I just can't seem to hit the right notes on my fue (flute).
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I just can't seem to hit the right notes on my fue (flute).
Hello I'm Kjell and I am new to this forum so I will introduce myself 'briefly'. 
I live In Belgium and study a lot of science in school (physics, chemistry, math, biology, ...), I am 16 years old.
I speak Dutch, English and quite some French also I am learning Esperanto/Japanese and would like to perfect my Afrikaans - which looks a lot like Dutch - some more.
I also play bass (primarily), guitar, some keyboard and I'm learning to sing, besides playing music I can also enjoy recording/mixing it.
I like open-source software. (Linux etc.)
I have something called an 'ASD', it is the term for all autism and related 'disorders': autism, asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS, ..., I have kind of like a lighter form of it.
It explains a lot of now funny sounding things when I was a kid.
I cannot remember exactly anymore how I got into shakuhachi but I have always loved Japanese folk and meditation music, also I consider myself a buddhist and I love taoist philosophy.
I first tried to make a shakuhachi out of PVC myself but that kind of failed, I got around 2 cm outside diameter rather dan inside or bore diameter and I cut it to far I guess.
I never touched a shakuhachi before and so the cut for my utaguchi was to sharp or just not good enough.
I ended with something that is more close to a G rather than a D or 'ro' as root note.
I can only get about 2 'notes' out of it.
After a couple of weeks I decided to get a 'real' plastic shakuhachi from here: http://www.shakuhachi-shop.nl/shop/rootend-pvc-shakuhachi/
The site says it is supposed to be tuned in D.
Now the problem I am having is that I always seem to be between a note to flat and the actual note I am trying to play.
For example when I am trying to play a D root note (ro) so with all holes covered and I blow relaxed, I get a to sharp C#...
I really have to force my posture and blowing to get near the note I am trying to play.
Also some days the notes just seem to come and other days I really have to force them out.
So is it my technique or my flute?
=> 99% chance it is my technique because I have checked the length and it can phsyically only be right, a PVC tube is a perfect cylinder.
And if so can maybe someone help me out?
I have included a video I hope will be helpful.
The video was recorded with my webcam and the audio with a Shure SM58,
hopefully I have synced audio/video good enough to give everybody a general idea.
I do have to mention that I am learning on my own for the moment or maybe longer than the moment but I really seem to love playing shakuhachi.
Sorry for starting like all my sentences in the I - form.
+ I wrote this text for the second time because my browser freezed for some reason - I am using plain firefox. - and so I may have rushed some things but I guess everyone understands what I am trying to say...
If someone could help me out or give me tips that would be great!
I live In Belgium and study a lot of science in school (physics, chemistry, math, biology, ...), I am 16 years old.
I speak Dutch, English and quite some French also I am learning Esperanto/Japanese and would like to perfect my Afrikaans - which looks a lot like Dutch - some more.
I also play bass (primarily), guitar, some keyboard and I'm learning to sing, besides playing music I can also enjoy recording/mixing it.
I like open-source software. (Linux etc.)
I have something called an 'ASD', it is the term for all autism and related 'disorders': autism, asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS, ..., I have kind of like a lighter form of it.
It explains a lot of now funny sounding things when I was a kid.
I cannot remember exactly anymore how I got into shakuhachi but I have always loved Japanese folk and meditation music, also I consider myself a buddhist and I love taoist philosophy.
I first tried to make a shakuhachi out of PVC myself but that kind of failed, I got around 2 cm outside diameter rather dan inside or bore diameter and I cut it to far I guess.
I never touched a shakuhachi before and so the cut for my utaguchi was to sharp or just not good enough.
I ended with something that is more close to a G rather than a D or 'ro' as root note.
I can only get about 2 'notes' out of it.
After a couple of weeks I decided to get a 'real' plastic shakuhachi from here: http://www.shakuhachi-shop.nl/shop/rootend-pvc-shakuhachi/
The site says it is supposed to be tuned in D.
Now the problem I am having is that I always seem to be between a note to flat and the actual note I am trying to play.
For example when I am trying to play a D root note (ro) so with all holes covered and I blow relaxed, I get a to sharp C#...
I really have to force my posture and blowing to get near the note I am trying to play.
Also some days the notes just seem to come and other days I really have to force them out.
So is it my technique or my flute?
=> 99% chance it is my technique because I have checked the length and it can phsyically only be right, a PVC tube is a perfect cylinder.
And if so can maybe someone help me out?
I have included a video I hope will be helpful.
The video was recorded with my webcam and the audio with a Shure SM58,
hopefully I have synced audio/video good enough to give everybody a general idea.
I do have to mention that I am learning on my own for the moment or maybe longer than the moment but I really seem to love playing shakuhachi.
Sorry for starting like all my sentences in the I - form.
+ I wrote this text for the second time because my browser freezed for some reason - I am using plain firefox. - and so I may have rushed some things but I guess everyone understands what I am trying to say...
If someone could help me out or give me tips that would be great!
Did you forget to link to your video?
If you are getting the notes right sometimes, then maybe it is just a matter of inconsistency in that when you relax, you also change something about how you position the shakuhachi such that the pitch changes.
If you are getting the notes right sometimes, then maybe it is just a matter of inconsistency in that when you relax, you also change something about how you position the shakuhachi such that the pitch changes.
At least you're getting a sound!! It took me ages.
You have to be aware of everything you are doing to gain consistency.
I know I played flat until I could get the angle of the shakuhachi right and still blow across it.
Also it does sound as if you are blowing/breathing across the flute a bit too hard, perhaps you are not relaxed in position. Relaxed/correct posture is pretty important, as is your mood sometimes. There are days when I just can't get it right! Then I realise I'm not concentrating for some reason.
A shakuhachi teaches PATIENCE and concentration!
You have to be aware of everything you are doing to gain consistency.
I know I played flat until I could get the angle of the shakuhachi right and still blow across it.
Also it does sound as if you are blowing/breathing across the flute a bit too hard, perhaps you are not relaxed in position. Relaxed/correct posture is pretty important, as is your mood sometimes. There are days when I just can't get it right! Then I realise I'm not concentrating for some reason.
A shakuhachi teaches PATIENCE and concentration!
Hi Kjell !
You have to look for the good position to hold your Shakuhachi. With your tuner, try to memorize the angle of holding your flute when you manage to make a beautiful Ro (D).
We do not have all the same morphology. And according to the shape of your chin, you will have to adapt a little the angle of holding your Shakuhachi.
I am not an experimented player but I know that according to Shakuhachi which I use, I have to hold the instrument more or less vertically to make a just note.
It is necessary to be patient and attentive in what you are doing. Progress slowly, by trying to make beautiful notes, one at the same time. Work every note for a long time, to understand how works your flute.
Concentrate at the beginning only on Ro.
Try to make the most beautiful Ro possible, by holding for a long time the note. Discover how to modulate it. Lighter, stronger, faster, long.
Then pass in another note...
Good luck Kjell
You have to look for the good position to hold your Shakuhachi. With your tuner, try to memorize the angle of holding your flute when you manage to make a beautiful Ro (D).
We do not have all the same morphology. And according to the shape of your chin, you will have to adapt a little the angle of holding your Shakuhachi.
I am not an experimented player but I know that according to Shakuhachi which I use, I have to hold the instrument more or less vertically to make a just note.
It is necessary to be patient and attentive in what you are doing. Progress slowly, by trying to make beautiful notes, one at the same time. Work every note for a long time, to understand how works your flute.
Concentrate at the beginning only on Ro.
Try to make the most beautiful Ro possible, by holding for a long time the note. Discover how to modulate it. Lighter, stronger, faster, long.
Then pass in another note...
Good luck Kjell
Ok, thanks for the clarification!
Now I am starting to notice that when I move the flute downards - so that my breath goes slightly more upwards on the utaguchi - the note does get higher and sometimes near green on my tuner (= in tune).
That is a motivation for me to keep practicing.
And yes, now I notice (also in the video) that I do change my position, some things are coming together now I think.
Yesterday I was able to play in tune for a moment, I even got to the 2nd octave, I cannot remember anymore how I did it but first I will get my first octave or more precisely my ro as good as possible..
Now I am starting to notice that when I move the flute downards - so that my breath goes slightly more upwards on the utaguchi - the note does get higher and sometimes near green on my tuner (= in tune).
That is a motivation for me to keep practicing.
And yes, now I notice (also in the video) that I do change my position, some things are coming together now I think.
Yesterday I was able to play in tune for a moment, I even got to the 2nd octave, I cannot remember anymore how I did it but first I will get my first octave or more precisely my ro as good as possible..
It is the angle of the instrument and also a question of embouchure. Try to find a good position for your flute and then blow more downwards into the flute. That can help!
Kiku mentions the dreaded "embouchure".
That, in a word, was my hardest, is my hardest, task to develop.
It's why long tone practice with awareness of what is happening is so very, very important. The prize is that you really will improve. I've spent more time blowing Ro than I care to remember. The long tones, for me, become an end in themselves, and I enjoy them!! Then suddenly the third octave turns up at the party!!!!
I don't tend to play in that octave but I do long tones which I can feel are teaching me to relax into my embouchure, and to realise that it is not fixed and becomes "controllable". I use inverted commas because after all that long tone practice, etc the changes are built in, and become natural, so the idea of conscious control doesn't figure.
But for me it takes time, patience and practice , practice, practice, "lest too light the winning makes the prize light"!!!!!!!!
That, in a word, was my hardest, is my hardest, task to develop.
It's why long tone practice with awareness of what is happening is so very, very important. The prize is that you really will improve. I've spent more time blowing Ro than I care to remember. The long tones, for me, become an end in themselves, and I enjoy them!! Then suddenly the third octave turns up at the party!!!!
I don't tend to play in that octave but I do long tones which I can feel are teaching me to relax into my embouchure, and to realise that it is not fixed and becomes "controllable". I use inverted commas because after all that long tone practice, etc the changes are built in, and become natural, so the idea of conscious control doesn't figure.
But for me it takes time, patience and practice , practice, practice, "lest too light the winning makes the prize light"!!!!!!!!
Maybe a short (and stupid) question to that: when I blow long tones I get dizzy after a few rounds of Ro. I stop, wait for a minute and continue. Is that ok or am I doing something wrong?
It is normal I think at the beginning. Because we spend too much breath.
To blow for a long time without using too much breath is the privilege of the confirmed players.
The fact of blowing for a long time in Shakuhachi can be similar to the fact of blowing in an air bed to fill it with air. Hyper ventilation and dizziness.
We must continue, things will be in place naturally. The body and mind must adapt. But of course, we have to stop before collapsing!
To blow for a long time without using too much breath is the privilege of the confirmed players.
The fact of blowing for a long time in Shakuhachi can be similar to the fact of blowing in an air bed to fill it with air. Hyper ventilation and dizziness.
We must continue, things will be in place naturally. The body and mind must adapt. But of course, we have to stop before collapsing!
Yeah, I think it is similiar to what happens when say, a runner attempts to run beyond his/her fitness level: after the run he/she will feel dizzy and take much longer to recover his/her breath than normal. With training this will eventually be overcome, and so it is with shakuhachi.
Yes, I think in the beginning you will "overblow", using far more effort and air than you will as you become more used to the
blowing/breathing technique required in playing the shakuhachi. The blowing/breathing will become more natural. You don't get dizzy when you breathe normally, and so it is as you become more frugal in your use of breath in your playing.
blowing/breathing technique required in playing the shakuhachi. The blowing/breathing will become more natural. You don't get dizzy when you breathe normally, and so it is as you become more frugal in your use of breath in your playing.
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