Shakuhachi Embouchure - Forming the lips to play shakuhachi bamboo flute by Josen (Jon Kypros)

flutedojo.com By Josen (Jon Kypros) shakuhachi Dai-Shihan 'Grandmaster' I've gained insights into the embouchure and lips from my years of helping countless people to get their first sounds on the shakuhachi and improve their technique. I'm happy to be ready to share them publicly now that they've stood the test of time. We all have unique anatomies, we often strive for different sounds, and our shakuhachi usually vary as well. This video focuses on some of the unifying principles which apply to every approach I've seen for forming the lips or embouchure. 01:06 Intro 01:55 First unifying principle - Supporting the cheeks and lips 03:06 muscles of the face used to support 03:36 Mild fatigue in muscles of the face 04:15 Support vs. Tension 04:40 Second unifying principle - a small(er) opening of the lips 06:02 First exercise intro - "breaking the seal of the lips" and "closing-down the lips" 06:33 "Breaking the seal of the lips" a close look, feel the pressure sensation which is key 08:05 "Closing down the lips" - this is more useful for when you're already making a sound or pushing out air and notice that you need to make the opening smaller. This is also good for those that simply do not connect with "breaking the seal". 08:53 Practice without the shakuhachi at times - perhaps one of the most important things I've learned through teaching over the years is that the shakuhachi touching the face, and the desire to make a sound, above all else, can be the single greatest obstacle preventing improvement for many people. 09:10 What keeps most people from making a smaller opening of the lips? Larger openings are easier to hit the utaguchi edge with and make a sound. When we try a smaller opening we might struggle to make a sound or lose our sound because it's a bit more difficult at first to align it with the edge. This is why I call these "alignment issues". This can cause people to get stuck with a big opening of the lips and never work toward a more efficient, smaller opening. 10:52 Outro playing 1.8 Bell shakuhachi