One of the things about the shakuhachi that gives it that distinctive sound we love are the meri notes. Meri notes are crucial to good shakuhachi playing, but they are also the hardest notes to produce reliably and well. I will spend the next few months discussing meri notes.
This month I will talk about how to open up holes for meri.
How do you open the bottom hole for Tsu-meri?
Occasionally you will see somebody who creates an opening at the top of the hole, but this gives poor control over the note.
Instead,with Tsu-meri and all other notes, it is best to create the opening at the bottom of the hole. This gives you fine control over the pitch of the note.Depending on your flute, it may be best to open up the hole slightly diagonally-experiment with your flute to find out.
Next,how do you move your finger when creating a meri note? What you want is a quick, precise way to achieve meris, but there is another condition as well:you don't want any unwanted notes to creep in. In terms of Tsu-meri, you do not want a normal Tsu note appearing when transferring from Tsu-meri to Ro.
Specifically,if you open up the bottom-most hole by rolling your finger back to play Tsu-meri, then all you need to do is roll it forward again to close the hole to Ro. No Tsu note will be audible.
However,if you play Tsu-meri by lifting your finger from the flute and placing it down,then your finger will most likely have to lift up from the flute yet again to go back to Ro. This means that the unwanted Tsu sound will be heard in between the Tsu-meri and the Ro.
If you roll your finger instead of lifting it, you will be able to play meris quickly and accurately, with less chance of opening the hole too far. You also avoid unwanted notes peeping through the proverbial cracks. Watch your own fingers carefully and see how they move.