Well, not to let you down, but practice makes perfect. "Play it a thousand times and it won't be
difficult" is one memorable response from a teacher to my mumbling about a phrase being hard to
play. If you can go from meri to kari without problem you're way ahead of the curve. I suggest you
try recording yourself, it's always a humbling experience.
Going to/from meri is easily one of the hardest things about playing shakuhachi. That's why many
players use 7-hole flutes for shinkyoku and minyo. Going from kari to meri, another problem is
making the transition clear, that is, not letting the pitch slide down as you go to the meri note.
The same is true going the other way, of course. You have to make a pause in your breath, but it's
almost not a pause at all it's so tiny. It's like the notes marked "nuku" in dokyoku--if you hear
it it's too loud, if you don't it's too soft. Does that make sense? In other words, you reduce
your breath enough so that there's no sound for a millisecond while you change your blowing
position, but don't make the equivalent of a glottal stop. Kind of like a "California roll" at a
stop sign: stop, but don't stop. Hope that helps rather than hurts.
Peter H
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