Kinko Rules
we totally get it, buddy.
Hard-and-fast rules in Kinko-ryu notation are scarce. To make matters worse, very few details are provided in the notation. This makes it very confusing and intimidating when new players are learning the shakuhachi, often leading to discouragement and overwhelm. When is a note -meri or -kari? How do I know when to ori or suri?
Let’s go over a few of these rules here.
fingering chart
As it turns out, one rule that we do have regarding notation frequently revolves around whether the note progression is ascending or descending. Two notes in particular stand out as examples of this and are often the most confusing: tsu and to a lesser extent chi.
Tsu is fairly predictable. In a common run of three notes — re tsu ro — for example, we can assume tsu will be -meri because the line is descending. If tsu were to be played kari, (in a descending run) it would be highly unusual and thus notated. Conversely, ro tsu re will more than likely be played tsu-kari; it is slightly less irregular to feature tsu-meri in this case, but it will still be indicated in the notation to avoid confusion.
Chi is a slightly different issue as it is played differently depending on the octave. In the lower octave — that we call ryo* and other schools refer to as otsu — we will typically play u, thus negating the need for meri/kari distinction. If u is substituted with chi-meri in ryo, it will always be notated because it is atypical.
Perhaps a better indicator for chi is the note ri (or hi in kan); when ri-meri is played, we can always count on chi being kari. Ri or hi-meri will always be marked as it means the piece has modulated. Ri-meri to u — or hi-meri to chi-meri — does not appear in traditional music.
Incidentally, u can indicate one of several pitches in the second octave (kan). In these instances, it will be marked as such.
As is usually the case with rules, there are exceptions. The tsu in the motif ha tsu is always played as tsu-meri, even when tsu is played in the second octave from ha. There are also compositions that take on a particular scale like Chidori no Kyoku that heavily utilizes chi-karu.
Ori, where the player bends a note down a semitone, and its opposite suri, which is a kind of smear up a semitone, are two techniques that fall under this same rule of ascending / descending — again with exceptions.
-meru vs. -meri is a grammatical issue, not a musical one.
In a musical phrase where suri is called for, it is rarely ommitted. Case in point, this common phrase, as seen here in Takiochi no Kyoku. The “suru” next to the phrase “tsu re ro” means “tsu” to “re” is smeared:
At the end of a phrase (before a breath), the rule of thumb is, if the next note is lower, we suri; if the next note is higher, we ori. The exception here is if the ending note is -meri, then we can suri, regardless of what note follows it. Interestingly, this use of ori/suri at the end of phrases rarely if ever appears in the notation; ori is never shown in the written notation that I can think of.
More anon,
Hanz
*Ryo (呂) is a term for the bass or lower notes, dating back to the ancient gagaku scale