Hi Stav,
Thanks for asking a shakuhachi related question on the list.
There are no hard and fast rules about which length of shakuhachi to use for certain honkyoku.
However there are conventions, some of which are specific to certain songs and others to
particular schools of shakuhachi. Following are ideas about flute length I have heard from other
players and read in various sources. I don't endorse these ideas or verify their accuracy. I am just
repeating them because they relate to your question.
1. "Tsuru no Sugomori" pieces are traditionally played on 1.7 length shakuhachi. A lot of people
don't, though! Not everybody has a 1.7.
2. The branch of Kinpu Ryu headed by Inoue Shigeshi use 2.0 for Kinpu (Nezasaha) pieces as a
rule. Many other Nezasaha players, including Jin Nyodo, play on various lengths of flutes.
3. Tani Ha play honkyoku on 2.6.
4. Kyorei is the oldest honkyoku. Because the original shakuhachi length was 1.1 some players
(including Yoshio Kurahashi) recommend playing it on 1.1. My observation is that in reality most
players do it on their longest flute.
5. "Banshiki" is traditionally played on 1.9 because the main note of the piece, ri, produces the
pitch B if played on a 1.9 shakuhachi and B is called the "banshiki" pitch.
6. Watazumi said that it is easy to play "Sanya" on shorter flutes like 2.0 and that those high
pitches excite the listener, but that it is preferable to play it on something long like 2.8.
7. Both Watazumi and Yokoyama recorded "Kumoijishi" and "Azuma no Kyoku" on short flutes
(1.3). Maybe this is because their folk like melodies sound good on short flutes.
8. In the Kinko Ryu, "Hi Fu Mi Hachigaeshi" is almost always played on 1.8.
9. Specific to Jin Nyodo it seems that he usually played Kinko honkyoku on 1.8 but played Myoan
and Nezasaha on various lengths. Some Jin followers play all Kinko honkyoku on 1.8. I asked
John Singer, a very strict Kinko player, about this and he said that it's OK to play any Kinko
honkyoku on any length flute, so this appears to be a choice of Jin's. If you look on komuso.com
you can read the liner notes from Jin Nyodo's recordings which also specify which length he used
on each piece. In some cases the same song appears more than once with different lengths. The
song you asked about "Darani" is 2.5.
Off the top of my head those are the correlations between flute length and honkyoku I have
heard about. My personal opinion is that it's good to experiment and adjust according to mood,
environment, physical condition and so on. What sounds and feels good at home may not work
in a concert hall or recording studio. Also regarding "suggested length", certain concepts like
"long" or "short" flutes could be quite different from player to player depending on the players
height, arm length, finger span, etc.
Regards,
BR
> shakuhachi Wed, 21 Jan 2004 Volume 1 : Number 516
>
> In this issue:
>
> Long Flutes
> RE: [Shaku] shamisen/koto players
> RE: [Shaku] shamisen/koto players and Okuda's Koku
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 18:13:05 +0000
> From: "Stav Tapuch" <tapuch@hotmail.com>
> To: shakuhachi@weber.ucsd.edu, shakuhachi@communication.ucsd.edu
> Subject: Long Flutes
> Message-ID: <Sea1-F69Q1WE9ql2Rke0000688a@hotmail.com>
>
> What is the appropriate length flute for each honkyoko? Is there a=20
> tradition, such as Darani always calls for a 2.4 , or is it a matter of=20
> personal preference?
>
> And if it is tradition, is the 'suggested length' for each song recorded=20
> somewhere, or is this just a word of mouth tradition?
>
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