Gesture

In traditional music written for the Japanese Shakuhachi, a gesture is a series of specific pitches, pitch inflections and vibrato. A composition may consist of any number of gestures strung together. Naturally, this is an oversimplification, but those who master the shakuhachi do not think of playing individual notes in a performance as we do in the west. The bamboo shakuhachi traditionally has been played for religious and meditational purposes rather than for playing a specific piece of music.