I started playing about 1 year and a half ago , and work mainly with the =
Ichyo shakuhachi manual part one and two , and I can say they are really =
complete and comprehensible. They give you material enough for years to =
study and there are two tapes with the booklets wich are also very good. =
Can really recommend these books to any beginner.
When carefully reading I discovered the texts contain lots of =
information , you only pick up after several readings.
Everey time I hear or read something about playing technique , I =
discover it is mostly covered by the books too.
Hope this helps starters.
Hans van Loon
The Netherlands
-----Original Message-----
From: "Stav Tapuch" <tapuch@hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 3:54 PM
To: "Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu" =
<Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu>
Subject: Shakuhachi Guides
To those seeking advice on playing guides to help them in their initial=20
steps:
My first half year of playing shakuhachi was on my own. I obtained =
copies=20
of two playing guides:
Carl Abbott's Blowing Zen
and
Taniguchi's How to Play the Shakuhachi.
Carl's book came with an accompanying tape, and Taniguchi's came with a=20
disk. (I couldn't imagine trying to learn shakuhachi on my own without =
at=20
least examples to listen and compare to - so an accompanying disk or =
tape is=20
absolutely essential in my opinion.)
Carl Abbott's book is very, very good for one's first steps. He =
provides a=20
dozen or so very short songs - using basic notes, and has clear =
explanations=20
on the simple little things that at first seem very daunting. It is a =
good=20
first book to pick up. However- once his book moves to the more=20
sophisticated works, he explanations become a bit more complicated, and =
at=20
one point, sort of uncomprehensible. Of course, this is just my humble=20
opinion. I think this is perhaps more indicitive of the genre of music =
in=20
general than just his book. That is - at a certain point, if you wish to =
progress in classical shakuhachi study, you will need to receive the=20
tutelage of a teacher. But from my experience, this is a great first =
book,=20
and could easily keep someone busy for half a year. (Also - a sizable=20
portion of Carl's book is on making shakuhachi. If you don't have=20
asspirations of making your own bamboo shakuhachi, you might be a bit=20
annoyed that a large portion of the book is spent on this topic.)
Taniguchi's book has different strengths and weaknessess. If someone was =
only picking up this book to start with, I am sure they would be very =
lost=20
to figure out the notation and finer nuances of playing basic =
shakuhachi? =20
Why? There is no explanatory text in the book - only general diagrams. =
My=20
impression is that the book was not really intended to be used on its =
own,=20
but as a guide to go along with Taniguchi's class at Oberlin University. =
If=20
I hadn't had Carl's book to have given me the very basics, Taniguchi's =
book=20
would have been a waste of time and money. But- this book provides some =
wonderful folk music, that is fairly easy to play, and the disk itself =
is a=20
pleasure to listen to. I have been playing almost for a year now- and I =
use=20
this book all the time. (I really enjoy the songs.) Carl's guide got me =
going, but I haven't touched it in a while.
Hope this was of help....
And if someone wants to REALLY ambitious with the FAQ page- how about a=20
compendium of shakuhachi book reveiws in the spirit of Amazon.com?
Stav
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