What is shamisen and how can you play it?

Few people are familiar with such an interesting stringed musical instrument as the shamisen. However, in Japan, it has been very popular for a long time. It is about what this Japanese musical instrument is, about its history, varieties and features, which we will talk about below in this article.

The shamisen is a common Japanese musical instrument that is only about 100 centimeters long. This instrument is also often referred to as the Japanese lute.

However, the shamisen is not originally from Japan. It appeared in the region of Western Asia, from which it came to China in the 13th century, and then to the Ryukyu Islands, in modern times known as the Okinawa Islands. It was only after all these travels that he, having traveled a long way and underwent a number of changes, already appeared in Japan. The appearance of this musical instrument in this country exactly dates back to 1562. There he quickly took root and became widespread throughout Japan, and also acquired a diminutive name - "syami".

If in modern Europe all old musical instruments are not in great demand and are deprived of attention, then in Japan, on the contrary, such national instruments, which include the shamisen, are hotly adored by the population. This people is very respectful of their traditions, their culture. That is why the beloved shamisen is still widely used, especially often it sounds in traditional Japanese theaters, such as, for example, Kabuki, Joruri and Bunraku, at performances of certain groups, as well as at various festivals and festivals that are held in Japan in large numbers.

At first, playing the shamisen was considered a lower art. Therefore, this musical instrument has never been played by representatives of the aristocracy, but only by the villagers and itinerant musicians.

However, over time, everything changed. This musical instrument received the greatest popularity in the "golden era" of Japanese art. This is precisely the Edo period, or the Tokugawa era, it is 1603-1868. It is characterized by the rapid development of all areas of art: music, theater, painting, and poetry.

The skill of playing the shamisen should have been possessed, without exception, by all those who passed the maiko training program, that is, students of geisha. In view of this, an area such as Yoshiwara's "gay neighborhoods" was often referred to as "the shamisen neighborhood."

This musical instrument also began to appear in the works of various Japanese artists. He was often depicted in the hands of characters on woodblock prints, traditional for Japan. It was during this period that the shamisen became simply an irreplaceable attribute of any rural or urban festival in Japan.

Now let's take a look at how this Japanese musical instrument works. The shamisen is a three-stringed plucked instrument. To make it easier for you to reproduce the image of this musical instrument in your head, imagine a lute with a long neck or a balalaika. In general, to put it quite simply, the shamisen is an ordinary square drum of not the largest size, which has an elongated neck with three strings.

The structure of this musical instrument is quite simple. Its body consists of a wooden frame, which is tightly covered with the skin of an animal. The most commonly used shamisen skins were snake skins, and sometimes, as bad as it sounds, even the skins of animals such as cats or dogs. The body of this instrument is covered with hide on both sides, to this is added a small piece of leather, which is attached to the front membrane.

Strings of varying thickness, of which, like our usual balalaika, there are only three, are placed between long tuning pegs, somewhat reminiscent of hairpins, and the end of the neck, which is located in the middle of the lowest part of the wooden body. The strings themselves are usually made from materials such as silk, nylon, or Teflon.

Plectrum bati, with which this musical instrument is played, is usually made from wood, ivory, turtle shell, buffalo horn, or plastic.

Separately, it should be said about what a bati plectrum is. In general, this is the same pick of ours, which is much larger in size and has the shape of an almost regular triangle with a pointed edge. It is with the help of this device that the required rhythm of the music is set.

A Japanese musical instrument like the shamisen has 3 varieties:

• hosozao;
• chuzao;
• tsugaru-jamisen.

Comparing these instruments, one can easily draw an analogy with the well-known viola, violin and piccolo violin. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

This type of shamisen has a very narrow neck. It is most often used as an accompaniment to a long song called nagauta in Japanese poetry.

This version of the shamisen has a wider neck. It is often used in the chamber music genre of Japan, that is, in jiute.

This variety has a very thick neck, and therefore it is quite difficult to confuse it with any others. This type of shamisen is most often used for the voice acting of Japanese puppet theater, that is, joruri.

In the 16th century in Japan, there were only two styles for playing a musical instrument such as the shamisen - kouta, used for short songs, and nagauta, used for longer pieces. However, at the present time there are several styles of play.

• Uta-mono. The style is song, it is this genre that most often acts as a musical accompaniment in the aforementioned Kabuki theater.
• The second style, Katari-mono, is fantastic. It is the most traditional of Japanese art and is usually accompanied by rather specific chanting.
• The last style is minieu, implies a folk song.

In addition, it should be said that these days not only the classics are performed on the shamisen, but also such parts that are intended, for example, for electric guitars.

The sound of the shamisen may seem somewhat specific, and therefore it is most often used to enhance the main sound in a number of Japanese films. Examples of such are anime such as "Naruto" or "Puni Puni Poemi".

Now let's move on to talking directly about the very playing of such a Japanese musical instrument as the shamisen. Initially, when it was just discovered in Japan, it was played with the help of a yubikake, a small pick. This did not allow to reveal all the possibilities of this musical instrument. However, over time, the bachi plectrum was also used to play the shamisen, which made it possible to fully realize the musical potential of the instrument, since playing with the plectrum significantly increased the possibilities of its timbre.

Usually, for playing the shamisen, the bachi plectrum is placed in the right hand, and the sound of the strings, when required, is slowed down by three fingers of the left on the fretboard without frets. The other two fingers, that is, the little finger and thumb, are usually not used when playing. One of the most common techniques for playing this Japanese musical instrument is considered to be the bachi plectrum striking the membrane and string, which occurs simultaneously.

However, the tone of the game is influenced not only by the plectrum. The specificity of its sound is also determined by how thick the strings, neck, membrane or other parts of it are. This is also influenced by which hand the player plays with the strings. So, for example, if you pluck the strings with your left hand, the sound will be most graceful.

It is possible to change the timbre of this musical instrument in other ways, for example, by changing the length of the strings, neck or the same plectrum. In addition, you can resort to changing their other parameters, such as, for example, size, weight, thickness, or material. The ability to change the specifics of the timbre of a musical instrument is one of the main distinctive characteristics of the shamisen.

You can watch about this musical instrument in the next video.