Shakuhachi

The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute, usually made from the root end of a bamboo stalk. It is known for breath-shaped tone and a repertoire linked to Zen Buddhist practice.

End-blown flute: A flute played by directing air across an opening at its end. The shakuhachi belongs to this instrument family and is played by blowing across its open top.
Fuke-shū: A Japanese Zen Buddhist sect historically associated with itinerant shakuhachi-playing monks. Its komusō monks made the flute central to a distinctive religious and social practice.
Jiari shakuhachi: A shakuhachi with a bore lined and shaped using a clay-based compound. Its carefully shaped bore contrasts with the simpler internal construction of hocchiku instruments.
Sankyoku: A Japanese chamber-music genre featuring koto, shamisen, and often shakuhachi. The flute takes a melodic role alongside plucked strings in this ensemble tradition.
Embouchure: The way a wind player shapes the lips and directs air into an instrument. Small changes in lip shape and airflow control the shakuhachi’s tone and pitch.
Komusō: Itinerant Japanese monks of the Fuke-shū who played shakuhachi as a religious practice. Their performances helped establish the instrument’s association with meditation and spiritual discipline.
Hocchiku: A shakuhachi made from bamboo with little or no lining inside its bore. Its relatively unaltered bore offers a contrasting approach to instrument construction.
Shakuhachi in contemporary music: The use of shakuhachi in modern composition, improvisation, and cross-cultural performance. Its breathy timbre and flexible pitch have made it useful beyond traditional repertories.
Merukari: A shakuhachi technique that changes pitch by tilting the flute and adjusting the embouchure. This technique bends notes without keys or finger holes changing position.
Honkyoku: Traditional solo shakuhachi pieces associated with the Fuke-shū and its komusō monks. These meditative solo works form a core historical repertoire for the instrument.

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