The camp went great again! The weather couldn't have been better. Beautiful blue skies and weather in the 70s!

Camp started Friday evening blowing RO as always and then a recap of the fundamentals of all great shakuhachi playing. ie. embouchure, posture, etc...

The evening saw us broken into smaller groups that were about 30-45 minutes where we could be paired up with other students of like ability. This allowed everyone to be able to get the attention to their particular needs as well as give Chikuzen an idea of where everyone was and what they needed most to accelerate their learning curve.

After that we retired by the fire to tell stories and enjoy a nice night cap and Japanese snacks.

Saturday morning began at 8:30. Chikuzen started by lecturing about the shakuhachi and how best to look at playing, learning and practice. After that we learned and played numerous pieces leading up to lunch. After some delicious BBQ we went back to playing outside in the beautiful nature that Cross Creek affords the camp. While playing we had Hawks and a Bald Eagle begin circling over us. They were very inquisitive. We played a series of folk and dance pieces as well as honkyoku. We had dinner at the Yearling restaurant and then stayed up late playing as a group in the main cabin.

Sunday we were back up at 9am blowing RO and practicing pieces we had learned and learning a few more pieces. We then went to lunch and came back to close the camp with learning Tamuke, Everyone seemed to really have a great time and we already have some return campers signed up for the next camp.

The next camp will be held June 11th-13th. I will be posting the details of the camp soon :)

Stay tuned for pictures. I am waiting for some from the campers.