The BBQ is over!

This week I was very disappointed to find that the primary shakuhachi forum on the internet has been closed.

It was run by pair of players which included Brian Ritchie, the base player of the Violent Femmes. The really disappointing part of it is that it shut suddenly. There was no warning, no discussion, and no opportunity for others to step up and take over the site. The originators had tired of it, so it was closed.

Something new will come along, but without the open forum to aid in planning and discussion, it will have to emerge from ashes.

The shakuhachi community is an amazing thing. As a novice player, I am certainly not an authority on this community, but here is what I do know:

-Compared to other instruments in the world, there really are not a lot of shakuhachi players.

-the shakuhachi community is spread out. Without avenues ont he internet there will no longer be a true sense of a global shakuhachi community.

-when people search out new things, they often turn to the internet, and there were new members to this forum every week.

In my brief time in this endeavour, I have been able to converse with, and seek advice from players from around the world. I have spoken to beginners and masters alike. Heck, my teacher lives 4.5 hours away by car! Thank goodness for Skype.

Now I know the forum was not perfect. There were fruitless veins that had to be closed within it, and just because a person starts something, they are not automatically obligated to keep it going, but Shakuhachi BBQ was a beautiful thing, and it seems like it could have been set free rather than killed.

Early Progress

I'll start off by repeating myself. I LOVE taking lessons. I enjoyed working on the instrument on my own, but as I progress under the guidance of Chikuzen, more and more of the instrument opens up to me.

Granted, I have only had a hand full of lessons, but the entire process is engaging and rewarding. A big part of why I like it is definitely because I am getting better faster, but there is more...

-Getting regular feed back and help
-connecting "face to face" with a teacher / player. There is no live community around me.
-having new material and challenges layed out for me by someone who has done it before.
-practicing and playing more regularly

I have no idea how far I can go with this process, but as long as I keep enjoying it in this way, I'll keep at it.

Hinomaru

Taking It In

A lot of the blogs that I read are full of self-confident, interpretive opinions.  Speaking from experience and some amount of wisdom, authors express their take on various events and topics.  The exceptional bloggers manage to maintain a sense of their relative perspective, and avoid coming across as a "know-it-all".  I am never more conscious of this than when I post to this blog.

Although I try to limit my blogging to expressions of my direct experience, the knowledge of the topic is a huge factor.  I am considerably less confident in my writing of this blog than I am when I publish AikiEssays.

Why this particular rant?  Now that I am working with a teacher, I am taking great enjoyment in being at the beginning of this thing.

I have been wandering in the woods in the dark of night.  Light or dark, I love the woods.  The sounds and smells hold me tightly.  The feeling of the space penetrates me.  Then, I am handed a lantern.  With this change, I am still in the woods, but I can put direction to my exploration.  I am no longer wandering in the dark.


The use of this blog is more like a personal log (without the star-date).  This my best expression of what is happening on this journey, and how it feels as I encounter it.

Carving a Well Worn Path

Last night I started my shakuhachi lessons with Michael Chikuzen Gould.  For non-shakuhachi people who wouldn't know, that's pretty cool.

One of the nice things about the shakuhachi community, is that many of the best players are online.  This also means that there are many good teachers online.  Add in the magic of things like Skype, and I was able enjoy a lesson right in my basement with Chikuzen, who operates out of Cleveland (I think).

Although I had one lesson with Chikuzen in 2009 via Skype, it was a stand alone technical lesson.  This time I am taking a series of lessons that can build on each other, and hopefully continue well after the series of lessons I currently have booked.

I have been enjoying playing shakuhachi, up to this point, despite not having a teacher.  I have found resources on the internet and I also got hold of Taniguchi Sensei's introductory book.  However, there is something that really appeals to me about working with a teacher.

Like in Zen and the martial arts, the work you have to do in music is your own.  You have to sit your own sits, take your own naps, do your own breakfalls and blow your own Ro.  Having a teacher to touch in with creates a sense that you will not get lost at sea.  They act as the shore that the sailor can see on the horizon.  They provide bearings, as well as instruction.

In Aikido, I get to see many new people come in and go through those initial steps of taking instruction and working with the teacher.  Although anyone can tell you what to do, a good teacher does not just order you around.  A good teacher teaches from the perspective of having walked that road before and watched others navigate those same obstacles.

I look forward to this process, discovering the well worn path before me.

Scrounging

I know my weaknesses.  I tend to do too many things.  They are good things, but they divide up my resources too much sometimes.  Thus, although my family and I are stable financially, I am just not in the spot at this time in the year to put a lot of money up front for shakuhachi lessons. 

The result is that I will be setting out to save.

I have put together money for a few lessons from Chikuzen on Skype and should be setting that up sometime in the next two weeks.

Despite my enthusiasm, I must not forget to temper it with my realities.

Onward...

Resolutions for 2011

New Years Day is a big day for me in general.  Plans, goals and resolutions that have been forming over the last month finish crystallizing and hopefully, point out a path that I will take in the new year.

Being new to the shakuhachi, there are as many goals as resolutions.  Here we go...

In 2011, I resolve to...

Play every day. (Barring sesshin and retreats)
Practice 5 days a week.
Keep clear the distinction between playing and practicing
Take lessons
Find stability in Kan
Develop art practice with shakuhachi

Goals (that may or may not be reasonable)


Learn my first piece of Honkyoku
Play at the top of Mt. Tremper
Play at my dojo's O-soji.

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New Years is a significant day for me in terms of Shakuhachi.  In 2008, I was given a Tai Hei 2.1 by my friend Walt, who was moving out to BC.  On New Year's day 2009, Walt committed suicide.  Today, I will play my 2.1 for him.  I can't play Tamuke yet, but I play for his memory, and in appreciation for the beauty that this instrument has brought into my life.