Moving between flutes...and breathing life.

                                                                  The fortunate part of owning more than one flute is that I have the option of different keys and dimensions in which to switch between. Hideo is my daily flute and it's with him I spend by far the most time. Yet, how fun to switch to the longer and deeper 2.1/2.2 shauhachi and play the same songs, scales and notes. Or, to play the 1.8 Earth flute that is a smaller bore and a wee bit tougher to play due to embouchure. either way, I get to practice.




After a few months of switching between these three, I have come to really value the Earth and Chikusing models much more than I ever have. While Hideo, my much more expensive, advanced and better playing

 尺八 is the model to spend most of my time on, my others are never far away and deserve to have life breathed into them. After all,to this player,a shakuhachi
does not really "live" until it is played and given life by the one connecting with it, the one breathing into it. No matter whether it is living by playing simple scales or the oldest and most sacred honkyoku, the  尺八 flute in front of you is part of this earth. And it can truly call back to where it was grown from if the soul and heart desire it. Sure, some just love the sound of the shakuhachi itself and have no Buddhist ties to it, either religious,philosophical or historical. And that is just fine. But, THIS musician feels every breath he sends to it, communicates with and listens to when the sounds are made. This...this is when the real meditative qualities of playing the shakuhachi, 尺八, mean something special. :-)



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