KARI-MERI
This is often presented as the most difficult aspect of shakuhachi playing. It is often presented in a rather mysterious fashion and that this is something formidable that must be conquered. Right from the beginning the shakuhachi player approaches kari-meri, and especially meri with some trepidation.
What is it?
“Kari” is the normal way of playing the five pentatonic notes on the shakuhachi and the pressure between the top of the flute and your chin should be “like a feather”.
Meri is a technique which has the result of lowering the pitch of the note being played.
It is often said that kari-meri means “head up & head down”. This is not strictly correct as the terms actually mean “pitch up and pitch down”.
Notation systems do not specify on the score that the normal pentatonic notes are kari. This is taken to be understood.
Usually the term kari is used for notes for which the pitch is raised higher than the normal condition.
Example: The fundamental note of a 1.8 shakuhachi is D. Playing meri will take you down to a C-sharp and by playing deeper meri (O-meri; sometimes called dai-meri) you will reach the pitch of C. You can go lower still with practice.
If you play more kari, you can raise the pitch to E-flat, perhaps a little higher.
What is happening when I play meri and why does the pitch change?
This is actually very simple but often it is not presented as being simple.
The playing of kari-meri and the resultant change in pitch is simply a result of opening and closing of the top hole* of the shakuhachi.
Kari is a process of opening the top hole*.
Meri is to close the top hole*.
*The top hole is that hole at the very top of the flute between your lips/chin and the blowing edge (utaguchi).
Kari-meri has nothing to do with blowing intensity, angle of blowing and does NOT mean you have to move your head up and down. Are you sceptical?
Experiment: Play any note and, without changing anything in the way you are playing, ask someone to put their finger or some narrow object at the top of the flute and to try to reduce the size of the opening there. If you can play a note with one hand, say all holes open, then you can use your left hand to do this yourself. You will notice a drop in pitch due to this reduction in the size of the top hole*.
How can I play kari-meri?
There are three techniques to learn in playing kari-meri.
1. Moving the flute in and out. In the normal playing position, the pressure between the top of the shakuhachi and your chin should be “like a feather”. If you increase this pressure by pulling the flute towards you, the gap between your lips and the utaguchi will decrease. The size of the top hole* decreases. All other things being unchanged this will result in a drop in pitch. Conversely, if you reduce the pressure between the flute and your chin, the top hole* will open and the pitch will go up. It is essential that players learn to recognise this pressure at all times when they are playing.
2. Moving your lips in and out. If you can relax your lips a little they will tend to move towards the utaguchi. This will make the opening between your lips and the blowing edge smaller, and the pitch will drop. A little tension in the lips and they will pull away from the utaguchi and the pitch will rise. To be able to control this movement of the lips will take some practice but is well worth the effort.
Unfortunately tension in the lips too often goes unnoticed and this causes problems. As said earlier, the act of playing meri is often accompanied by tension and this tension in itself can defeat your efforts to achieve the desired pitch. Approach the playing of meri with relaxed lips.
3. Moving your head up and down. This is often presented as “the” way to play kari-meri. Firstly, let us have a short lesson in geometry. If you move your head up and down (nodding your head) in which direction do your lips move? The answer of course is vertically up and down. Now if you are trying to direct a stream of air at the narrow blowing edge of the utaguchi, such a movement will likely lead to some problems. So what do we do about this conundrum?
Do not worry, there are two solutions.
Firstly, instead of rotating your head about a point at the top of the spine (base of the skull) as you do when you nod your head, try lowering the point of rotation. If you do this you will notice that the further you lower this point of rotation, the more your lips will tend to move towards and away from the blowing edge. Remember, that is what we are trying to achieve. We want to open and close the top hole* of the shakuhachi. So think in your mind that as you nod your head, your lips are going towards the blowing edge. It is easy.
Secondly, as you lower your head, imagine the blowing edge follows the downwards movement of the lips. If you try this, you will notice that the pressure between the flute and your lips/chin naturally increases. You must develop in your mind a strong connection between your lips and the blowing edge.
Which kari-meri technique is best?
They are all relevant. They should be practised separately and together.
Exercise 1: Play an entire piece without any head movement at all.
Exercise 2: Do exercise 1 and play meri-kari by moving the flute in and out (remember to keep the flute at 45 degrees angle at all times)
Exercise 3: Exercise 1 and only move lips in and out.
Exercise 4: be imaginative and remember to relax.
There is a school of thought that says komuso did not or could not move their head to play shakuhachi because the heavy cane hat they wore (tengai) prevented them from doing that. And yes, having played with tengai, head movements are very difficult.
You will also find that moving the head up and down will make sound production difficult and may even result in complete loss of sound if, for example, the flute moves on your chin. So moving the head up and down can cause problems.
But it essential that a player fully understands the three methods described above. If you can do that, you will have the freedom to choose as the situation demands. You may want to move your head for dramatic effect in performance or for similar reasons the situation may demand no movement. You are free to choose and the playing of meri notes becomes pleasurable.
Should meri notes sound softer and breathy?
If you lower your head to play meri notes it is more likely you may lose the note completely. So it is natural that the player compensates by opening the lips a little to widen the airstream as a way of minimising the chances of losing the note. The end result of this is that the note is not so clear and breathy.
You can compensate for this tendency by consciously INCREASING the focus of your embouchure when you play meri. Your meri notes can be as clear and strong as your kari notes. Of course you may WANT to make meri notes softer and to change the texture and of course you are now free to do that as you wish.
Exercise: Play any meri note in the lower octave (
Secondly, the act of lowering the head tends to constrict the airway. You must be aware of this and compensate.
Thirdly, in concentrating to play a meri note, and there is so much to think about, we tend to forget about keeping the pressure in our diaphragm. Keep the pressure.
Fourthly, the pitch is related to velocity of air. If we lower the velocity of the airstream (blow more softly) the pitch will drop a little. Keep the velocity and use the techniques above to achieve the desired drop in pitch.
Warning: If we blow too much when playing meri, the pitch will rise dramatically. Don’t blow. There is a difference between keeping the pressure in your diaphragm and blowing harder (see blowing hints). Also when we blow meri, the note quickly gets VERY breathy (see muraiki hints)
Why is the next kari note that I play after meri note seem to be flat in pitch?
This is the most common mistake in shakuhachi playing.
When you play a meri note, there is almost always an increase in pressure between the top of the flute and your chin. If the next note is kari and you raise your head but still maintain the pressure between the flute and your chin then that next note will be flat in pitch.
Remember the rule: for kari notes, the flute on your chin should be as “soft as a feather”.
I can play meri easily at home but not in front of my teacher or in performance. Why is that?
In front of your teacher or an audience, one usually experiences tension and nervousness. This can often result in a tightening of the lips and it is explained above why this can cause the pitch to rise.
Solutions: As listeners of our playing, we all tend to be too forgiving and uncritical. Often what we think we are playing is a wide variance with what we are actually playing. Imagine instead that you are playing in front of a highly critical audience when you are practising at home.
Also, whenever you are about to play a meri note you must say in your mind the words “relax you lips”. Keep practising until it is a natural thing to do.
FINALLY, know that kari-meri is basically an easy technique. It is only the process of opening and closing the top hole* (space between your lips/chin and the blowing edge) of the shakuhachi. It is a simple as that. No secrets and no mystery. Just relax.
© 2003 Andrew MacGregor
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