Rhythm & Flutes 2

Edit: this brog post originally suggested hitting 2 between re and tsu and has since been corrected.

a performance of Kurokami at Nippon Kan in Seattle, mid-90s.

There are a number of points along the line of shakuhachi playing where my family’s approach differs, even from other Kinko-ryū players. The easiest to miss of these finer points have proven to be the most difficult to pass on. Things like how to articulate the transition between notes and, more importantly, when—and even more importantly, when to not.

When I say articulation I’m referring to the method of giving definition to notes that are strung together. Too much and it sounds staccato and hectic; too little and it will sound slurred and the rhythm undefined. With only four holes for our fingers and one hole for the thumb, we are extremely limited in how we can achieve this. Our index fingers (2 and 4) are the most nimble, so they do the vast majority of the heavy-lifting, along with the thumb (5). Shakuhachi doesn’t use the middle fingers at all, except for stability, and we should refrain from lifting them.

We number the holes on the shakuhachi counting from the bottom to top, 1-5; 1-4 in front, the thumb hole in back is 5. (see below)

Basically, the rule is we articulate melodic lines when descending—never ascending, with one exception. Some meri notes (that is, a note that is embellished by both lowering our head and partially covering a hole) we will hit 2, 4, or 5 going both up and down. For example, when transitioning tsu-meri to ro we will hit 2, and from chi-meri to re we hit 4.

2, 4, and 5 are also used to repeat notes unless otherwise notated. This passage from Hachigaeshi, for example:

the script in red lets us know to repeat “u” by hitting 3

We will sometimes see the character ru (ル) which indicates a note is repeated by striking 1. If there is a repeat after ru, it means a repeat of this ru, not a standard repeat of the note.

Articulation is also important at the beginning of a phrase. The technique is the same, hitting either the 2nd, 4th, or 5th hole to give definition to the opening note of the phrase.

To demonstrate, here’s a small excerpt from Kurokami. I will play the highlighted section (note the beginning of the phrase starts with tsu-tsu-ru-ru):

(Unfortunately, I don’t have a multi-cam set up in my office just yet so a visual of the thumb aerobics will have to wait.)

To my mind, Kinko-ryū shakuhachi requires a tremendous amount of focus. It is a flute of such simple design but its the simplicity that can prove utterly confounding. With only five holes and a very open blowing edge, the subtly of fingering and even the most minute changes to the angle of your head while playing contribute tremendously to your pitch and tone. Add to that these finer details like articulation and it can feel overwhelming; until, through repetition they happen by rote.

To that end, here are a couple exercises you can do to get more comfortable with this technique. The goal will always be to minimize the movement of your fingers and conserve energy.

Starting in ryo (lower octave), we hit 5 between ri and u; 4 between u and re in both directions; 4 between re and tsu-meri; 2 between tsu-meri and ro, again in both directions:

In kan (upper register), we hit 2 between tsu-meri and ro, both ascending and descending; 4 from re to tsu-meri; 4 between chi-meri and re in both directions:

The majority of Kinko-ryū shakuhachi players strayed away from the Araki-ha in the first half of the 20th century. For reasons that are hopefully obvious at this stage, I have kept my focus on the very singular path of shakuhachi study: that of my family and its direct link to Kurosawa Kinko. Not exploring alternate playing methods wasn’t due to a lack of curiosity. For me, truly mastering the subtleties of Kinko-ryū, and specifically the Araki-ha will take several lifetimes. I also enjoyed studying with my father, despite the outsized shadow he cast, and the fact that he set a standard I may never meet, let alone surpass.

Thanks for following along with these rather deep dives into technique! I hope they make sense. Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments or send me a message if you’d rather. Next week, we’ll be looking at a few very shakuhachi-y techniques: yuri, yuri-komi, muraiki, among others.

More anon,
Hanz