京都 琴（箏）だより（お琴体験はベルギーより）

 ベルギーより初めての日本旅の仲良い兄弟さんが来られました、お琴体験、お兄さんは音楽学校の先生をされており弟さんもバイオリンやピアノをされているということで、非常に音感も良くてお二人共に、とても上手に箏が弾けました。箏にとても興味を持たれたそうで、嬉しいです。ウチへはレンタル自転車で。荷物の箱を娘が見つけお聞きしたところ「FireRamen」の「めんばか一代」のラーメンの鉢が二つ。重くないのかな？とお聞きしましたが、記念になってとても嬉しいとのこと。お土産にしては、かさが張りますねぇ。箱には店主のサインと日付と「京都」と書いてありました・・・後でご丁寧な感想を書いて下さいました。ありがとうございます。Being able to try the koto for the first time in soushunan was a truly unique experience. Ms Harumi is an excellent teacher with many years of experience mastering the instrument

Before we even touched the instrument, we were given some important historical information on the koto and on the materials used to make the picks.

When we moved on to try our first notes, Ms Harumi took her time explaining the details of the musical notation and why it was important to play in a certain way. It was nice that she made us feel at ease while at the same time pointing out small errors or bad posture. Throughout the lesson we started to get used to the touch and feel of the instrument and it was really amazing how much progress we had made in such a short time.

Near the end of the workshop we got to enjoy a marvelous arrangement of "Sakura Sakura" by Ms Harumi herself. This performance absolutely blew us away in its elegance as wel as its explosive power. It truly showed what a diverse expressive range the koto has.