Shakuhachi Introduction 4: Basic Notes

[@origamist757]

Спасибо за ваш труд, вы отличный учитель!

[@NicolasBras]

Thanks for those useful infos!

[@MarkusGuhe]

🙂 I'm glad you find it helpful! 🙏

[@LuthienElven]

Thank you for making this lesson. It really helped me make a fingering chart and learn the fingerings. The 78 year old student.

[@MarkusGuhe]

That's fantastic - I'm glad the video helped! 🙂 Maybe this is useful: There are some fingering charts available from this Web page: shakuhachisociety.eu/resources/getting-started/

[@LuthienElven]

@@MarkusGuhe Thank you very much for the Web page adrdess. The shakuhachi charts looks really challenging and it is part of the journey. Saving all the videos from 1 to 5.

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@LuthienElven Thanks; I'm glad they are useful! Don't panic - it just takes a while to find your way through all this, but it's not so difficult once you get the hang of it. 💪

[@karenburnett3612]

I’m 79😉just a rank beginner.

[@ralphminervino9686]

Marcus, I’ve been playing for a while, no problem getting the notes at this point but your practice tips were great as I haven’t been doing them and have been struggling a bit with consistency.. Thanks so much.. I really enjoyed this video and plan to continue watching others..

[@MarkusGuhe]

Hi Ralph, I'm glad that you find the tips useful. Let me know if you run into difficulties, I'm always looking for video topics! 🙂

[@abhilashboro8198]

Hello sir now I actually just stumbled upon a yT short of shakuhachi while looking for stuff for my classic Indian flute and it's been 10 months since I started flute and I have always loved the peace of Japanese music I always tried to blow tunes like those on my Indian flute trying anime tunes and what not I didn't know there was a separate flute for it and when I got to know I just had to learn it I searched shakuhachi ur blvideo came up first nd I watch 3 of them made my own shakuhachi and I tried blowing in it and the next thing I know I was playing Ro in just 5 minutes there's really no way I can get a teacher here in India for a shakuhachi so I look forward to learning online from you so I sincerely thank you for ur efforts

[@MarkusGuhe]

That's great; I'm glad to hear you managed to make a flute and start playing. Thanks for you kind words! 🙏

[@paulpinet6259]

Servus Markus! Thanks for this video. Just subscribed to your channel. I am just starting to learn Shakuhachi and while I like it very much I can also get frustrated. I am encouraged though. The sounds it produces fills my soul. Thanks and Tschüss!

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thanks for subscribing, Paul! 🙂 It's good to hear you feel encouraged; frustration is just part of the process!

[@BanzanShakuhachi]

Hi, let me start by saying that I appreciate the effort you put in these videos. Great work! I found the explanation very clear and comprehensive. One suggestion I have is that you state in the beginning of your videos about notation or techniques what shakuhachi school they apply to. In my case (Tozan School) we use the name HA for RI, for example. As you asked about ideas for new videos, I think that talking about the non-basic notes is a must. I also suggest you indicate some tunes people could use for practice. I learned shakuhachi in Japan, so I mainly used Japanese songs, but some other tunes may be more appropriate for the Western audience that I think is your main target. Finally, a comment about the way in which you repeated the RO sound. In Tozan School we open the second hole (same as for TSU), but your school (Kinko?) seems to use a different way, as you opened the first hole. This is interesting, so I'm wondering if there is any reason for this difference.

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thanks, I'm glad you like the videos - and yes, they're quite a lot of work! 🙂I did think about talking about differences between schools or introducing different names for fingerings/notes, but in the end decided to leave that for future videos (one on schools, one on notation), because I'm already mentioning quite a lot of things. I had planned to state that this is Kinko - I simply forgot! Practice tunes are a great idea; I'll definitely put that on my list! Yes, I learned to repeat RO with 1 (it's KSK style), but as far as I know some Kinko (sub)schools also use 2. I was taught to do as I please, as it doesn't make a difference for the sound or in the practicalities of playing (usually), just that 1 is the 'usual' way to doing it. One reason may be that the index finger is stronger than the ring finger, so it's easier to control, which may make repeats easier. But this is just speculation on my part. On the other hand using the lowest finger (usually) is a simpler system ... I've not yet found that it affects the sound in any way, so I just do it the way I was taught. If you learn anything more about this, I'd be curious to know!

[@kellybannister5385]

Very thoughtful content that is relevant for a beginner and excellent explanations, thank you!

[@MarkusGuhe]

You're very welcome! I'm glad you like the video! Thanks! 🙏

[@WoodwindSpirit]

Good to know that I am not the only one who gets dizzy 😅🙏 ... Thank you so much for providing your knowledge. ❤❤

[@MarkusGuhe]

You’re very welcome. 🙏 I’m glad it’s useful!

[@acidinka]

Im at the beginning of my musical journey with flute. Thank you so much for simple explanations!

[@MarkusGuhe]

You're very welcome! 🙏 I'm glad to hear you find my explanations useful!

[@ottokarvonschnallenburg2572]

Aaah, genau so etwas wie diese Playlist hatte ich gesucht👍

[@MarkusGuhe]

Das freut mich! 🙂

[@markbremer1813]

Extremely helpful, all of it. I am just learning with very little direction and this has given me starting point will be following closely.

[@MarkusGuhe]

Glad it was helpful! 🙏 Let me know how yoiu're getting on! 🙂

[@tetianastasiuk7144]

This is the best video for beginners ✨

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thank you! I'm glad this is useful!

[@FranciscoVerdugoM]

I like your videos. Make simple things that i have been spend a lot of time searching and reading. Thanks for it.

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thanks I'm glad you find it useful!

[@MichaelHartleyBambooStudio]

Just a thought; to make the first sound, 'ro' with all holes closed is much harder than starting with open holes...

[@MarkusGuhe]

Indeed, it's quite a bit harder!

[@Teamanmadeoftea]

Hello! Thank you for that little series, I finally got some time to watch them! I really enjoy your way of teaching shakuhachi, it’s something that was missing in the Internet for me! I wonder if you could expand on how to play kan, since for me, as a beginner, it’s quite a challenge, and I thing you can explain it better than anyone! However, all of your vids are great, and I’m happy you’re here with us on KZbin, keep it up!

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thanks, I'm glad you like the videos! A video on playing kan is on my list, but there are some other videos I'm planning to do first. There definitely will be more shakuhachi introduction videos!

[@Hereisavideo]

Thanks so much - your videos are such a great help 🙏🏼

[@MarkusGuhe]

You are so welcome! Thanks for your kind comment! 🙏

[@korikoran]

Thank you for the explaination :D

[@MarkusGuhe]

You're welcome! 🙏🙂

[@RAMAKAVYA]

Thank you very much Markus, very usefull!!!!

[@MarkusGuhe]

Glad to hear that!

[@fumarolas]

Thank you fellow synthesis lover. Your videos are very clear and friendly. Would you say a Shakuhachi from Thomann is a good instrument for a beginner? They’re under 200€. Maybe you have some independent Shakuhachi makers to recommend. Maybe the flutes have more character. I’m in Europe. Thanks a lot.

[@MarkusGuhe]

Hello fellow synthesist! 😉 While I usually like Thomann a lot, these product descriptions are actually pretty much totally wrong: These are xiao (as they are correctly called in the title), but they are neither shakuhachi nor Japanese nor pentatonic flutes. Xiao are Chinese end-blown bamboo flutes. You can see they have more finger holes and the top hole actually is not open as it is in shakuhachi. There are only few shakuhachi makers in Europe and even fewer who make good flutes (what I consider good). For ji-ari flutes you can have a look here: shakuhachi-atelier.com/shop/ (that's also where I got the PVC flute from the previous video), for ji-nashi, Jose Vargas makes good ones: www.shakuhachi-jinashi.com/. (Site is in Spanish, but he speaks English.) If you'd like more detailed information, fee free to email me.

[@datmusicguy4735]

Hey Frank, bei careful! The Flutes Thoman try to sell as a shakuhachi aren't shakuhachis. They are Chinese Xiaos. Don't want to hate on Thoman, love them, but there went something wrong. Try to look for a shakuhachi yuu from japan

[@MarkusGuhe]

Hehe, simul-commenting! 😁 Well, on eBay lots of xiao are being sold as shakuhachi - it's a common thing. So I don't think that something went wrong here especially, but it shows that maybe for specialised instruments like shakuhachi Thomann is not the best source ... Also, these mix-ups are very annoying of course. Yes, the Yuu is good for beginners, but a bamboo flute is always nicer ...

[@datmusicguy4735]

@@MarkusGuhe maybe someone should tell Thomann🤣

[@MarkusGuhe]

Was thinking about it, but who has the time? 😁

[@abhilashboro8198]

Ouh and maybe it'll be good if u form a playlist of the shakuhachi intro series cuz when I looked into ur channel I found only 3 playlists so plz do put the videos together into a playlist as it'll be more convinient to find and have the videos play serially instead of having to scroll down searching for them

[@MarkusGuhe]

There's such a playlist that's also shown on the channel homepage: kzbin.info/aero/PLp4lTbRmm4SnGYrLIKffLZyLYX-ZP5YJH 🙂

[@shakuhachijo5510]

Good job Man! 😊🎶

[@MarkusGuhe]

Glad you like it!

[@martinschuetter2084]

love it!!!

[@MarkusGuhe]

🙏

[@martialartsnerd3253]

I’m not sure if you might know, but I have something that looks like a shakuhachi but isn’t. It has 5 front holes and is longer. The outside is lacquered and carved, while the inside is clean. It can play 1 octave, though this may be due to moisture in the mouthpiece. The bamboo looks as wide as a shakuhachi but it is thin. This produces a pretty airy and quiet sound. I suspect it may be Chinese?

[@MarkusGuhe]

From the way you describe it, it's probably a xiao then, not a shakuhachi. Maybe search for that.

[@Max3851]

May I say lovely work, excellent practical advice given clearly and with no pretention. Such an excellent point when you say at the end to find your own voice on the Shakuhatchi... this is truly inspiring. I have had my beautiful instrument all of two weeks, and find her fresh/dark/passionate and singing tones a real pandoras box of magic. I feel at the bottom of a mountain, but what a beautiful mountain to climb.

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thank you very much! 🙏 I'm glad you find the shakuhachi (and the video) inspiring. I completely agree that it is a huge mountain, and I can honestly say that even after a few years of climbing it I'm still looking with wonder and determination at the peak . (Knowing that I'll never get there. 😂)

[@mariavatterott5010]

konnichiwa markus sensei. at first, thanks for your nice, detailed, step by step videos. thats very cool. arrigatou gozaimashita. i'm a absolutely beginner. i can make a noise on a shakuhachi and thats all of my skills :D so, i try to play the tone "ro", but it doesn't works. maybe you have a clue for me? if i close with my fingers, it came only a whiz. if my boyfriend closed with his fingers, it works and i have a tone. so what can i do or train with my to short fingers? ^^'

[@MarkusGuhe]

Thanks for you nice comment; it's good to hear the videos are helpful! 🙏 It sounds like the main problem at the moment is to close all the holes completely. You can try a few things: Start from a higher note maybe chi or re and then go down one note. Take care that the 'new' hole is covered completely and the old hole remains completely closed as well. Looking at yourself in the mirror may help identifying any leaks. If you find that stretching your fingers is difficult, it often helps to do a small warmup, so that the muscles and tendons are a bit more relaxed. If that's what's happening here, it may take a while (a few weeks) until it gets easier to stretch your fingers far enough. Don't force it, but do some (short) practice *every* day.

[@arthurthorne1849]

Dear Marcus, In the last few months i have begun to practice on the shakuhachi . I could get a note almost straight away on my yuu flute but find it difficult to progress any further on the yuu flute.I have since purchased a maple 1.6 shakuhachi from japan which has been fine tuned and it is far easier to play for some reason.I can play ro on it sometimes quite well but i am inconsistant. How much are the cost of lessons with you. Please let me know .Thanks

[@MarkusGuhe]

Hi Arthur, Often it is really just the match between player and flute that decides how easy it is to play on an instrument. Or maybe it is just easier for you to play on a shorter flute at the moment. (Breath control on long shakuhachi is a bit more tricky.) Thanks for your interest in lessons. There is some information on this page: markusguhe.net/teaching.php If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email anytime!

[@nishantmudgal4434]

You Look Like Kaicelius in Doctor Strange ( Mads Mikkelsen )

[@MarkusGuhe]

Oh no! My cover is blown! And I was so careful! 🙂

[@nishantmudgal4434]

@@MarkusGuhe i didn't got you😅😅

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@nishantmudgal4434 😄

[@nishantmudgal4434]

@@MarkusGuhe i meant can you please elaborate what you said😅😅 sorry

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@nishantmudgal4434 Oh, sorry! 🙂 I was just making a silly joke on your comment that i look like Kaicelius (implying that I actually am him and am just making YT videos on the side under a pseudonym, and now you've uncovered my true identity).

[@LunElendil]

Thank you for the insight! Can you recommend an international vendor for Shakuhachi, and specifically - the longer version?

[@MarkusGuhe]

You're welcome! 🙂 I always point at Mejiro in Tokyo first. (The owner speaks excellent English too.) You could also have a look at Tai Hei Shakuhachi in the US. For long flutes it's also a good idea to get in touch with a maker directly, but it really depends on what type of flute you're looking for.

[@LunElendil]

@@MarkusGuhe Got it. Thank you again. I will take a look at all your recommendations and keep studying your videos :)

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@LunElendil Thank you! 🙏 Let me know how you’re getting on!

[@LunElendil]

@@MarkusGuhe I'd love to! I've had my Shakuhachi for 2 days and already i can play Otsu and the first 2 notes of Kan! I am working on my tone generation since i want to master the 2 octaves and be able to freely switch between them before i proceed with studying the japanese version of music theory :D. I am musically illiterate but i do beatbox on a concert flute so hopefully my hearing will not fail me this time either!

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@LunElendil That’s great to hear! 👍Interesting use of a flute too! 🙂 Please just keep in mind that shakuhachi embouchure works a bit differently than for other flutes, so playing kan consistently may turn out a bit tricky.

[@mokuho]

How can i learn the first notes!😥

[@MarkusGuhe]

Getting the first sounds is a bit tricky, unfortunately. There's a video with some tips here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6CqlZKmoZKtj6c Just keep trying! 💪

[@asiahall9229]

Hi Markus! Thank you for another wonderful video, I am watching your lessons religiously as I begin my shakuhachi journey! I have a question though: I know that it's mentioned the lower notes are much more difficult to produce. However, do you know exactly what makes them so difficult? I have yet be able to produce any sound for RO (I am using the shakuhachi yuu so know it can't be a flute problem) and I want to know if there's any trick to getting the note. I finally was able to reach TSU after a lot of experimenting with the angle of the shakuhachi, how hard I was blowing, but the note only came when I opened my mouth quite wide and made an "O" shape with my lips, so I'm guessing I probably cheated to get that note. Can you recommend what things I should focus on changing to reach those low notes?

[@MarkusGuhe]

Yes, another disciple for my shakuhachi cult! 🤣 For ro and lower notes in general, it is exactly as you observed: You have to make a (slightly) bigger embouchure. It helps a bit if you make the air stream slower until you get the hang of it. Also, don't tense your lips; otherwise stable tone production is very difficult on the shakuhachi. But it sounds like you're on the right path. I talk a bit about this in the video on playing kan, if I remember correctly. As always: Before you're getting frustrated, please seek professional help! 😉

[@asiahall9229]

@@MarkusGuhe thank you so much! I definitely realize that I’ve been tensing my lips to try to control the air flow, and when I relax them, slow down the air, and widen the stream I’m consistently getting TSU! Takes a few seconds, but then I can sustain and repeat it! Still struggling to get RO but now at least the air is making a tiny sound so I know I’ll get it!

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@asiahall9229 That’s great to hear - well done! ✌ Just make little changes and observe how what you’re doing changes your tone production and the sound quality. That’s a good way to progress.

[@nostalgiakarlk.f.7386]

I have an unusual shakuhachi in that it's tuned in B flat rather than D or A. I can play the first octave relatively easily, but then I can only play two of the notes in the second octave before it's all just breathy noise. Is it the instrument or am I doing something wrong?

[@MarkusGuhe]

Bb should be a 2.3, right? That’s a bit less common, but Yokoyama sensei liked that length! 🙂 Without seeing you play that’s really difficult to say. On some shakuhachi it gets more difficult at kan-no-re, but these usually are not good quality instruments. Another possibility is that you’re tensing your lips too much and blowing too hard. Maybe there’s a useful tip for you in this video on kan? kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHnRm5ieq999oJo

[@nostalgiakarlk.f.7386]

@@MarkusGuhe I tried that technique, which helps, but it only lets me play one more note than I could before. Perhaps it is a poor-quality instrument. I got it at a place called Reliquary Arcanum for $45.

[@MarkusGuhe]

@@nostalgiakarlk.f.7386 In that case I think the problem actually is the instrument. (There’s a reason that shakuhachi are so expensive ... 😉)

[@catalinmunteanu78]

❤🙏

[@MarkusGuhe]

🙏

[@generaldemolka4455]

Is it normal to struggle while playing "Ro"? I swear, I never have managed to nail this one down, not even once. Do you perhaps know what might be the cause of this?

[@MarkusGuhe]

Oh, there are many reasons why ro is difficult. That's why the main exercise is ro-buki, and not, say, ri-buki. 🙂 Typically, some main factors are: You're blowing too hard, the embouchure is too small, and/or you're too tense (especially the lips). It needs a lot of practice - I often spend 1/3 to 1/2 of a lesson on robuki and tone production.

[@generaldemolka4455]

@@MarkusGuhe Thank you for the reply, I will try to make some adjustments and practice as you do.

[@suehamilton8818]

I received a cloth to clean the Shakuhachi. How often do you do that?

[@MarkusGuhe]

You should clean out the moisture from your flute after each practice and whenever a large amount has built up.

[@OmegaRacer]

I play the didgeridoo. Is it possible to use the circular breathing with the shakuhachi?

[@MarkusGuhe]

The most common answer you'll get is: It's possible but not necessary. 🙂 From a musical point, circular breathing can sound very unnatural, but of course it depends on what you're doing, and what you want to play. From a technical perspective, circular breathing on the shakuhachi is actually quite tricky, because you can't use your cheeks to store the air, instead you have to use your larynx/throat for that. And that takes a lot of practice (usually years compared to the weeks most people need on the didgeridoo).

[@AntiPattern123]

Danke lieber Herr. Ich liebe dieses Instrument. So einfach und ehrlich. Dein Video war mir sehr hilfreich. Ich hab mir eine Shakuhachi bestellt von Hassan. Quer. Ich werd Dich in Zukunft vermutlich noch mal nerven ;) Sub is raus

[@MarkusGuhe]

Vielen Dank! Es freut mich natürlich sehr, dass dir Shakuhachi gefällt! Ich hoffe, das Instrument is gut, und ich freue mich schon auf das zukünftige Nerven! 🙂