first steps of a long journey with long flutes - European Shakuhachi ...

The summer school had an interesting format which allowed each
teacher to have free sessions so that they could be available for short,
one-to-one lessons, addressing issues that individual students might be
having. Others were welcome to join a session if they had the same
question or problem. This is an excellent idea that perhaps should be
adopted by future summer schools.
The absolute beginners, Jan Sorf (cz) and Vitek Jindrle (cz), were
privileged to have their first lessons with the esteemed Christopher
Yohmei Blasdel. What an excellent start to their Shakuhachi life!
At lunch times, we all
tended to eat together,
trying various
establishments. The
lunches tended to be
long and enjoyable,
but may have had an
affect on our
wakefulness. It was
perhaps unfortunate
that the afternoon
Christopher and Kees
Photo by Adrian Bain
sessions commenced
with a lecture. With the
lights dimmed and
lying on a mat to watch and listen to the lecture, there was an
occasional spot of dozing from a few. This was no fault of the lecturer or
content. We had fascinating talks about acoustics from Philip Horan and
David Bidlo (cz), and an astounding in-depth talk from Vlastislav about
the history and versions of “Kyorei”. They were all though provoking and
the speakers had clearly studied their subjects with a passion.
After the lectures, we commenced
our lessons. The lessons were
always relaxed and open, with
students able to ask questions
freely. Often, we would veer away
from the piece being taught in order
to demonstrate something
connected or to have a change of
subject to relax the brain. We would
Socialising Photo by Adrian Bain
talk about posture, grounding,
fingering options, tone and breathing. We played a variety of other
songs, even Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and an Indian Raga. Kees would
often be found playing anything that he could blow into and producing
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