Re: shakuhachi and spritual practice

From: Joerg Bernsdorf (bernsdorf@ccrl-nece.de)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 01:38:25 PDT


Dear All,

Peter H wrote:
> As I said before, I've heard players advocate both
> sides--that exact pitch isn't important, and that it's part and parcel
> of playing the honkyoku correctly. I'd just like to hear others'
> points of view on it.

>> Well, I read every email, but none of them really pertained to my
>> original questions.

As a beginner, I'm afraid I cannot contribute much to the discussion
.... so please ignore my 2(Euro)cent in case it is off topic!

> I don't think this is a minor point, as in my mind it brings up (at
> least) the following questions: Does playing shakuhachi as a spiritual
> pursuit obviate the need to worry about such musical things?

My teacher (a Japanese who studied shakuhachi at Itchouken in Fukuoka)
makes a very clear point on his teaching and performance as a sole
spiritual exercise, linked to Zen practice etc.

But during his lessons (the few I took so far), he is always very
precise about the exact pitch and phrasing and corrected even the
slightest deviations (very similar to the many years of Saxophone
lessons I took ...).
Also the finger patterns sometimes change (for similar notation) to make
a (for my ears) almost indistinguishable difference in the pitch or
sound colour ... so it seems to be very important.

Maybe, spiritual practice is not in contradiction with struggling for
technical proficiency ... although technical perfection (from a
musicians point of view) is not the ultimate goal to reach!?

Best wishes,
joerg



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