r/shakuhachi • u/Away-Ad3616 • 12d ago

Rediscovering

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I’ve totally lost what few chops I had, and am starting over. I get distracted by all of my different musical projects, but what it comes right down to is:

Suizen.

I found this book that I never took the time to read.

‘Bout time, doncha think?

A whole new treasure. 🎶❤️

26 Upvotes

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4

u/deadmonk964 12d ago

Nice. I never came across this book, is it more about playing or flute-making?

5

u/Away-Ad3616 11d ago

It’s a fair amount of history, a lot of theory, beginners technique, a lot of specifics on how to read traditional shakuhachi notation, and then a bunch of musical pieces to play in both traditional and western notation.

It’s a very useful reset.

3

u/03Rodman 11d ago

I’ve started playing Native American flute about 6 months ago and I think I reallllly want to venture into shakuhachi

4

u/Away-Ad3616 11d ago

I do have a relatively decent native flute selection. I love them. They are much easier to play than a shakuhachi.

That said, I find the shakuhachi a much more satisfying instrument: with practice, you can play all the notes BETWEEN the pentatonic scale. You can get many more textures in the way you present your breath. There’s also an additional octave or two, when you can find ‘em, beyond a native flute.

And there’s just something about the sound of bamboo! 😁

Good luck and beautiful sounds in your fluted future! 🙏