NATC 2025 Phoenix

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.

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.

This workshop is for people who feel they have an interest in a melody instrument and are willing to try it out and discover new possibilities.

The shinobue seem to be easily included with the Taiko, and somehow, the Shakuhachi has always been forgotten. So we need to correct this lapse in the past 30 years, and along with the Shinobue, we would like to finally give those interested a chance to try the Fue and the Shakuhachi.

This will give you an insight into the different bamboo flutes and styles and help you find what works best for you. We will learn to extract sounds from the flutes, simple basic melodies, and ways to practice on our own or find sources to further our studies.

This is a great introduction to Japanese flutes. Discover the possibilities for making your taiko songs sound better and more musical.

Prerequisite/What to bring: If you have flutes, bring them along. We will have some Fues and Shakuhachi for you to try. Just bring a great attitude and an open mind to discover something new.

"Tsuki no sabaku (Desert Under the Moon)" is a beautiful Japanese melody composed by Suguru Sasaki in 1923. I'll be creating a shinobue sheet music for the song and teaching it phrase by phrase. Since it contains up to kan on 4, it's best if participants are intermediate shinobue players. They are welcome to bring any hon choshi shinobues. And to wrap up, we can all enjoy a mini-performance at the end of the workshop.

Prerequisite/What to bring: This workshop is intended for intermediate shinobue players who can play up to kan on 4. Participants should bring their own shinobue, but they also have the option to purchase a Suzuki plastic shinobue from me, provided that they have the ability to play it.