Greetings all,
being a beginner as well I am not really in a position to offer any sage
advice about what you can hope to 'achieve' as a performer of the
shakuhachi. I too have started comparativley late in life (33) and I
suppose that I have always looked at my potential limits as a player as
being more a function of my willingness to spend the hours with my flute
rather than any age related thing :- )
In terms of performance, I actually got to play in front of folks (solo)
after only having played for about six months or so. Much to the amusement
of my teacher! The school that my daughter goes to is out in the rural
hinterland of our city, and because it is so far away I stay out there for
the day with her, and practice under the trees. Very pleasant. The school
was doing a winter solstice celebration and asked if I could contribute
some sounds to the general ambience. I figured why not, hardly anyone would
be there, it would be a godd experience. Well.... quite a few folks turned
up, so I stood there nervously blowing improvisations around the general
theme of kyo-rei (no high tones). And guess what, despite the occasional
strangled ro and momentary silences people seemed to like it. I guess it
goes to show that, as someone else said, the average person does not really
know how proficient you are or not, people dont usually know what a
shakuhachi is, let alone what it should sound like. The whole good or bad
playing thing existed more in my mind than anywhere else.
Take those lessons mate, it's never too late.
Yours,
Paul Donehue
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