![]() The instrument will be tuned to complement the vocal range of the singer being accompanied, but is generally around a C4 for the lowest string and F4 and C5 for the middle and highest strings. The skilled shamisen player, unencumbered by frets, can produce gentle slides and vibrato in addition to any pitch within the range of the string. The thumb of the left hand hooks around the back of the neck leaving the fingers of that hand available to stop the two highest-pitched strings against the fingerboard. The bachi is held in the right hand with the forearm resting on the dokake it is used to strike both the string and the soundboard simultaneously. 691-693.Ī shamisen player sits in the seiza position (on the knees, legs folded under) on the floor with the resonator resting on the right thigh and the neck at about a 45-degree angle. "Ziuta: Chamber Music for Syamisen." In The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music v. 2008. The Gei in Geisha: Music, Identity and Meaning. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Pub. “Sokyoku-jiuta: Edo-period chamber music.” In The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.įlavin, Philip. SOURCE: Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection Webpageĭe Ferranti, Hugh. Over time, this basic design has been realized in a range of sizes to satisfy the many different musical genres for which the shamisen came to be used. The shamisen probably arrived in Japan from the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) in the mid-16th century, but was ultimately derived from the Chinese sanxian.Upon arriving in Japan the shamisen was adopted by itinerant biwa (another plucked lute, but with a wood soundboard) players, who quite possibly changed the membrane from the snake skin originally used to more durable cat skin, and added the sawari niche in order to make it sound more like the biwa. To protect the side of the resonator in contact with the performer’s plectrum wielding arm, a decorative embroidered cover (dokake) is tied on. A patch of hide (bachigawa) is glued to the soundboard between the bridge and the rim of the resonator frame to help strengthen the kawa against frequent contact with the sharp edge of the plectrum (bachi) used to pluck the strings. A low bridge (koma) is placed under and held in place by the strings on the top face of the resonator. At the top end each is wound around a tuning peg, at the other end each is tied to a silk string holder (neo) that loops around the end stub of the neck (nakagosaki) where it exits from the bottom of the resonator and serves as the tailpiece. Three nylon (or, traditionally silk) strings of differing gauges run the length of the instrument. A buzzing effect, also called sawari, is created when this particular string is vibrating. Only the lowest-tuned string actually is in contact with the upper edge of this niche. Secondly, a shallow trough or niche (sawari) is carved across the fingerboard just below the nut. First, a nut/bridge (kami-goma) made from rolled-up brass runs partially across the neck, so that the two higher-pitched strings pass over it, but not the third string. At the point where the neck becomes the pegbox a subtle but important pair of features are in place that contribute to the desired sound of this instrument. ![]() A pegbox (itogura) with three laterally mounted friction tuning pegs (itomaki) tops the neck. The long fretless neck (sao) is typically constructed of three joined segments of wood, and can be disassembled for ease of transport. ![]() The top and bottom openings of this frame are covered with stretched hides (kawa) of dog or cat skin that are glued to it. The resonator (do) is a square wood frame about four inches deep constructed from four slightly arched slats of wood (usually redwood or Chinese quince). The shamisen is a spike lute, meaning that the neck passes through the walls and interior of the resonator. The shamisen pictured here is of the type called hosozao, which is used in lyrical (utamono) song genres, rather than narrative (katarimono) ones, and in the sankyoku instrumental trio. Utamono genres include the now nearly defunct kumiuta repertoire, and the hauta (‘beginning’), kouta (‘short’), and nagauta(‘long’) song genres. Alternately known as samisen (in Kyoto and Osaka) and sangen (when played with koto in jiuta chamber music), and now sometimes spelled syamisen, the shamisen has associated with it a large repertoire of music. The shamisen is a plucked chordophone of Japan that has been popular in folk, art, and theatre music since the middle of the 17th century.
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