1.8 Pentatonic Shakuhachi w. Root End 5 Holes, natural shakuhachi style mouthpiece - Matake bamboo Zen Instrument

Excellent Shakuhachi for a beginner like me. I was able to make a sound the first night I received after watching a few videos on youtube. I have never played an instrument before!! The Shakuhachi came with a red sleeve to cover the instrument and a nicely patterned storage bag. It included a personalized note with some basic note print outs and shipped very fast.The only thing I noticed about this instrument compared to others is that it has no inlay on the utaguchi, not that it needs one if you don't damage the utaguchi but if it does get damaged, it will later need to have one cut out and installed.Overall, it is a great buy for the money and comes just as pictured.

Nice quality. Still learning how to play it but it's nice.

I just love this flute. While I am a brand new beginner, the quality of it just seems amazing. I'm learning the proper parts of it, so please forgive me for not knowing the technical names. The mouthpiece is perfect, sharp and well beveled. The holes are even and finished very nicely. The lacquer is beautiful, and the root end almost 2" in outside diameter. It's a work of art, and a playable one at that. I'm able to play some notes on it and am working on my breathing, posture, and relaxation, which all seem to be huge components in playing properly. It's proving to be a nice addition to my meditation practice. If anyone is interested in a quality Shaku and is unable to spend $1000 (like I was and am), this is a great option.I'll try and keep this updated as time goes by. :)Thanks, hope this helps others.

So three years in and I can say that is the best instrument you are going to find for the price. I've had professional players play my flute to demo it and they all say overall its a great instrument with minor drawbacks. The only possible negatives is that mine is tuned out of tune a little high (which the player adjusts during playing) and the utaguchi is not a separate piece of horn or acrylic so it could get damaged if not handled properly. But what do you expect? This is not an $800-$3000 flute.It has a taken a long time to get better and now I finally started playing in public with this flute. If you want to learn then this is the instrument for you. Thanks for providing an affordable way for people to enjoy shakuhachi. Making affordable instruments keep this ancient art form alive outside of the east. People just are not going to spend $$$$ on a piece of bamboo especially when no one is a lack of good learning resources in the west. Good luck finding a teacher.

Great beginners shakuhachi. Very well crafted. Perfectly tuned.. Good starting flute for a student wanting to see if this type of flute is for them.

It's always hard to rate something after such a brief period. I had a 7 hole shakuhachi and wanted to add a more traditional 5 hole one. The price was right and I found it somewhat easier to get both the lower and higher ranges of sound, but so far I've found the quality of sound not quite up to my 7 hole instrument and I'm still working on getting the right sounds when I have two different partial closings to sound the three 1/2 pitches required. I'm glad to have both and I alternate my practice . We'll see which one I end up playing more.

I am going from a concert flute to this so there is obviously much work to be done to develop the proper embouchure for the shakuhachi. I will thrilled when I can make the haunting sound I know this instrument is capable of. seller included an inner bag and a lovely brocade outer bag. using the two bags together will, I suspect, keep the bamboo humidified. arrived quickly with a personal note.

Beautiful 1.8 Shakuhachi w. root end, w/o kinko mouthpiece.I have some advice for anybody who wants to learn how to play the shakuhachi...BUY THE ONE YOU WANT!i started with a cheapie just to see how the shakuhachi and I got along before getting what I really wanted. This one has a different internal diameter, external diameter and hole spacing (my first one was a 1.6), so I pretty much have to start from scratch.I am just glad that I ordered this only 3 days after buying my original (I am still working on my embouchure.).While this shakuhachi only has 5 holes, you can still play a full chromatic scale over 3 octives!I got a "Beginners Guide To Shakuhachi" (Japanese with an English translation) along with a CD from www.mejirro-japan.com.For other options, see:http://www.shakuhachi.com/Y-FingeringChart.html (Online Fingering Chart -- just print the page!) http://www.shakuhachi.com/O-PL-PlayingGuides.html#anchor388555