Rhythm & Flutes
Yamada-ryū master Tani Sumi.
Mark: A blog about the different types of blowing techniques: sorane/ muraiiki/fuki kiri/timbre changes and so on. Also about tempo shifts in tunes/rhythm in sankyoku pieces/length of pauses. And what is zanshin as it relates to shakuhachi playing? Thank you.
I’m (hopefully) going to address—and maybe expand on—the second part of Mark’s excellent question first: That of rhythm and tempo.
Kinko-ryū honkyoku, the original music of the shakuhachi, was intended for solo shakuhachi. Thus, we’re hopefully channeling the music as it was handed down to us, including the pace and, for want of a better word, tempo. We don’t have to be concerned with time signatures, beats, measures or bars, harmonies, or counter-melodies. But, it would be a mistake to think this is a completely free form exercise eschewing rhythm or time.
We don’t adhere to the western sense of beats-per-minute, but rather the overall pulse and feel of the piece. We have some freedom of expression when it comes to the duration we hold certain notes, but those notes still have to fit within an overarching musical framework. It would be more accurate to compare the rhythm of Kinko-ryū to the rhythm of our breathing and heartbeat. This in turn informs some of the dynamics in our playing to ensure we don’t run out of air before the end of a phrase.
The takeaway here is the same drum I’ve beat before: This music can’t be learned from a book. The pulse, the flow of the piece must be demonstrated, heard, and absorbed before it can be performed . This isn’t a trick cooked up by generations of shakuhachi masters to keep us all employed. This is simply the reality of this style of music. The transmission is baked into the DNA of the music.
Kinko-ryū sankyoku on the other hand, is a kind of chamber music consisting mostly of shamisen, koto, and shakuhachi. These instruments mostly provide support to a vocal, although there are a handful of purely instrumental pieces. Because we have to coordinate and blend, there is more of an emphasis on rhythm and time, but still not in the western sense. We still don’t have measures, bars, or a time signature. Changes in tempo are entirely set by the strings. The job of the shakuhachi is never to lead but only play in service of the singer. We must play confidently along with the other instruments, but not surge ahead, or lag behind. This is crucial to understand.
This music will, to our ears, speed up and slow down, but try not to approach it from that perspective. Rather, take a kind of zoomed out look at the whole piece. Once you really attune yourself to hearing the song, you’ll organically find the natural flow of the piece.
Despite the fact that we as shakuhachi players don’t sing, if we can familiarize ourselves with the lyrics somewhat, it will help tremendously. The words act kind of like sign posts throughout the piece, giving us important sync-points with the singer along the way. Song lyrics are included in shakuhachi scores for this reason.
Because we’re limited somewhat in our phrasing by the fact that we have to breathe, we may have to drop a note here or there. This has to be done in a way that doesn’t draw attention or alter the phrase in some fundamental way. Because again, the worst thing we can do—consciously or not—is try to dictate tempo. It’s all too easy to pause for half a beat to take a breath, and pick up where you are, not where the song is.
More anon,
Hanz