History (Tokuyama Takashi):

Choshi (Taizan Ha) appears on the following albums

	Album	Artist
	Empty Sky - Yearning for the Bell Volume 3	Shakuhachi : Riley Kōho Lee
Honte Choshi / Original Searching is the 'main' or 'original' version amount the many short pieces that act as preludes or warm-ups. They are performed to re-establish the relationship between the player and the shakuhachi, that is most conducive to the state of mind necessary in meditation.
	Ethnic Folkways Library - Music of the Shakuhachi	Shakuhachi : Yasuda Shinpu
This is considered to be especially basic to the Meian Koten Honkyoku. It is also known as Takeshirabe and holds a particularly important place in Shakuhachi music. Cho shi means melody. It is a very simple piece but certainly very profound. Usually a Meian student learns it as his first piece. At group Meian concerts the performers usually play it in unison before the concert begins. This tune is played on a long shakuhachi made of Aizu paulownia wood and it is called the Kotokan. Its length is exactly three shaku and six sun (107 cm.). This shakuhachi is just exactly one-octave lower than a regular shakuhachi and its tone quality is extremely soft.
	Hi Fu Mi	Shakuhachi : Renkei Hashimoto
Basic tuning piece. A piece to warm up the instrument and to regulate the breath.
	Hi Kyoku	Shakuhachi : Tokuyama Takashi
Expressing the essential spirit of koten honkyoku, Choshi serves to help establish pitch and to center the musician. Man masters say, "If you can but master this simple piece you can understand the essence of koten honkyoku."
	Koten Shakuhachi Gaku Zen Shū - 1	Shakuhachi : Takeuchi Shikō
	Meian Sōda (vol. 4 and 5)	Shakuhachi : Sakaguchi Tetsushin
	Meianji Shoden Shakuhachi Honkyoku Shu 01	Shakuhachi : Yoshimura Sōshin Fuan
	Myoan Sanjunana Sei Tanikita Muchiku Shu - 3	Shakuhachi : Tanikita Muchiku Roan
	Offerings	Shakuhachi : Ralph Samuelson
In the tradition of the Meian school of shakuhachi, the performer first warms up the bamboo and settles the mind for spiritual practice through the playing of the short introductory prelude piece Choshi (literally, small melody). This piece is characterized by a pure focus on breath.
	Searching - Yearning for the Bell Volume 7	Shakuhachi : Riley Kōho Lee
This piece is one of many 'main' or 'original' versions among the many short pieces that act as preludes or warm-ups. The Ch6shi pieces (also called Shirabe, Hon Shirabe, Honte Choshi, etc.) are performed in order to re-establish the relationship between the player and the shakuhachi that is most conducive to the state of mind necessary in meditation. This particular version is longer than most of the Choshi pieces. It is in a two-part form; the first part is the entire piece in other versions of Choshi. The second part is material not found in any other version of the piece.
	Standing Waves (CD)	Shakuhachi : Torsten Olafsson