Shakuhachi
The shakuhachi is a Japanese vertical bamboo flute with a notched mouthpiece, four finger holes in front, and one hole in back. Traditionally, the flute is made from a stalk of mandrake bamboo severed at the root, which becomes the bell of the instrument. The bamboo is hollowed, the holes bored, the instrument divided into two parts for easy storage and transport, and the inside lacquered.
The word "shakuhachi" comes from the standard size of the instrument, which is one shaku and eight (hachi) sun long (about 54 centimeters), but shakuhachi also come in other sizes, each of which is tuned to a different key. Performers use various techniques, including half-holing, cross-holing, glissandos, flutter tonguing, and chin and neck movements, to produce a wide range of pitches and timbres.
In the seventh century, the ancestor of the shakuhachi, a slender, Chinese six-holed flute, was introduced into Japan, but it was several centuries later that the instrument evolved into its present form. In the seventeenth century, the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism began to use shakuhachi performance as a form of meditation, thus associating the instrument with Zen philosophy and the itinerant Fuke monks called komuso ("monks of emptiness and nothingness"). Recent centuries have seen the development of various schools of shakuhachi performance, including the widespread Kinko and Tozan schools.
The shakuhachi has a large repertoire, including honkyoku (solo pieces), min'yo (folk music), and sankyoku (chamber music performed with koto and shamisen). Recently, the shakuhachi has also been used for contemporary and jazz compositions.
Further Reading
Blasdel, Christopher Yohmei, and Yuko Kamisango. (1988) The Shakuhachi: A Manual for Learning. Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomo Sha.
Taniguchi, Yoshinobu. (1985) How to Play the Shakuhachi: A Guide to the Japanese Bamboo Flute. Willits, CA: Tai Hei Shakuhachi.
——, and Michael Gould. (1996) How to Play Classical Shakuhachi. Willits, CA: Tai Hei Shakuhachi.
Tanimura Ko, and Kitahara Kozo, eds. (1990) The Shakuhachi: The Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments. Tokyo: Ongaku Sha.
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