to use her sewing room today and made a bag out of some nice twill remnants that she had.  I am getting better at sewing, and the whole thing came out pretty well.

So as I set out to enjoy two weeks of for the Christmas break I have no end of opportunity to play.  Between now and New Year, I intend to set out some resolutions for practice in 2011.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ready for Ro

It has been a difficult week or so at work.  In fact, it has been the worst week emotionally that I have ever had in my career.  I have missed Aikido and been thrown off of my entire schedule.  Things will be fine, and are in fact much better than they felt when they unfolded.

In the midst of all of this, practicing shakuhachi has been a great anchor.  In many ways, almost as valuable as zazen.  I am making a point of doing Ro-Buki for ten minutes at the start of each session, trusting in the advice of those who have walked this path before me.  I am starting to touch a point where notes in Kan don't feel so difficult to produce, but are not particularly steady.

This weekend I will be starting with a new practice book.  Actually, it will be my first.  My birthday closely follows Christmas, and when I was asked by my wife and mother what I wanted, I said "money for lessons".  The one lesson I had last year was a Skype lesson from Michael Chikuzen Gould.  I will return to him for a series of lessons in the new year.

One more day of work before a greatly needed vacation.  It is sure to be filled with rest, play and family.

Loose Ends

Last year I had one of my former students interested in making a PVC shakuhachi.  Unfortunately our time rarely lined up at school at the project stalled just as summer come around.  We still have to tune and drill.  This year was no better, but with CHristmas approaching I went down to the shop and picked up where we left off.

Things were a bit of a mess, but with some work, I repaired what damage neglect had done and should be able to finish before we break for Christmas.

Reworking my practice

I am making some changes to my technical practice. I am developing shakuhachi as art practice, but as beginner, I need to put good time into learning the technical skills. Add in the fact that I am doing this without a teacher (such is my karma for now), and I will just have to do my best to improve, without developing too many bad habits*.

*specifically, I know my embrochure needs some work, as does my tongue placement on octave changes.

For the next couple of weeks, this is what I have...

Ro

Ostsu fingering per long tones X2

Meri / Kari / Yuri exercises

Finger dexterity drill

Kimigayo
Sakura
God Save the Queen
We wish you a merry Christmas
Improv.

In two weeks I get an early Christmas present: A shakuhachi Yuu and an instructional book/CD. The Yu will let me play along with a lot of tracks that I have notation for but can't manage to play along, since my main flute is in 'B'. As well the instructional book has quite a few songs that I will then be able to learn. I look forward to start work on my first honkyoku in the new year.

Settling In

This is not the first time I started blog for my shakuhachi practice. However, much like my Zen practice, the longer I keep at it, the more it gets under my skin. The longer I keep at it, the more I want to play.

my current practice routine.

1. Blowing long tones with each note in Otsu.
2. Octave changes.
3. Repeats (up and down Otsu X2)
4. Trills (up and down Otsu X2)
5. head movement drills -meri, kari, in and out, muwashi

Kimigayo X2
Sakura X2
God Save the Queen* X2
Kagome Kagome X2
We Wish You a Merry Christmas* X2

* I like these because they are getting me used to utilizing Meri.


In a couple of weeks I will be getting a Shakuhachi Yuu and a book that I will be working from, at least in terms the songs, if not the exercises. I am looking forward to it.

How it began

I do not come from a musical background. Although I play some guitar, ukulele, mountain dulcimer and sing, I have not had any real musical training. Music however, is a big part of my life. I don't just hear it, I feel it. I love it. I sing to the world and world sings back.

I was introduced to the shakuhachi by my friend Walter Murray Lobb in 2008. I only knew Walt for a year, but he and I shared a lot of interests. I met Walt at my Aikido dojo. I was a brown belt then and Walt was a black belt who knew my teacher and was getting back into the art. We were both school teachers and both had an interest in Japanese culture.

During the year I knew Walt, he retired from teaching and was looking to shake up his life a bit. He decided to move from Ontario to British Columbia (Central to Western Canada). He did not want to bring a lot of his old stuff with him, so before he left he gave me a bunch of albums and a bamboo shakuhachi in a cloth bag.

I couldn't get it to make a sound, but it looked cool, so I put it on a sword stand in my mediation room. And there it sat; a reflection of the amount of thought I was giving it. Walt moved away and began his retirement that fall. Then, on January 1st, 2009 Walt committed suicide.

I don't know much about what happened, and I have had to rely on some friends who live out there who did not really know Walt, but some told me that he had been suffering psychologically. I can't know this for sure, but I know he was a kind and gentle man.

After Walt's death, a dark haze formed for me around that shakuhachi. Walt and I shared a lot of interests. For me, the things we had in common were very nourishing. These are some of the parts of my life that feed my spirit and help me to see the world as an open and free playground (even though the sand box is often wet and full of cat poop). It was sad to think that the same experiences that fed me, did not help to sate his needs or sense of seeking. However, the details and truths of Walt's life and struggles are largely unknown to me, so I can't really put too much weight into any thought about the traditional questions of why he is gone. Regardless, I miss him and am saddened by his loss.

At some point I developed a feeling that I needed to learn to play Walt's shakuhachi. I didn't even know if it could be played. In a spiritual and intuitive (rather than logical) way, I wanted to play that instrument to heal Walt. Yes, time is linear, and that does not make logical sense, but to my heart it is as clear as the breaking dawn. As well, in setting the intention to play; an intention that came from the gift and the tragedy; Walt's impact on my life became much greater than that suggested by the amount of the time I knew him.

I took the shakuhachi to my Zen teacher, Jay Rinsen Weik, at the Toledo Zen Center. Rinsen plays and has taken lessons with Michael Chikuzen Gould. He took it, played a few notes, handed it back and said "yeah it's good". Taking it from him, I played Ro and got my first clear sound. (yeah, I know, zen magic! lol)

I dug around on the internet, found some stuff, joined shakuhachi BBQ, built some PVC versions and took a lesson via Skype with Michael Chikuzen Gould.

I also did some research into my "new" instrument. It turned out that my shakuhachi is a 2.1 student shakuhachi, made by Monty Levenson. Based on my conversations with him, it is likely that it was built in the early to mid 1970's. Although it is well bound, I consider it a testimony to Mr. Levenson's work that it is in excellent condition, even though it was not properly stored or cared for (possibly) up to 35 years.

That is pretty much the story so far. As I type this, Christmas is approaching and I will soon be playing a shakuhachi yuu and working from some new instructional materials. Regular lessons would be great, but it does not fit financially into my life right now. So although I can't give this process a lot of money right now, I can give it time.

I am playing each day. Working on technique, reviewing my notes from my one online lesson, and trying my best to learn rhythm and notation.

As a beginning player, I am not blogging to instruct. I know I am diving into a very large and unfamiliar ocean. I hope that maintaining this blog will be part of my motivation for playing. With time, effort and sincere intention, maybe something beautiful will grow from Walt's gift. If fortune is kind, it might even seed itself.