Shakuhachi

Learn the Shakuhachi with a teacher who plays it. Most people are playing a tune they recognise in about 8 weeks, at 20 minutes a day.

D3-D6 · about 3 octaves

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Shakuhachi teachers

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How a Shakuhachi makes sound

Hover to watch it, tap to hear it

A Shakuhachi sounds because a stream of air splits across an edge and sets the column inside vibrating: no reed, no lips, nothing but breath and the shape of the tube. The purest tone there is, and the least forgiving of a bad angle.

A Shakuhachi note lasts as long as you keep feeding it. You control the middle of every note, not only its beginning.

Overtones you can hear: 8
Loudest overtone: ×2
Speaks in: 70 ms

What learning the Shakuhachi actually looks like

At 20 minutes a day. Short and daily beats long and occasional. That is not encouragement, it is one of the most replicated findings in how people learn physical skills.

Week one
You make a sound on purpose. It will not be a good sound. Everyone’s first one is bad, including your teacher’s.
About 8 weeks in
You play something another person can recognise. This is the moment most people say it stopped feeling like homework.
Around six months
You choose the next piece yourself, and you can hear what needs work without being told. The plateau usually lands somewhere near here. It is normal, it passes, and it is why having a teacher matters more now than it did in month one.
A year
You play with other people. That is the point of the whole thing, and it arrives sooner than almost anyone expects.

The honest specification

Getting started: ●●●●●; The first month
The messy middle: ●●●●●; Months three to nine, roughly
How far it goes: ●●●●●; If you keep at it for years
Can start from: age 10
Chords: One note at a time
Portable: Fits on a bus
Tuning: Always in tune
Practice volume: 75 dB; About as loud as conversation in a busy room.
Recommended practice: 20 minutes a day