There is a flow to all music. A good flow will contain good cut-offs. Sometimes we call this “ma” [Translator’s note: This expresses the idea of “perfect timing”, or the effective use of the space between the notes]. Flow, or ma,is especially important in honkyoku, where there is no explicit rhythm.
Since the shakuhachi is a breath instrument, not taking breaths correctly can ruin your flow or ma. One common way of destroying flow or ma is breathing in 100% each time you take a breath.
For instance, there are often phrases that don’t allow you time to take in a deep breath. Insisting on taking in 100% of your capacity at these points will certainly disrupt your flow or ma.
There are also phrases where you do not need to use all of your breath, either because the notes within the phrase are soft ones or because the phrase itself isn’t very long. Again, taking in a full, deep breath before these phrases can easily disrupt your flow or ma.
Indeed,blowing each phrase with the same length breath (100%) is a very good way to bore your audience, and will not lead to the kind of deep expression we seek in playing.
Honkyoku are alive. To make them sound that way, each phrase must be played with precisely the amount of breath that is appropriate for it. Sometimes this will be much longer than you are capable of now playing, and sometimes it will be shorter than what you are currently playing.
Think about making each phrase come alive, and how you can use your breath to make this happen.