Cool Stuff #4: East and Southeast Asia
- Jan 29, 2020
- 2 min read
At first I wasn't sure what to write about for this blog. I knew I wanted to look into one of my favorite instruments, the shakuhachi, and Tibetan throat singing, but I was completely stumped on what else I should research until I stumbled on a hilarious video by TwoSet Violin. I also love the erhu, so I figured that it would be a great place to start.
Like most instruments, there is a proper position for playing the erhu. Otherwise you'll get the scratchy, dying-goose noise oft associated with new string players. One's posture must be upright, with the right foot slightly in front of the left. Like with the violin, one's grip on the bow should be completely relaxed - again, to avoid the horrible squawking. Since the bow is fitted between the strings, you actually change what string you are playing by pressing on the bow hair, and not by actually moving the bow around. I was pretty surprised by how this instructor's methods were very similar to how I was taught the viola last semester: starting with the proper way to sit, then the proper way to hold the bow and the instrument itself, then basic finger patterns. Then came shifting positions for different keys: rather than shifting to new strings, the entire hand is moved down the strings for different scales. It can be absolutely beautiful; of course, as beginners, Brett and Eddy just sound like dying geese.
Now, the shakuhachi is an instrument I'm far more familiar with. It's Japan's bamboo end-blown flute, brought over from China in the 7th century. In medieval times, it was used by the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhist monks as a instrument of meditation; the songs they played, called honkyoku, exercised deep breathing. Interestingly enough, their playing became a tool for survival during the time of the shogunate: travel through Japan was highly restricted, but the monks were given special privileges, so they might seek alms and travel as part of their spiritual practice. As a result, some of them became spies for the shogunate, and shogun spies would disguise themselves as the monks. This caused the playing of the shakuhachi to be banned during the Meiji Restoration, as both the Fuke sect and the shogunate were outlawed. It was years before the monks were allowed to play it for their practice again; unfortunately, many of their songs were lost, as they were taught by rote.
Tibetan throat singing was also a practice carried out by Buddhist monks for rituals and prayers. They are usually performed by more than one monk in the lower register of the voice. Throat singing is performed by altering the shape of the mouth and throat, thus changing the resonance and allowing overtones of a pitch to shine through - meaning that more than one pitch is heard.
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