Back to blowing RO and moving on...

             We ALL have lives that demand one thing or another. Family obligations,jobs and then,eventually,leisure. My life is no different. During the day I'm either taking care of the house and/or at work or I'm running all over the place,figuratively and literally. When those things are done, I get a bit of time to myself and usually indulge in running and ,after that, some reading,writing letters to my beloved pen pals and  some short shakuhachi practice. This has fallen back dramatically over the summer but is finally getting to be more available to me now. Once again, I'm "blowing RO", which means practicing the note RO, or the lowest registered note on the shakuhachi. One can learn so much by simply doing this and controlling air flow,practicing the varied nuances of sharps and flats contained in a breath. This diagram has been added here before but I'll post it again.

         I find myself getting so busy with life and the usual routine that I forget to go back to basics and just blow RO. I find this a delight when meditating and that it helps my breath control quite a bit. Still, I never seem to find time to progress very far past the first 15 pages or so in my book. I'm using the one by my sensei's teacher, Masayuki Koga. It is so well written and a pleasure to learn from!!!

                                                   This is one of the best books out there!!
  Now granted, there are some who beg to differ and will choose something different. But I'll stick with this one for now and do the best I can. As for Koga and his playing, well here is a short video of him and Old castle in the Moon.

          Old Castle in the Moon 荒城の月

    There are countless gems to be mined on YouTube and other sites when it comes to shakuhachi playing. Some are a delight and others not. I try to learn from all of them and move on. As autumn and winter move in, I hope to have more practice time available to me as well as a better understanding on how to move on past that point I bog down.