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"Miki, come play your shinobue for Netflix" 😱😰 Turn your fear into your advantage 😏💪

Published 8 months ago • 3 min read

Weekly Newsletter for Shinobue Lovers

February 11, 2024

“I found you on Instagram when looking up Japanese flute. Would you be interested in performing at New York Fashion Week?” I received this text last week and thought it was spam. I looked up the sender, and she was a budding Asian fashion designer. This was real.

During our phone meeting, she asked me if I could play the shinobue to open her fashion show during NYFW. There will be media coverage, including Vogue, Bazaar... and Netflix.

I’ve performed since age four and always thought I would never have the “imposter syndrome.” But when I heard the word “Netflix,” I felt FEAR!!! I thought, “I’ve been playing shinobue only since 2020. Should I be doing this???”

Long story short, I declined the offer due to logistical reasons. But this offer made me realize important things about shinobue, and myself.

  1. Shinobue music is powerful. It moved a budding designer to contact a total stranger (me) and offer a large amount of money just to have shinobue in her show.
  2. Even though I still consider myself a baby in the shinobue journey, the shinobue music I create has the potential to serve others profoundly.
  3. Knowing 1 and 2, I can’t be thinking, “I started too old and too late. Who am I to think I can perform at a national level?”

But when I heard “Netflix”, I felt the fear I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was uncomfortable. I felt like I needed to throw up. I had to go for a long walk with my dog to get fresh air and clear my head. I was a bit surprised at how scared I felt.

Yet... being scared like that once in a while is good for me!!

It motivates me to practice with more focus. I constantly remind myself why I play music in the first place (otherwise, it would not be worth fighting the fear). It also makes me work very hard to believe in myself.

I am happy to share the song I was planning to play, “Sakura Sakura.” The designer had the vision of me playing shinobue on the candlelit stage with smoke (dry ice) coming in. She wanted a melody that had the feel of “Kyoto.” I was planning to use my Shoji 6 hon choshi, because 6 hon choshi would cut through a big crowd better than the dark and deep sound of 3 hon choshi.

I gained so much insight from this offer. If the logistics had worked, I was ready to fly to NY and play in front of Netflix!! Knowing I would take on Netflix, I could now take on anything!!

You can do it, too! Email me about the fear that propels you forward. 😏

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Shoji Shinobues are HERE!!

Finally, you, too, can play my favorite shinobue brand!!

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Practice tip of the week

How to create "Slow breath"

From day 1, my teacher, Bunta Satoh sensei, said, "Your breath is too fast. Make it slow." But every time I thought I was making my breath slow, shinobue gave me a weak, frail, windy breath with no resonance. Another thing Bunta sensei often tells his students is, "Play shinobue with your whole body, like you are pushing a car. When you push a car, you don't just do it with your arms. You use your core muscles. Likewise, don't push out the air with your mouth. Use your core muscles". He even makes his students push a wall to get the feel of it!

Then I realized that in order for me to push like that, I must make my breath heavy. I mean, if the car was light, why would I push like that? So, I imagined my breath being heavy like lava instead of fast-flowing water. And lo and behold, my breath became slow and my sound less windy and richer!!!!!! Hallelujah, thank you, baby Buddha!!!

If you blow the air out with your lips, your breath will be like easy-flowing water. But if you propel the air with your stomach, lower back, buttocks, calves, and even your toes, you can create the lava breath that shinobue loves. Keep that in mind even if you don't get the results right away. One day, it will click, and suddenly, you KNOW that's what I talked about long ago. That's how you get better.

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Now it's your turn! Try "lava breath", reply, and let me know how it goes!

Email me your Shinobue questions, and I will answer them in the following newsletter! It can be about the instrument, your practice question, etc. My email address is miki@saitomusic.com

See you next week!

Miki

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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