>Well, obviously somebody once learned it on their own, without a teacher,
>or the instrument wouldn't exist...
>
At first glance this seems like a very compelling idea. Someone somewhere
must of been the first person to play shakuhachi, right?
But actually that isn't true.
What we nowadays call shakuhachi playing is a product of a tradition passed
down, developed, changed, and advanced by many generations of players. What
we recognize as shakuhahci playing and shakuhachi music is the product of a
few centuries of work. If we could watch the first person ever to blow into
bamboo, what we might be tempted to call the first shakuhahci player, I am
sure it would bare no resembalance whatsoever to what we all do nowadays.
To blow into a peice of bamboo you do not need a teacher. But to learn to
play shakuhachi, with all that that entials, for better or worse, you need a
teacher.
(My God, I can not believe I am still employed!)
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