If God came up to you and said“Play me a sound, just one sound”, would you have the confidence to play one you’d be proud of?
Everybody has had the experience of not getting the sound they want at a crucial moment. I’m sure there are lots of people who would say they’ve never gotten the sound they want, period.
Getting a sound you can be satisfied with on the shakuhachi is no easy task. However, if you don’t put in the effort to get that sound, you will never know what it feels like.
One effective method is a daily practice called Ro buki, or“Blowing Ro”. Practice blowing Ro in the low octave for 10 minutes each day. Watazumi Do so used to say often that anybody who continued this practice would become a master.
It isn’t quite as simple as just blowing Ro, however. Follow these guide lines:
1.Don’t use vibrato.
2.Don’t hit any holes at the beginning of the note.
3.Don’t start from a meri position.
4.Blow as long as you can.
5.Blow as loudly as you can.
In other words, what you want to practice is a simple Ro with no ornaments or embellishments. This is much harder than it sounds. There are many people who begin by hitting a hole by force of habit, for example. Since you can’t fix what you don’t notice, it’s important to have an observer help you out.
At the International Shakuhachi Kenshu-Kan master classes are always begun with this practice, sometimes for as long as 20 minutes at a time. People who come frequently experience a rebirth in their sound from this aspect of the practice alone.
Try blowing Ro for 10 minutes a day using the guidelines above and see what it does for you.