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Shakuhachi Summer Camp is an intense learning opportunity. All efforts are made to involve students right from the first day, with getting to grips with the technical and musicological aspects of playing the shakuhachi flute. It's a teaching Camp, from dawn to dusk (and beyond). The emphasis is on depth of instruction and the formation of good playing 'bones', which you can carry away with you.

Upon arrival at Camp, you will see, milling around, others who are just as obsessed as you are about all things shakuhachi. Some arrive by car, some by shuttle from the airport. Along with the American/Canadian students, we are always blessed with a sizable number of students from Japan, many of whom do not speak English, but in the harmony of shared shakuhachi experience, it matters not a whit! Classes are often taught bilingually, since all the teachers are bilingual speakers. The Japanese students often have traveled a different path to the US students. Many have studied shakuhachi for decades and Camp is an unusual opportunity for them to encounter a variety of shakuhachi modalities in one place. This year, because of our location and relationship to the World Festival, we expect to have a huge number of Japanese and Australian students.

Beginner students will follow a specidfically engineered program of instruction that will cover all the basic tools and techniques of shakuhachi: posture, sound production, pitch, second and third octaves, care of the flute, notation systems, honkyoku and many other aspects. This will be taught by all of the teachers, each of whom will take a different topic and spend a lot of time with you, making sure beginner students have a solid underpinning of good practice. If you do not have a functional flute, let us know before Camp. We can set you up with a 'loaner' flute for the duration, and shakuhachi of all types are always available for sale at Camp. A 1.8 flute in 'D' is the required length. As the curriculum is being developed we'll keep you updated on this website. Each beginner student will leave Camp with a handbook and access to recorded pieces they have learned.

We have refined the teaching format, based on what we have learned over the past eight years: We want students to be able to not only play the notes of a piece, but also to encounter the musicological background of the compositions in a format which gives more time to each piece and frirmly establishes each piece with the student. To this end, we will make available the recorded pieces and a set of scores to Intermediate Camp attendees well in advance, and encourage students to practice the pitches and rythmic accuracy of the pieces they want to study, ahead of time. Individual lessons will again be offered this year.

We start each day by playing 'Ro' for about 5 minutes, all together, then we talk about the day's activities, scheduling, rooms etc., before morning group practice, then we all go off in small groups to learn our chosen pieces. At any given slot in the timetable, there are several options to choose from, in terms of pieces or teachers you prefer to be with that day. Beginner students will follow their own timetable. In the evenings, activities other than teaching take place.

This year we continue a new morning practice: each day all students together will spend the first hour together studying one aspect of shakuhachi technique, such as: Breathing and Movement, Meri-kari, yuri vibration, ha-ra-ro, Timing and rhythm, Ko-ro ko-ro etc. Each day, one technique will be taught in great depth by a different teacher, to the whole group, including beginners.

schedule subject to change

"Shakuhachi as a Spiritual Practice" by Jia Gottlieb M.D.

The shakuhachi is considered by many to be a spiritual tool for Zen training. But what does this really mean for the shakuhachi player? This year we are pleased to offer camp participants an in-depth introduction to the spiritual aspect of shakuhachi led by Jia Gottlieb. We will explore practical physical issues of breath control and meditative posture, as well as the art of enjoying emptiness in everyday life. Jia has over twenty-five years of training in Zen, yoga, and acupuncture, and directs Still Mountain Clinic in Boulder, Colorado, www.jiamd.com.

Sessions begin each morning 1 hour prior to breakfast.

Cost: $40 for all four days.

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