Dear Morris and everyone,
I think the exigencies of player shakuhachi is a Zen endeavor in=20
itself: learning an instrument, an aesthetic, a style of music, a=20
technique, a way of learning music which are so different from our own.=20=
We are forced to focus differently than if we are learning something=20
from our own cultural background. And this focus must, at least=20
partially, follow the one of the Japanese way, which is Zen, though=20
possibly not explicitly. We must be able to get off one's own to take=20
theirs.
Bruno
Le 04-04-08, =E0 11:27, Morris M. Keesan a =E9crit :
> Alan Sondheim wrote:
>> Speaking of knowing/unknowing/this or that - I'm curious if everyone=20=
>> on
>> the list works out of a zen or otherwise context?
>
> Not at all. Or, perhaps, "of course". I'm not sure I understand=20
> the question the way it was phrased, because I think everyone does=20
> everything in some context.
> But as to zen, no. Not everyone. I'm a musician. I started=20
> studying shakuhachi, when I had the opportunity to take lessons,=20
> because I liked the sound of the instrument, and because I like=20
> learning new instruments to play. At the time I started playing=20
> shakuhachi, I had been playing other wind instruments for over 30=20
> years. I've studied some honkyoku, and given the free time and=20
> availability of a teacher, I'll probably study more at some time, but=20=
> I prefer playing sankyoku. And, even aside from the issues of trying=20=
> to play in tune with other instruments, it seems to me clearly untrue=20=
> that being concerned about pitch and things like temperature's effects=20=
> on it are "something that only pro shakuhachi players should=20
> ponder/worry about." Not all of us are, or aspire to emulate, "monks=20=
> of old".
>
> I enjoy skimming the discussions of zen on this list, though I've=20
> never done more than a slight casual amount of reading on the issue. =20=
> Conscious awareness of zen (is that an oxymoron?) is not anything that=20=
> motivates any of my activities, but I suspect that I'm experiencing a=20=
> zen-like meditative state, when I'm focused on playing difficult=20
> modern music on the saxophone in the middle of a 60-piece ensemble,=20
> trying to pay attention simultaneously to playing the correct notes,=20=
> watching a conductor to keep at the right tempo, listening to the rest=20=
> of the band to stay in tune, and trying to get some musical=20
> expressiveness along with everything else; as much of a zen state as=20=
> the monk playing shakuhachi honkyoku with no audience.
>
> --=20
> Morris M. Keesan - keesan@alum.bu.edu (Note new email address)
>
>
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>
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>
Bruno Desch=EAnes
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bruno Desch=EAnes
T=E9l.: (514) 277-4665
E-mail: bruno@musis.ca
Site Web: http://pages.infinit.net/musis/
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