I got my butt kicked in this session, figuratively speaking. I thought I was moving forward, albeit slowly, but I have not made enough progress such that we are still stuck on the seven notes I have learned on the sangen.
There are four problem areas I am having: Bachi holding, sao sliding, stable wrist, and coordinating movement from position 1 to position 5 on the ni and san no ito. The correct holding of the bachi is constricted because of the size of my hand and the size of the jiuta bachi. The teacher and I have made a compromise such that I will not hold the bachi in the absolute correct position but a make-do situation because of my hand. I believe this will work in the long run without major issue.
The sao sliding is proving much more difficult. When you hold the sao by the left hand, you are supposed to be able to slide up and down unencumbered, holding the wrist in a relatively stable position. The yubikake, a small knit mini-glove for the thumb and forefinger, allows the sliding to go easily. However, the yubikake I have is a bit large. The yubikake should be somewhat taught across the thumb and index finger--some bounce in it--so that the yubikake does not completely rest or curve downward into the space between the thumb and forefinger.
Because mine is a bit large, the knit material rests on that aforementioned space and thus has no tautness to speak of. What happens then is that I have a tendency to grip the sao with the thumb and forefinger and prevent the smooth sliding up and down the sangen neck. Without that smooth sliding, getting into the correct finger position in a speedy manner is difficult. You grip the neck, thus artificially restricting the sliding movement. Yubikake are not expensive but the only two sources for them are in Canada and Japan. I'm tempted to wash it in hot water and dry on high to shrink it, but not sure if that will work.
Stabilizing the left wrist as it slides up and down the sao is critical. If you get the wrist out of position you are out of position for placing the forefinger correctly on the string. Unless you concentrate on it, the wrist naturally moves and is bent one way or the other as you slide up and down the sao. I keep on bending the wrist and thus get out of position for a correct finger placement/pressure on the sao.
The teacher has suggested taping a chopstick to the base of my wrist to restrict the movement, thus helping me "train" the wrist not to move. I don't have a chopstick but modern wrist stabilizers for injuries to the wrist are available. I purchase a "mild" one and hope this helps. If not, I will go back to my local drug store and look for an even more restrictive wrist brace.
Finally, the coordination of the movement of the index finger to a new playing position and the simultaneous striking of the bachi on the appropriate ito is extremely difficult for me. You would think this involves good eye/hand coordination--which I am atrocious at. However, that can't be because the majority of early 17th century jiuta sangen players were blind monks. Thus, it takes coordination but no eyesight to do this.
As hard as I try, I am at a loss as to how to move the left hand into the proper position AND at the same time strike the ito at exactly the moment the finger is in that position. My instructor has told me to begin striking the ito FIRST and then move the finger into position. It is not optimal and it is definitely not the correct way to do it, but it is an attempt to improve the coordination of the two movements.
I practice that after the session and it does improve both the sound and the coordination of the two movements (finger sliding, striking bachi), but I am concerned it will take me longer than I feel is necessary to master this technique. My teacher is patient, but says we cannot move on to new notes (positions on the sao) until I have mastered that technique. It may be a long time.
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