I'm only a raw beginner but I think relaxing is the key, not tension.
Todd Barton http://www.mind.net/music/shakuhachi.html had a really
useful quicktime movie on his website (8mb puh.mov) that showed how easy
it was to get the higher octaves in a relaxed manner. I can't find it
now...maybe he's removed it due to size.
I suggest emailing him to see if he has a link to it, or ask him if it
available for redistribution, as it is a great e-learning lesson in
shakuhachi:-)
pc
-----Original Message-----
From: shakuhachi [mailto:shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu]
Sent: Thursday, 26 June 2003 4:31 AM
To: shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
Subject: shakuhachi V1 #347
shakuhachi Wed, 25 Jun 2003 Volume 1 :
Number 347
In this issue:
Blowing shakuhachi & pain...
Re: Blowing shakuhachi & pain...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 17:40:27 +0000
From: "Stav Tapuch" <tapuch@hotmail.com>
To: shakuhachi@weber.ucsd.edu, shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
Subject: Blowing shakuhachi & pain...
Message-ID: <Sea1-F117zhpyrdB1ed00016557@hotmail.com>
I have been studying shakuhachi for a little less than two years. I
have
been making progress very slowly. (which means reasonably so by
shakuhachi
standards so I have come to learn)
During the process of going through this initial period of absorption I
have
undergone several strange periods of pain and discomfort.
My first problem was sudden periods of dizziness and near- fainting
speels.
This has become fairly uncommon.
Then for a while my right hand and arm went through periods of pain and
sorness - but this passed after awhile. (I now use my mouse with my
left
hand only.)
Now here is my newest experience with discomfort in playing shakuhachi
and
wanted to know if anyone has had an experience like this.
For a while now my biggest challenge was trying to get my high octave in
pitch. (No surprise I was, and am still, half of the time very flat.)
Using a pitch meter I discovered that I need to be holding my head much
higher, and I need to purse my lips much tigher to get the right pitch.
Good news: with effort I manage to do this. Not for very long periods
but I
get the idea of where I need to be to get right pitch.
Bad news: I now have been pursing my lips so tight that I have been
causing
myself a good deal of soreness and even outright pain in my front teeth.
By
pursing my lips so tight for two hours or so each daily practice session
I
think I might even be shifting my teeth as if I had braces or something
pulling back on them. I have been feeling this now for about a month or
so.
It is not serious pain, but it is distracting.
Anyone go through something like this? Any advice to offer? I guess I
should
speak to my dentist, but I am loath to have to confront a doctor's
advice to
stop playing shakuhachi.
thanks
Stav
_________________________________________________________________
Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 11:21:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: bjones@weber.ucsd.edu (Bruce Jones)
To: Shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Blowing shakuhachi & pain...
Message-ID: <20030625182133.F23328241@weber.ucsd.edu>
I don't know that I ever caused myself any dental pain, but my facial
muscles around my mouth used to get really tired when I played.
What I was told to do, and what worked, was to get my embouchure all
tightened up and working, and then, when the sound was relatively stable
(I was making an audible sound that was not disappearing), to begin to
relax things around my mouth and see what really needed to be tight and
what I was just tightening up unnecessarily.
It took a bit of work, but surprisingly not much, to get an embouchure
that is loose and relaxed and allows me to move comfortably between otsu
and kan reliably.
bj
-
------------------------------
End of shakuhachi V1 #347
*************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 06 2004 - 14:09:33 PST