StillnessMeditative instrument fact

The shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute blown from the end. Small changes in the player's breath and head angle bend its pitch, so the rush of air, a wavering tone and silence all become part of the music.

Shakuhachi

The story behind the card

The name comes from the flute's standard length, one shaku and eight sun, about 54 centimetres. During the Edo period (1603–1868), wandering monks of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism, known as komusō, played it as a form of meditation called suizen, 'blowing Zen', and travelled with deep straw baskets over their heads to hide their faces. Their solo pieces, called honkyoku, are still played today. After the Meiji government abolished the sect in 1871, the flute moved into secular chamber music, and in the twentieth century it found a place in film scores, jazz and contemporary classical music.

Türkçe oku

Shakuhachi, ucundan üflenerek çalınan bir Japon bambu flütüdür. Nefesteki ve başın açısındaki küçük değişiklikler sesin perdesini kaydırır; bu yüzden havanın hışırtısı, titreyen ses ve sessizlik de müziğin bir parçası olur.

Adı, flütün standart boyundan gelir: bir shaku sekiz sun, yani yaklaşık 54 santimetre. Edo döneminde (1603–1868) Zen Budizminin Fuke mezhebine bağlı, komusō denen gezgin keşişler shakuhachiyi suizen, yani “üfleyerek Zen” adını verdikleri bir meditasyon olarak çalardı. Yüzlerini gizlemek için başlarına derin, hasırdan bir sepet geçirerek dolaşırlardı. Çaldıkları, honkyoku denen solo parçalar bugün de icra ediliyor. Meiji hükümeti 1871'de mezhebi kaldırınca flüt dinî çevrelerin dışına çıkıp oda müziğine geçti; 20. yüzyılda film müziklerinde, cazda ve çağdaş klasik müzikte de yerini aldı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Shakuhachi

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The shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute blown from the end. Small changes in the player's breath and head angle bend its pitch, so the rush of air, a wavering tone and silence all become part of the music.

The story behind the card

Sources and further reading

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