On April 11th, our Koto teachers, Mr. Patterson and Ms. Miyama
did a presentation about Japanese Music with Mr. Patterson’s
friend, Mr. Huebner. They talked about how different Japanese
music was to Western music and played who pieces together. The
Koto was played by Mr. Patterson and Ms. Miyama, Shakuhachi
played by Mr. Huebner, and Shamisen played by Mr. Patterson. Out
of 3 instruments, Koto, Shamisen, and the Shakuhachi, my
favorite instrument was the Shakuhachi. First of all, I didn’t
know what was Shakuhachi until I saw the instrument itself so it
was completely new to me which hooked me up. I was really amazed
how there were more than 5 types of Shakuhachis there were. Some
were long, short, and they sounded all differently. For example
the Koto has less types so it might mean that you can’t express
the sounds in different ways as much as the Shakuhachi. At the
same time, the Shakuhachi only has 5 finger holes while the Koto
has 13 strings. But Mr. Huebner told us how to change the sounds
using blowing