Socrates: One cannot learn the to play honkyoku without a teacher.
Pupil: But surely with the notation and recording one can learn to play a
piece exactly like the master.
Socrates: This is not playing a piece it is copying a performance. It is
empty and without meaning.
Pupil: But I thought that in traditional Japanese shakuhachi study, the
student was supposed to play exactly the way the teacher does.
Socrates: Yes this is true.
Pupil: I am confused.
Socrates: The transmission of shakuhahci honkyoku focuses on the learning
and playing of music, but it is the relationship between the student and the
teacher that is of importance. This is a unique relationship and one which
must be cherished. It is a relationship built on trust and love of the
music. The pupil submits to the teacher's demand that he play the music
exactly as he does. In doing so the student must let go of his ego and is
therefore free to experience the shakuhachi in a pure way. The student
trusts the teacher to guide him well on the path. The teacher submits to the
student's understanding of himeslf and trusts the student to be the best he
can be in aspiring to this process. What results is an understanding of the
music that is deep with love and passion. The same relationship cannot be
achieved with a tape recorder and music paper.
Pupil: In other words there is an intangible aspect to the learning of this
music.
Socrates: I believe you are beginning to understand.
-- James Nyoraku Schlefer www.sparklingbeatnik.com/nyoraku---------- >From: Bruce Jones <bjones@weber.ucsd.edu> >To: nyogetsu@panix.com >Subject: Re: Thoughts on published notation >Date: Fri, Dec 10, 1999, 4:52 PM >
> > > Seldin-sensei (and others), > > You're right, this is a provacative issue and one that's fun to > think about. I appreciate your comments, and I especially liked this: > >>And anyway, as my teacher once said to a student who started to >>take notes, "What if I want to teach the piece differently next >>week?" > > It's the obverse of the accomplished player asking, "what makes you > think you'll want to play it the same way twice?" It reflects on > the entire nature of notation and the difference between suggestions > from the page and instructions. I suppose the impulse toward making > and reading marginalia comes out of the western tradition of wanting > everything defined. > > When it comes to notes, mine are mostly translations of what the > kanji or kana on the page say - not being literate in Japanese makes > it difficult at times to remember what some of the less frequently > used characters mean. > > I think that, ultimately the question comes down to this: to what > extent are we, as western shakuhachi players, responsible *to* the > traditions of the Japanese? Certainly we're not responsible *for* > those traditions (or, if we are, the Japanese are in serious > trouble :-) > > Few of us are going to become licensed teachers, none of us is > likely to take up residence in a temple and being the life of a > komuso. Given that we live in the west and are subject to the > interpretive affordances that cross-cultural studies make possible, > I suspect that the answer to that question is fairly ambiguous. > > So I'll toss it out there for you. > > bj > > -
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