Yes. I'm 51 and started 1 year ago. Also male, and I need to practice
both for my well being and to satisfy my desire to play well enough to
share the beauty that this literature can give to others. However, this
isn't a new desire of mine. I've been wanting to take up the instrument
since graduate school in 1974 and never realized that one must "make time"
for things that are important to one's spiritual well-being. You have not
merely gravitated toward some new-age fluff-music that over-stressed middle
aged males have latched onto in order to obtain some sort of superficial
and short-lived spiritual high. As most of the participants on this list
can tell you, the literature, especially the traditional sankyoku and
honkyoku, is one of the most profound and intense musical literatures in
the world. It's right up there with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mahler,
and the great performers are some of the most excellent living musicians in
the world. My wife at first thought that she would love the meditative
quality of the sound, and she did for a while, when all I owned was a
2.1. Now that I have the 1.8 and can play in the upper register, she also
asks me to close the door!
Dan
At 08:23 AM 03/19/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Just a thought.
>
>How many 40 + beginners are out there?
>
>I too recently came to shakuhachi. My children think it is weird that I am
>doing this. They really find it funny when they see me sitting on the floor
>playing. A mid-life crisis? (If it is guess I should paint it bright red and
>name it after an old girlfriend.)
>
>My wife prefers that I practice behind closed doors or at least when she is
>not home. However, she thinks this is just another phase.
>
>I have found that it seems to have added to my life in that I feel calmer and
>more relaxed. I also have noticed that I feel a bit compulsed to play, even
>at work during lunch.
>My sensei agreed when I called his lessons "Shakuhachi Therapy"!
>
>Best wishes to all especially to all you Veterans, who have made help me
>crawl along.
>
>Dominic Cammarota
>a Shakunewbie ( you heard this word here first)
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