I made this one cool find a little while ago and I thought I'd share it. I like to play while standing a lot of the time, but I didn't like having a music stand out in the living room, nor was I fond of setting it up each time I wanted to play from a score.
And then...
During a trip to Toledo in March, Julie and I were looking at bamboo trays at Target, when we found this little iron cookbook stand.
It fit nicely up on the fireplace mantle and it look goods empty or with a book / score. What I like best is that it is out of the way and at the right height. It was very neat to find it at a place like Target, especially when it was not something I was looking for.
I had another lesson with Michael Gould this week. He did not introduce any new material in terms of songs, we just worked on tone. It proved to be a very important lesson in terms of developing my consistency in kan.
One of the most important things that Michael has been emphasizing is that there are many variables that affect tone and pitch. Many of these are subtle, if not imperceptible. Mechanics such as the angle of the head, position of the jaw, the position of the flute on the chin, and posture take a long time to become "automatic" in terms of muscle memory. Ultimately, they are not automatic. Rather, the musician learns to feel their way around and through these variables. Beyond the mechanical variables, tone can be affected by temperature, time of day, even what you had for supper. Although there is a mechanical process to learn, it is not a matter of doing X, Y, and Z each time to make sure you get the sound you want. You set out, knowing the variables (as best you can) and then you work with whatever the moment gives you.
Aikido is very much the same way. It is a useful martial art for self defence, but if you practice shihonage and then think "okay, when I get attacked, I will do A and B, then C will happen", well you will disappointed. When dealing with the subtle, we begin to get a sense of the light dusting of chaos that each moment is covered it. Much can happen, so knowing with certainty what will happen is not possible. But I digress. (I always wanted to say that)
We played with some special notes in the higher register like U no San, and getting Ro kan to sound without the 4th hole. Things like these gave an opportunity to feel the tones and overtones and work in the upper octave. It was like Dad taking me for a drive around the neighbourhood before letting me go for a bike ride on my own. Expand the edges to help make the inner parts more familiar.
Over the next 2 weeks I am going to be working a lot more on Etenraku. I have not played the 1st shakuhachi part all of the way through sections 1 and 2 yet, but the tsu chu meri in the first section is providing a fun challenge.
The best beginner points that I had reinforced in this lesson are...
1. Learning to follow the rhythm marks by slapping your knees (when not playing) or tapping your feet (when playing) is invaluable. If you are a player who works with music with this type of notation, you need to know this.
2. Practice with a tuner / metronome device is important.
Although there were no new pieces added this week, I am tweaking my practice routine to focus better on what is in front of me right now.
I'll leave off with a video of my teacher playing my favourite pieces...
One of the things that is truly marvelous about life, is that it is both short and long at the same time. Moment to moment, we have a seemingly infinite opportunity to do good, grow, stagnate, ignore, love, create, or cry. The measure of shortness is, as I see it, a reflection our perceptions of the unexplored, under-utilized and missed opportunities that the universe holds. There is so much to do.
And yet, in a life, there is an equilibrium. Push in on direction too much and there is strain and tension created. Add something to the mix and there is a new equilibrium that must be found.
I lived almost four decades of life before I began to play the shakuhachi. The flute entered my home for find children, careers, pets, and a rich fabric of life. So where does it fit?
As romantic a notion as it may be to imagine practicing this instrument 1-2 hours or more every day, travelling to train with renowned teachers, it would be foolish in the context of my life.
Certainly, it is an instrument that requires a certain focus and attention to develop proficiency in, and I want to be able to do it justice.
I have never truly studied an instrument under a teacher's guidance. I love what I do play, but there is a level of growth I would very much like to push beyond with the shakuhachi.
So, where does ti fit?
Like anything in my life, I am continually discovering the response to that.
Response. Not answer.
Whenever I think I have an answer, it crumbles. Sculpting this life is far too dynamic for something so concrete as an absolute, all-certain answer.
I had another lesson with Chikusen last night. I still take pause after each to wonder why I did not make lessons a priority earlier. I continue to enjoy the process and I like making connection with other players. There aren't any other players around where I live. Or at least, I have not found them yet.
This week we talked abit more about rhythm, but spent most of our time on pitch adjustment. Skype might not be as good as a live lesson, but it is dang near. Michael was able to work with me on bell height, placement on chin, posture and emboucher to get my pitch higher. I was able to reproduce it, but it will take practice until this become the new normal.
That made up most of the time, but we also returned to the point of blowing rather than aiming, and added a couple of new songs.
Playing.
The more I play, the more I play. When I am playing songs, I spend most of my time playing the ones I am learning in my lessons. They fill my head. These songs of a culture and history I can barely taste, given the place and time of my birth. And yet, they weave their way into my body.
When I improvise, I find that broader and broader possibilities manifest. My fingers are learning landscape of the instrument. More and more breath becomes fuel for its creative designs. slowly the gap between myself and the instrument fades. Sometimes, it is forgotten entirely.
Songs.
Hinomaru
Ouma no Oyako
Yuyake Koyake
Kutsu ga Naru
Sunayama
Hietsuki Bushi
Azatoya Yunta
Takeda no Komoreuta
Kyorei (first half)
Etenraku (shakuahchi #1, part 1 and 2)
**I am figuring out "Sally Garden", but am stuck at a point where I believe meri notes must be involved.
