After 18 continuous weeks, 15 hours of instruction, and 70 hours of practice, I finally DO NOT master the song Wakamizu written by Michio Miyagi (circa 1661-1673). However, I do it well enough to move on to new material! Whew. I thought I would be playing that forever.
As you can tell from the above, I ain't no speed genius when it comes to musical accomplishment. It is slow going to the extreme. But I love the music. I love the sangen. I enjoy it so much that soon I will be learning the koto concurrently.
Playing Japanese music is like therapy for me. It helps me relax and concentrate at the same time. I find peace in the music where I do not in other aspects of my life. It is truly a calming, zen-like experience every time I take up the instrument. I had no idea playing music would have that effect on me. I'm sure this calming ability of playing a musical instrument is shared by many.
During our time with Wakamizu, I expressed an interest to the Master in also learning the koto. The master approved as the instruments complement each other and are often played together in many Japanese pieces. The timing of taking on the additional duty of learning the koto I have left to my instructor.
One blessing is that the Master could not find a suitable instrument for me and so has graciously allowed me to acquire one of her own kotos. It will need to be restrung and I will need to acquire some other necessary accessories. But soon the sangen will be joined with the koto. When that happens, I will start a separate koto blog of my first year experience learning to play that instrument.
My blog for the sangen will soon be coming to an end. I started learning the sangen in April of 2013. I said at the beginning of this journey that I would write the blog for one year. In only two months, my one-year anniversary will arrive. When that comes, I will bid farewell to this blog.
In the meantime, weekly updates are back since we are on new material with many challenges. I will be posting more information on the current song I am learning in the future.
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