>> However this does not add up to Minyo being harder to play than
>>Honkyoku. It's just easier to fool audiences outside Japan with out of
>>tune, poorly played Honkyoku. But, you can't fool yourself.
Is the distinction between Japanese and non-Japanese audiences who can
discern badly played honkyoku, or between people who are or who are not
fammiliar with shakuhachi music? From what I have seen it seems that the
average Japanese person is only slightly more educated about honkyoku than
the average cosmopolitan American. (One day I will tell you about this
Japanese woman i met at a party and the gales of laughter I got out of her
when I proudly let her know that I play shakuhachi. She eventually
recovered enough to say "Why don't you play something good - like guitar?")
But that issue aside - people who know honkyoku music well are obviously
better equipped to judge who is performing the music 'properly' - but once
you are outside of this small community the criteria for what is a pleasant
sounding honkyoku changes dramatically. Most newcomers to honkyoku
understand pretty quickly (for most songs) that they are not going to get
the kind of rhythm and melody they are usually looking for - and instead
focus on other aspects such as sound tone, dramatic phrasing, and the
pleasure of being just outright surprised by the music being so
unconventional. (Or, alternatively, they just go to sleep.)
But this is simply not true with minyo. When you play minyo the standard by
which the listener perceives and enjoys or does not enjoy the music is
pretty much universal. In the end the out of pitch, poorly paced honkyoku
player can still find solace in being spiritual, mysterious and, by today's
standards, musically provacative. The flat minyo player, however, is just
some guy tooting out of tune.
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