NATC 2025 Phoenix

Discussion with Sumie Kaneko. Details forthcoming.

Workshops will be flexible, and I will cater to some of the interests of participants to make it worthwhile for you to invest your time in improving your playing.
If it is questions about. playing longer flutes, etc., that is also good, and just bring the flutes you like to play in general. I will have different sizes of flutes.
 This workshop will help you improve your Shinobue playing by improving your tuning and creating a cleaner sound. We will use different songs to explore different techniques. We will also worPk on playing higher notes more cleanly.
Focus on the performance of the Fue and how to project when playing with Taiko drums.
We will also focus on how to improvise to taiko songs. As a sample, we will play some phrases to some of the better-known songs, such as Yatai Bayashi.

Prerequisite/What to bring: Be able to play some melodies and get#8/ Happonjoushi Fue.
We will have some extra Fues available if you don't own one.
Bring a music stand might help and we will work from the Book Learn to Play the Shinobue by Marco Lienhard but will have copies for those who don't have the music

Adding a video on Bamboo flute repairs in case

This workshop will consist of a combination of lectures and hands-on experiences covering the following topics:

Shinobue Overview:
- Types of Shinobue: Koten, Uta, Doremi
- Shinobue Keys: Hon Choshi

Producing Sound with Shinobue:
- Shinobue is an air reed instrument
- Creating sound without using fingers
- Posture
- Finger Position

Shinobue Range:
- Ryo On, Kan On, Dai Kan On

Three Elements for Beautiful Shinobue Tone:
- Quality of the Breath (Diaphragmatic Breathing)
- Shinobue Position on the lips
- Direction of the Breath (Embouchure)

Prerequisite/What to bring: Prior experience with the shinobue is not nessesary. Participants are kindly requested to bring their own shinobue or may opt to purchase a Suzuki plastic shinobue from me on the day of the workshop.