Awakening of Shakuhachi I

It was around winter solstice, 22 Dec 2020, that my Shakuhachi (尺八) awakened. Or from a more scientific perspective, my mind-body adapted to the instrument and thus found its sweet spot. The process took around 5 months of regular practice.

In the Shakuhachi world, the base sound or tonic 筒音 which is when all finger holes are closed is an important tone to stabilise and strengthen. It is taught that establishing and maintaining this foundation helps one improve all other tones. Having learnt the Xiao 箫 earlier on also helped me better appreciate the similarities and differences between these two instruments. It is interesting that despite the common lineage, the two cultures of teaching and playing developed rather differently. 

The base note for Shakuhachi of any length is simply called Ro ロ, so you'd often hear about Ro-buki ロ吹き (Ro breath practice), with an emphasis on sustaining long notes. Generally this is similar for all wind instruments, that is, acquiring an efficient breathing technique that produces a stable tone and volume. However, in the Shakuhachi fraternity, players also aim to achieve a blasting Ro sound, like a roaring jet engine. This emphasis on intensity is rather distinct from Xiao, perhaps due to the pervasiveness of "soft" music for the Xiao. Words to describe the Xiao include 敛内，清幽，古朴，清虚，roughly meaning reserved, deeply serene, quaint/simple, clear/elusive. Possibly such words could be stereotyping the Xiao by only highlighting these characteristics.

I suspect there's also a misunderstood image of the Xiao due to the fact that there are two further categories of Xiao: the Northern Xiao 北箫 and the Southern Xiao 南箫. The slimmer and longer northern version produces the above mentioned "soft" characteristics. Thus it is often paired up with "soft" instruments such as the guqin 古琴. Understandably, the Northern Xiao is not included into the modern Chinese orchestra as it would be drowned out. 

On the other hand, the Southern Xiao is much closer to the Shakuhachi in both its design, tone quality, and dynamics. From my understanding, ancient Chinese cultural elements such as language, music, and customs, had migrated southwards and thus were preserved in these parts of China, away from the strife in the central and northern regions. So it is not surprising to find that the Chinese word for Shakuhachi, 尺八, is also used to describe the Southern Xiao.

The migration of the ancient Xiao to Japan happened in the religious context of Zen Buddhism, and this influenced how spiritual practice became intertwined with this instrument. Sound was used as a tool for meditation and brought forth such statements as 一音成佛 enlightenment through one sound. There was less emphasis on performing a piece that had melodic appeal.

Somehow along its development in Japan, the resonance of each tone in the Shakuhachi grew in importance. It is admirable that the craftsmen made refinements that now make the Shakuhachi an outstanding instrument. One of which is the coating of plaster paste (ji 地) and lacquer (urushi 漆) to the inner bore to achieve correct pitch and quality of tone.  The number of finger holes were also reduced from 6 to 5 and there are various theories on this revolving around music scales. In contrast, the modern Xiao is commonly found with 8 finger holes. For me this reduction is emblematic of a Zen approach, which adds a layer of technical difficulty towards playing the right pitch "between" the full clear tones. This is the well known head/flute tilting used to shift the angle and thus the pitch of sound produced. And this uncertainty in the production of microtones also reflects a spiritual approach of how one can accept imperfection and its inherent beauty.

Perhaps the value placed on direct experience of sound and just being present with the instrument contributed to the difference in emphasis between the playing of Shakuhachi and Xiao. For a Shakuhachi to be "broken in", "opened up", or "awakened", the benchmark is one can produce the blasting Ro sound. For some instruments, it can be easy to reach but for others it may take months of patience to find the connection between embouchure, angles, and breath pressure. This is a satisfying endeavour which you may wish to consider.