Bruce Huebner
&
Jonathan Katz

JAZZ SHAKUHACHI

A Dual Language Edition

English
with
Optional Japanese Subtitles

Shakuhachi blues Shakuhachi montuno Mura-iki on a samba The Okinawa scale over modern jazz chords Funk shakuhachi
Yes, that and more, as Jonathan and I combined the shakuhachi (that mysterious and infamously difficult Japanese bamboo flute) and piano (that most "Western" music making machine) to create an engaging new musical fusion.

Jazz Shakuhachi is based on over six years of recording and performing that has yielded a body of composition and improvisation tailored to these two wildly disparate instruments. It features:
• Live stage clips filmed at STB 139, a club located in the Rippongi district of Tokyo, Japan.
• Engaging discussion of strategies for blowing, writing and interpreting across the cultural divide.
• Easy to understand examples from original tunes and folk songs.
• Clear on-screen notation of scales and chord names.
• Short improvisation exercises for play along or keyboard study.

Jazz Shakuhachi includes:
• Pedagogically-arranged chapter headings and menus.
• Screen notation, chord names.
• Overhead keyboard shots.
• Optional Japanese subtitles.
• A printed glossary and sheet music.
• Screen glossary.
• Live concert clips.

Jazz Shakuhachi could be for you if you are:
• A traditional shakuhachi veteran looking for ideas for a new musical outlet.
• A western-trained musician, but shakuhachi beginner, hoping to exploit your chops in a new and creative way.
• A composer or back-up player looking for hints on bringing out the best of this traditional instrument.
• An educator introducing new trends in non-western music, aesthetic issues in modern fusion music or Japanese studies.

Jazz Shakuhachi presents key issues in a fast and interesting pace while attempting to answer the following questions:
• How can I begin enjoying improvising with only a rudimentary knowledge of the shakuhachi or with little or no jazz background?
• How can I harmonize chords played on the piano with the open tones of the shakuhachi?
• How is the shakuhachi uniquely built for the blues?
• How are Japanese folk melodies ideal for Latin jazz?
• How can I build a jazz solo or play over fast chord progressions on a 5-hole bamboo flute?
• How can traditional scales apply to modern jazz chords?

1. Fitting Piano Chords with Shakuhachi Open Tones

1a. Diatonic Triads with Open Tones

1b. Seventh Chords with Open Tones

1c. Various Chords with Open Tones

1d. Performance:“Zen In”

1e. Practice: Open Tones with Piano Chords

2a. Performance:“Ro, Tsu, Re, Chi, Ri Blues” 

2b. Traditional Shakuhachi Techniques and the Blues

3a. Performance:“Mogamigawa”(Mogami River Boat Song)

3b. Playing a Montuno on the Shakuhachi

3c. Building a Jazz Solo on the Shakuhachi

4a. Performance:“Amado River”

4b. Applying Tetrachords to Jazz Harmony

4c. A Closer Look at Tetrachords

4d. Building the Minyo Scale

4e. Transposing the Minyo Scale in Fourth Movement

4f. Minyo Scale in Fourth Movement in Time

4g. The Minyo Scale in Stepwise Movement in Time

5a. Using the Ryukyu, Minyo and Miyako Bushi Scales

5b. Building the Ryukyu Scale

5c. Building the Minyo Scale

5d. Building the Miyako Bushi Scale

5e. Ryukyu Scale in Fourth Movement

5f. Ryukyu Scale and Piano Chords 

5g. A Closer Look at the Three Scales

5h. Practice“The Number ”Progression 4 Bars Each Chord

5i. Practice“The Number ”Progression 2 Bars Each Chord

5j. Improvising on the Three Scales

6a. Performance:“Bright One”

6b.“Bright One”Chord Progression

6c. Performance“Bright One”Continued

7. Composing for the Shakuhachi

7a. Performance:“Like the Wind”

Learn more about Bruce Huebner
Shakuhachi Video Lessons in English
KINKO SHAKUHACHI for BEGINNERS (Vol. 1)
KINKO SHAKUHACHI & JIUTA ENSEMBLE (Vol. 2)
KINKO SHAKUHACHI HONKYOKU (Vol. 3)
JAZZ SHAKUHACHI (Vol. 4)

Recorded Music by Bruce Huebner