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Post by dawei on Nov 20, 2017 13:39:15 GMT
I have not been to San Francisco's Chinatown for almost a decade, and was there last week. There is a small shop selling musical instruments: Ellie and Eva, 707 Jackson. They had guitars, violins and ukuleles, but also a variety of erhu, gaohu, pipa, liuqin, guqin, etc. They also had some quite decent tunable dizi made by Tongyin Bamboo Flute Cooperatives, for about 20 bucks each! No xiao, though. However, the baskets of inexpensive dizi and xiao that used to be everywhere are conspicuously missing. I was surprised, because in the (distant) past every gift shop had a basket or two of various flutes. A few places have Indian-made whistle flutes, but other than Ellia and Eva's shop, no Chinese flutes!
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Post by davidmdahl on Nov 20, 2017 17:12:54 GMT
I was in San Francisco over ten years ago looking for Chinese music stores. The best one then was Chinese Arts and Music Center at 500 Balboa. I don't know if it is still in business. Their website is gone. Clarion Music was another, but the website does not include instruments any more. Hmmm. Another that appears to still be around is Exploring Music on 814 Clement St. I was not impressed with the instruments they had, but there was a good selection of Chinese sheet music.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by dawei on Nov 20, 2017 23:25:02 GMT
Clarion Music was another, but the website does not include instruments any more They still have performances and lessons on Western and Chinese instruments. No more store though.
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Post by dizifun on Nov 21, 2017 1:55:05 GMT
They still have performances and lessons on Western and Chinese instruments. No more store though. Do they have Xiao lesson ? I am interested in Winson Liao style NanXaio. If not, how can I find it ? I am doing it just for hobby. I don’t need famous teacher.
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Post by dawei on Nov 21, 2017 11:07:01 GMT
They still have performances and lessons on Western and Chinese instruments. No more store though. Do they have Xiao lesson ? I am interested in Winson Liao style NanXaio. If not, how can I find it ? I am doing it just for hobby. I don’t need famous teacher. You'd have to call and ask, I honestly did not check on xiao lessons. I was looking for a dizi teacher. There used to be dizi lessons through the Chinese Cultural Center, too, but when I asked the lady at the desk said that they no longer offered them.
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Post by dizifun on Nov 22, 2017 4:30:57 GMT
It is hard to find Dizi teacher or the information. Xiao teacher is much harder. EasonMusic has Dizi private lesson. 1 month = 4 lessons (1 to 1 lesson). This is too much. I want to make appointment only when I want to get lesson. Therefore, It is not for me. Probably I need a freelancer. What do you think about internet lesson ? Is it useful ?
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Post by dawei on Nov 22, 2017 13:45:01 GMT
What do you think about internet lesson ? Is it useful ? I can't say - I have never taken any lessons over the net. Many people seem to learn this way, though.
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mel
Intermediate
Posts: 34
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Post by mel on Nov 25, 2017 7:43:07 GMT
It is hard to find Dizi teacher or the information. Xiao teacher is much harder. EasonMusic has Dizi private lesson. 1 month = 4 lessons (1 to 1 lesson). This is too much. I want to make appointment only when I want to get lesson. Therefore, It is not for me. Probably I need a freelancer. What do you think about internet lesson ? Is it useful ? I tried an Eason Music lesson before I found a local teacher. It was definitely useful, and better than me fiddling around on my own! The lesson was a little bit frantic maybe - nonstop playing without rest for 45 minutes, and the lesson ended straight on time. Maybe it's a Singapore thing to aim for super efficiency! My current teacher is much more chilled. In the Bay Area, the only music school teaching dizi is in San Jose. And there's this guy in East Bay I take lessons from: www.youtube.com/user/xuzhuomingI haven't been to the shop on 707 Jackson! Exploring Music was recently having a close-out sale; IIRC they said they'll continue offering classes only. Since space is at a premium in SF, I'm not too surprised. Most Chinese instruments are not the kind you can pick up and try anyway! So being able to try it out physically doesn't help you make a choice - might as well buy a cheaper one online...
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Post by dizifun on Nov 25, 2017 20:54:18 GMT
It is hard to find Dizi teacher or the information. Xiao teacher is much harder. EasonMusic has Dizi private lesson. 1 month = 4 lessons (1 to 1 lesson). This is too much. I want to make appointment only when I want to get lesson. Therefore, It is not for me. Probably I need a freelancer. What do you think about internet lesson ? Is it useful ? I tried an Eason Music lesson before I found a local teacher. It was definitely useful, and better than me fiddling around on my own! The lesson was a little bit frantic maybe - nonstop playing without rest for 45 minutes, and the lesson ended straight on time. Maybe it's a Singapore thing to aim for super efficiency! My current teacher is much more chilled. In the Bay Area, the only music school teaching dizi is in San Jose. And there's this guy in East Bay I take lessons from: www.youtube.com/user/xuzhuomingI haven't been to the shop on 707 Jackson! Exploring Music was recently having a close-out sale; IIRC they said they'll continue offering classes only. Since space is at a premium in SF, I'm not too surprised. Most Chinese instruments are not the kind you can pick up and try anyway! So being able to try it out physically doesn't help you make a choice - might as well buy a cheaper one online... Hi mel, thank you for your responses. They were very helpful. I have some questions. Does Easonmusic use Staff Notation ? Do you have more information about San Jose dizi school ? What city of east bay is your dizi teacher ? I can make basic sounds of Dizi. Therefore, I was also thinking to get lesson from western flute teacher. We have a local music school, which teach western flute. However, the private lesson is 4 days per month. I am just doing dizi for a hobby. It is too much for me. What do you think about having internet lesson from a flute teacher ?
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Post by phoenixiao on Nov 27, 2017 9:09:04 GMT
I’ve recently taken beginner classes with Eason Music for xiao. That’s after learning on my own for a month without progress but got a sore jaw instead. Definitely benefitted me greatly as I’ve corrected many faults and overcome many obstacles. Being a hobbyist with little formal music training at age 47 is not a problem, the teacher paced the lesson accordingly.
My teacher used numeric notation (jianpu 简谱). Initially I thought lessons should be spaced out but there’s benefit to have it weekly as it helps keep the momentum and motivation going. It also helps to be accountable to a teacher as there’s daily homework to practice on. My prior experience is with the ocarina and recorder, and indeed one cannot underestimate the steeper learning curve for xiao/dizi. I would agree with most advice I’ve read online, a teacher is essential unless you’ve prior experiences with similar instruments.
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Post by davidmdahl on Nov 27, 2017 22:10:42 GMT
Speaking as a perpetual music student, addicted to music lessons, I emphatically agree with Phoenixiao. I would add that a good teacher will help you avoid problems that will slow down learning and even cause injury. Chinese instruments are not generally intuitive to play, so self-learners without attentive help can struggle and not get beyond the basics.
It's not easy outside of China to find a teacher for Chinese instruments. There are some resources for self-learners, but these are not really a good replacement for a teacher. We do the best we can though. Skype lessons sounds like a reasonable alternative. I may try that sometime myself.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by dizifun on Nov 28, 2017 20:22:58 GMT
I’ve recently taken beginner classes with Eason Music for xiao. That’s after learning on my own for a month without progress but got a sore jaw instead. Definitely benefitted me greatly as I’ve corrected many faults and overcome many obstacles. Being a hobbyist with little formal music training at age 47 is not a problem, the teacher paced the lesson accordingly. My teacher used numeric notation (jianpu 简谱). Initially I thought lessons should be spaced out but there’s benefit to have it weekly as it helps keep the momentum and motivation going. It also helps to be accountable to a teacher as there’s daily homework to practice on. My prior experience is with the ocarina and recorder, and indeed one cannot underestimate the steeper learning curve for xiao/dizi. I would agree with most advice I’ve read online, a teacher is essential unless you’ve prior experiences with similar instruments. Hi Phoenixiao, thank you so much for your responses. It was very helpful. While I can make pretty nice sounds with Dizi, I can’t make beautiful sounds with Xiao yet. I feel I am making progress, but it is slower than turtle. I definitely need a NanXiao teacher. It is good to know Easonmusic teaches Xiao.
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Post by dawei on Nov 28, 2017 21:15:27 GMT
It was very helpful. While I can make pretty nice sounds with Dizi, I can’t make beautiful sounds with Xiao yet. I feel I am making progress, but it is slower than turtle. I definitely need a NanXiao teacher. It is good to know Eason music teaches Xiao. Xiao is a wonderful - but is a somewhat more specialized flute than the dizi, which is both somewhat better known in the West than the xiao, and is blown and fingered like all/any 6 hole simple system flute. So learning dizi has some inroads lacking in xiao study. The xiao is a simple system flute too, sort of - but with the 6 and 8 hole versions, qinxiao, dongxiao, nanxiao, etc., versions, and such there is a lot of other material to explore. Are you playing Nanguan music? That in and of itself is a specialty and I would want to study with someone that knew that particular music if I was to get serious about Nanxiao. Which sort of embouchure does your Nanxiao have? A notch or a shakuhachi-like bevel? www.easonmusicschool.com/music-lessons/private/Oddly, the only instrument that does not seem to have a working link is the xiao on the Eason lesson page. I wonder why?
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Post by dizifun on Nov 29, 2017 20:11:24 GMT
It was very helpful. While I can make pretty nice sounds with Dizi, I can’t make beautiful sounds with Xiao yet. I feel I am making progress, but it is slower than turtle. I definitely need a NanXiao teacher. It is good to know Eason music teaches Xiao. Xiao is a wonderful - but is a somewhat more specialized flute than the dizi, which is both somewhat better known in the West than the xiao, and is blown and fingered like all/any 6 hole simple system flute. So learning dizi has some inroads lacking in xiao study. The xiao is a simple system flute too, sort of - but with the 6 and 8 hole versions, qinxiao, dongxiao, nanxiao, etc., versions, and such there is a lot of other material to explore. Are you playing Nanguan music? That in and of itself is a specialty and I would want to study with someone that knew that particular music if I was to get serious about Nanxiao. Which sort of embouchure does your Nanxiao have? A notch or a shakuhachi-like bevel? www.easonmusicschool.com/music-lessons/private/Oddly, the only instrument that does not seem to have a working link is the xiao on the Eason lesson page. I wonder why? Hi dawei, thank you for the responses. It seems to me that Nanxiao is harder than Dizi. The mouthpiece of my Nanxaio is U shaped (a notch). I heard that the U shape was easier to make sound than syakuhachi-like bevel. I may switch to syakuhachi-like mouthpiece in the future. I am just trying to make sounds at this time. I am interested in “one breath one mind - blowing Zen style” . I have a long way to go. The information about Nanxiao is extremely limited. I may even quit before I get there. I am not familiar with Nanguan music. I have never heard of it before As you pointed out, I could not find Xiao lesson on the Eason web page.
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Post by dawei on Nov 30, 2017 2:16:25 GMT
Hi dawei, thank you for the responses. It seems to me that Nanxiao is harder than Dizi. The mouthpiece of my Nanxaio is U shaped (a notch). I heard that the U shape was easier to make sound than syakuhachi-like bevel. I may switch to syakuhachi-like mouthpiece in the future. I am just trying to make sounds at this time. I am interested in “one breath one mind - blowing Zen style” . I have a long way to go. The information about Nanxiao is extremely limited. I may even quit before I get there. I am not familiar with Nanguan music. I have never heard of it before As you pointed out, I could not find Xiao lesson on the Eason web page. Nanguan music is also called Nanyin and is a music where the Nanxiao is a featured instrument. The U-shape notch mouthpiece (embouchure) is by far the most common type of xiao, and is a bit harder than the dizi...but not by much. The instruments are more similar than they appear - move the xiao thumbhole to the front, then a 6 hole xiao fingers about like the dizi. Here's a few nanguan links:
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Post by dizifun on Nov 30, 2017 5:24:59 GMT
Hi dawei, thank you for the responses. It seems to me that Nanxiao is harder than Dizi. The mouthpiece of my Nanxaio is U shaped (a notch). I heard that the U shape was easier to make sound than syakuhachi-like bevel. I may switch to syakuhachi-like mouthpiece in the future. I am just trying to make sounds at this time. I am interested in “one breath one mind - blowing Zen style” . I have a long way to go. The information about Nanxiao is extremely limited. I may even quit before I get there. I am not familiar with Nanguan music. I have never heard of it before As you pointed out, I could not find Xiao lesson on the Eason web page. Nanguan music is also called Nanyin and is a music where the Nanxiao is a featured instrument. The U-shape notch mouthpiece (embouchure) is by far the most common type of xiao, and is a bit harder than the dizi...but not by much. The instruments are more similar than they appear - move the xiao thumbhole to the front, then a 6 hole xiao fingers about like the dizi. Here's a few nanguan links: Thank you for the link to Nanyin music. I like it. I should pay more attention to Nanyin music. I can make sound, but the low note sound is kind of dull with the Xiao. Do you have any suggestion ?
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Post by dawei on Nov 30, 2017 8:59:41 GMT
The low notes take a bit of time to get a full tone on, and the low notes are not as loud as the middle and upper register notes. Keep working on your embouchure and breathing.
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Post by dizifun on Nov 30, 2017 18:13:40 GMT
The low notes take a bit of time to get a full tone on, and the low notes are not as loud as the middle and upper register notes. Keep working on your embouchure and breathing. Thank you for the helpful information. I need to make better embouchure. Do we need a different embouchure from Dizi’s ? I think NanXiao needs more breath than Dizi. I am going to do breath training by practicing very long steady abdominal respiration. It will be good for Dizi too.
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Post by dawei on Dec 1, 2017 13:10:31 GMT
The low notes take a bit of time to get a full tone on, and the low notes are not as loud as the middle and upper register notes. Keep working on your embouchure and breathing. Thank you for the helpful information. I need to make better embouchure. Do we need a different embouchure from Dizi’s ? I think NanXiao needs more breath than Dizi. I am going to do breath training by practicing very long steady abdominal respiration. It will be good for Dizi too. Both dizi and xiao need good breath support and control. The embouchure is a bit different as one instrument is sideblown and the other endblown, but are fundamentally similar.
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mel
Intermediate
Posts: 34
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Post by mel on Dec 10, 2017 20:47:08 GMT
Does Easonmusic use Staff Notation ? Do you have more information about San Jose dizi school ? What city of east bay is your dizi teacher ? Ahh, I keep forgetting to check this forum. Wish it emailed me about replies! The lesson I had with Eason used handwritten jianpu. I'll attach a sample. (anyone know how to make the attachment smaller?) This is the San Jose music school: www.aimusic.us/individual.php My teacher is on Bay Farm island (same island as Oakland Airport) Attachments:
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Post by dizifun on Dec 12, 2017 1:39:09 GMT
Does Easonmusic use Staff Notation ? Do you have more information about San Jose dizi school ? What city of east bay is your dizi teacher ? Ahh, I keep forgetting to check this forum. Wish it emailed me about replies! The lesson I had with Eason used handwritten jianpu. I'll attach a sample. (anyone know how to make the attachment smaller?) This is the San Jose music school: www.aimusic.us/individual.php My teacher is on Bay Farm island (same island as Oakland Airport) Thank you very much mel, I have more questions. Does your teacher take new student ? Can your teacher give lessons for a student who only need the teaching occasionally ? I would like to have lessons only occasionally. The teacher can point out my problems, and try to correct it or suggest the better way to practice. Another question. I would like to know whether or not your teacher could give NanXiao lesson.
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mel
Intermediate
Posts: 34
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Post by mel on Dec 12, 2017 7:13:06 GMT
He said he can teach nanxiao and is happy to take a new student. Check your private messages for the phone number, then you can talk to him directly
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Post by dizifun on Dec 13, 2017 5:09:45 GMT
Thank you very much mel.
It is great news for me. Finally, I am going to get the NanXiao teacher. I sent you a private message.
Thnks again
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Post by ntp0210 on Mar 15, 2018 2:40:20 GMT
Hi, I am a former student at Chinese Arts & Music Center and I am a personal friend of the owners there. Yes, the business is closed down due to increased rent, but private lessons for select instruments still continue as normal. As far as dizi and xiao instruments, the teacher, whom I am also a personal friend/coworker with, has moved to Los Angeles, CA. He will be going to GuangZhou later this year to meet a famous dizi/xiao maker. We can arrange something for helping anyone purchase an instrument, but the price is well above $300 USD due to the maker only making intermediate level instruments. He mainly specializes in high-end, top of the line instruments. I, myself, personally have met the maker and purchased 4 flutes from him back in 2007.
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Post by ntp0210 on Mar 15, 2018 2:43:05 GMT
I have heard from many Chinese wind instrument players that if you do not find a good teacher that will teach you the basics, such as not blowing with your lungs, but rather with your diaphragm, you will develop cardio problems and will get light headed before you can even get through half a song. My rule of thumb is finding a teacher that had some professional training that graduated from a music conservatory in China. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, I know a couple teachers that I recommend.
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