Adam wrote:
>In response to David and Zachary's post. I find it a bit contradictory
>as Zachary states that the non-verbal method of "traditional" teaching
>produces both fewer decent players but also more superb ones. The
>traditional teaching method is largely a rote learning system, geared to
>produce students that can reproduce the nuance and detail of their
>teacher's performance. Because of the extreme emphasis on form- it is
>not surprising that more players master the form (is this the meaning of
>"superb"?).
I suspect that he means that the 'decent' players are actually the
ones who 'reproduce', while 'superb' players learn to understand more
than just the notes -- when watching the teacher they see beyond
the music to the person as well. The idea is that focusing on the
music when playing shakuhachi is not going deep enough... so that
just distracts.
>I do not think the central aim of most shakuhachi teaching in Japan is
>self awareness. David's point is that the shakuhachi learning has the
>potential to be much more than just an isolated musical activity.
>Infused with somatic ideas (yoga, alexander technique, etc.) it can
>teach us things that have a wider and more potent application to daily
>life. To me, this expanding awareness is priceless and should be shared
>with everyone interested, rather than reserved for one's top students.
I don't know what the central aim is, not having learnt in Japan. But
my feeling is that the very good teachers have the inner peace and
strength, and rather than trying to teach it by words they try to do
it through example.
Ralf
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 31 2001 - 12:46:37 PST