Once the finger holes have been made, you might want to use a file to clear out the charcoal and other debris. Be sure eacih finger hole and thumb hole is rounded and of uniform size. Also be sure the entire surface of the shakuhachi is sanded smooth. You might want to decorate, as well as stain and finish, your shakuhachi.
I've read the shakuhachi has a range of an octave and a half (twelve notes) although another source suggested a considerably higher range of two and a quarter octaves. The disparity maybe on account of how the instrument is held and played. Besides a pentatonic (five notes) scale, produced by opening and closing various finger holes, one can also find other notes by partially (half and quarter-covering) each finger hole. Possibly, changing how one positons the shakuchi, as well as how he/she blows into the mouthpiece, will increase the number of notes considerably. Hence a clear example of "doing more with less." |
