Whoever said the Shakuhachi is 1.8 shaku is correct. 1 shaku = .994 feet or 30.3 cm, so 1 shaku, 8 “sun” is 54.5 cm, or 1 foot 9.5 inches, more or less.
Standard for the classical Shakuhachi is a pentatonic scale. Can’t remember if it’s 4 or 5 holes. As you might guess, I don’t play the thing.
A saying about learning Shakuhachi is “Kubi furi san nen”, meaning it takes three years to learn to move your neck.
I talked with a player once. The natural tuning of the instrument was the Japanese “YO” (sunny) scale. To play the “IN” (cloudy) scale, he did a lot of head movement to get the notes correct. There might have been some half hole action too. Both these scales are what we would call pentatonic minor, but the IN definitely sounds darker.
The notation is more or less like tabular notation. They show numbers which indicate which holes are uncovered. I’m not sure how note duration is noted.
The YO scale has intervals more or less like E F# A B D E
I’m not getting the IN scale without something handy to toot on, and I"m at work… It starts out F# G B and then something… The ‘something’ part changes between ascending and descending.
What’s the story behind the baskets? I seem to recall faintly that these wore disgraced persons for some reason? Or maybe they just thought the baskets were a great fashion statement?
The baskets created a kind of separation or detatchment from the
world at large, it was all part of the medatitive process of the
instrument…a search for that one perfect sound which would lead
toward enlightenment…if only briefly.
I think my confusion came from reading that many ronin joined the Fuke. At some points, the stories get mixed up (like for example, i’ve read that these ronin started using the root ends of the bamboo for flutes to make them sturdier so they could used as clubs. I take all this with a grain of salt, since i can’t read Japanese and i imagine this kind of tradition gets mangled a great deal.
I’ve read in several places that Fuke himself didn’t play flute; he didn’t speak either, but carried a bell and rang it everywhere, and was able to help people attain enlightment that way. The monk that succeeded him was the first one to play flute.
The flute itself probably came from China. They still have 5 and 6-hole vertical slot flutes.
There are transverse flutes in Japan too, btw. I think they have 6 fingerholes. They often have laquered bores. Shakuhachi are made with laquered and non-laquered bores. The non-laquered tend to be the more expensive ones, and fewer people make them.
Glauber…i read the same thing somewhere about the root end being
used as a means of self defence…Apparantly some of the wandering
monks were disgraced, armourless samuri…they were forbidden to
carry the trad weapons and so utilised the flutes heavy end…if needed,
of course on those long lonely treks on the open road.
i think this is a historical fact…but dont quote me on that…lol
Before I get any more inquiries about the shakuhachi that I had for sale, I am happy to say that it has been sold to a Zen student in Metairie, LA. He promised to give a good home.
www.cloudhandsmusic.com has some really cool flute music available by peter ross for those who might not find the more traditional shakuhachi playing style enjoyable. peter plays tranverse bamboo and shakuhachi, and also a shakuhachi he made in an arabian scale - very funky. i have 3 of his cd’s and they are all great; ‘easy listening’ in a very non-traditional setting.
Just some more shakuhachi trivia here. I mentioned before that my shakuhachi was tuned to yellow bell tuning, according to Dan Parker, who made it. Yellow bell (or Huang Chung) is the Chinese name for the fundamental Tone of Nature, a specific pitch said to be the tone of running water, wind in the trees, the Earth and the Universe. In India it is called Ma and is related to the Spiritual Sound Current, Nada or Word. This tone is a little sharper than our western Fa (349.2 hertz, equal temperment) or F+= 360 hertz.
Here is where it gets strange. Dan told me that he tuned the flute to his “refrigerator”. He demonstrated in my kitchen. In the USA electric current is alternating at 60 cycles per second (hertz). Yellow bell or F+ is a harmonic (6 x 60) of the 60 cycle hum. I don’t expect that they did it this way in ancient China or Japan.
Ma is not a pitch but the fourth interval in ANY TONIC sol-fa progression. ie It is the Fa in not only with a C tonic but any tonic. East West transgressions confuse the Ma with F but it isn’t. It is the 4th relative to whatever the first is and the first can be any note.
On a totally unrelated note, i heard a guy on the radio once, who said that one of the reasons we have so much tension in our life is because we have all these appliances humming in discordant notes. He demonstrated by gettting the “note” from each appliance in a typical house, and showed that it made up a dissonant chord. He thought we could have much happier lives if we could tune up our appliances in nice consonant intervals…
The pieces he plays are traditional, and for my money absolutely lovely. He also discusses history the history of the tunes, the instrument and the playing style between pieces.
I should disclose though that these are streaming video links and perhaps(?) not best enjoyed by those still shackled to connection speeds from late in the last century (say c. 1999).
I’m going out on a limb here, but I think the popular meaning of the word ‘trivia’ has shifted from “Insignificant or inessential information” to “information” or “details”. I believe when most people say, “I know some trivia on this subject” they mean, “I know something about that” and not “I know something really pointless about that.” This could be as a result of the popularity of Trivial Pursuit (a board game), but I don’t know.
On the other hand, the adjective “trivial” still seems to mean “insignificant” or “valueless”.
I just got a shakuhachi headjoint for Boehm or Irish flute, and I am really enjoying it. Surprisingly, my embouchure is already working well. It’s not that hard to shift from flute to shak, although I am sure I will continue to learn nuances of this instrument.
Now I am lusting after a whole shakuhachi. My parents are giving me an antique one and Monty Levenson is going to restore it.
This is great!