🪈Shinobue Journey - The First Year: Read My Student, Adrias' Story
Adrias started his shinobue lessons with me on January 8, 2024. When he first began, he could not play any kan on notes.
In our second lesson, we had a great discussion about using his upper lip to control the direction of his breath. We also spent quite a bit of time focusing on forming that “O” shape with his mouth, which is so important.
Before our third lesson, he emailed me. He mentioned that he was still finding it tricky to shape his upper lip and create the “O” mouth, and he asked me if he should postpone our lessons until he could do them. I wanted to reassure him that it’s completely normal for these things to take time—sometimes even a year or more! I told him not to worry and that we’ll keep working on them together.
Fast forward to December 2024, and he is now playing up to kan on 5 beautifully. The word "beautifully" is important here because many shinobue learners can play kan on notes, but not everyone does so beautifully. It’s quite easy to produce kan on notes with strain, resulting in a sound that is forced, windy, and aggressive.
I asked Adrias how he learned to play kan on beautifully, and he shared five key points that helped him. I want to share these five points and elaborate on them with my own explanations. I hope his insights and experiences will assist you in achieving beautiful kan as well.
1. "Push with diaphragm."
To produce a kan on sound, you need more power. But where does this power come from? If you rely on your mouth to generate it by blowing harder, your mouth can become tense, resulting in a windy and aggressive kan on. To keep your mouth relaxed, the power should come from your core muscles. Many individuals engage their core by pushing down on the diaphragm.
2. "Relax the upper lip."
To produce kan on, you need to create a slight space between your upper teeth and upper lip. This space is not visible to anyone, but you can feel it. To achieve this, your upper lip should remain relaxed and not tense.
3. "Press the shinobue against the lower lip and teeth."
Sometimes I press my shinobue too hard against my lower lip, but Adrias was not pressing it hard enough. Pressing it harder helped to play kan on.
4. "Move the end of the shinobue toward the audience."
Many people tend to hold the shinobue with the end of the shinobue towards their right shoulder. Without moving your face, try slightly moving the end of the shinobue toward the imaginary audience. You feel like shinobue is going away from the right side of your mouth a little, but that's OK. This small change can make a significant difference in tone.
5. "Build a relationship with shinobue. It's a beautiful journey."
When you practice, treat your shinobue as if you are building a relationship with a partner. Ask your shinobue questions while you play, such as, "Do you like this breath speed?" or "Do you prefer this angle for this note?" Pay attention to how your shinobue responds. Take the time to learn what your shinobue enjoys, just as you would cultivate a relationship with someone. Spend quality time nurturing this connection, and soon you'll understand how your shinobue wants to be treated.