Shamisen Week 33 Lesson

I'm back from successful (so far!) surgery but I have not left behind Wakamizu!

I originally was going to write this blog once a week for 52 weeks then end it. For the last, what seems eternal weeks, I have been practicing Wakamizu. I still have not mastered it although I am getting better weekly if not daily.

However, I believe I shall place the blog in Pause mode until I forge ahead to new material other than Wakamizu. The blog makes for dull reading every time I just say "we are still on Wakamizu."

For the one faithful follower, I appreciate you! I will return to this blog, with the appropriately correct week, once I move on from Wakamizu. When will that be? Who knows?!

Shamisen Week 31 Lesson

No lesson this week or the following week (Week 32) because of some health problems. I will be undergoing a medical procedure this week. Hope to return to lessons on Week 33 (November 16, 2013).

Shamisen Week 30 Lesson

Yes, still on the ole Wakamizu. Love that song (really). Just wish I could master it.

Still working on the position of Octave 1 San no ito, followed by Octaves 3, 4, 7, transitioning back through those, then finding Octave 2 and for an added bonus challenge, Octave 1 with the index finger and with the second finger.

You would think that once Octave 1 is found with the index finger that finding it with the second finger would not present a problem. Well, if you are me (and obviously you are not!), it is like a whole nother country.

What did they used to say in the days when the carnival challenge called High Striker (Strongman game) was popular? You hit the metal plate as hard as you could with a huge hammer to send a small metal puck up to a bell at the top. If you rang the bell, you won. If you did not, the carny guy would say "Close, but no cigar." Well, it's close but no cigar on the Octaves.

The master insists that without mastering this song, the following songs we will learn will be more troublesome. Master Wakamizu, and it will not be hard.

I have to trust the sensei.

Shamisen Week 29 Lesson

Wakamizu Redux.

That's it. Nothing new to report. This is sounding like a broken record (of course, most people alive today don't know what a record is, let alone a broken one, or why it is apropos for my comment. Such is life!).

In any case, the master insists we continue with Wakamizu until I master all of its parts--particularly Octave 1 and its transitions, getting Position 7 san no ito EVERYTIME, and understanding the timing of the piece.

I am getting better at finding Ocatave 1 and the timing. Trust me...

Shamisen Week 28 Lesson

Wakamizu is not going away any time soon. My sensei says that we must continue playing this until I get it right because it will help me in the next song that we will undertake. Unfortunately, I don't believe that we will move on to that song, whatever it is, anytime soon.

I love Wakamizu, thank goodness. Otherwise, I would have gone crazy by now. Three weeks plus on this song, an hour every day, can grate if it is something you dislike.

I am doing better in finding Octave 1, but it's still hit or miss, with a lot of misses vs. hits. Same goes for Position 7 which I had hoped I would have mastered by now. Position 5 is finally a lock. I find it every time. But Position 7 is not always as easy because that position floats a bit more as the san no ito gets out of tune.

I do believe there is such a thing as over practice. After a while, I'm not sure I'm getting the full benefit of my practice sessions going over the same material time and time again. With another musical piece to mix it up, I would think that when I went back to it (Wakamizu) I might improve. This is just my subjective opinion.

On the equipment front, I received my ivory itomaki from Japan and they are now installed. I did not notice more itomaki slippage with the ivory as compared to the kokutan wood as some sangen players have observed. The ivory itomaki originally came with this sangen when it was made in the '50s. Thus, they have had many years to "mate" the surfaces involved compared to the newer kokutan pieces. The ivory itomaki have a nice, yellowed aged look to them and although some experts dispute this, I believe I do hear a tonal quality difference between the ivory and the kokutan itomaki. It's probably just a placebo effect, but...

In addition, I purchased a bekko bachi from Japan and it also came at the same time as the itomaki. Bekko is SO much better than plastic! Flexibility on the blade of the bachi makes a big difference in control and sound. One thing I noticed right away is that the scrapping sound I sometimes made on the strings with the plastic bachi has disappeared completely.

Shamisen Week 27 Lesson

Been practicing Wakamizu all the past week thinking we would move on like we have done so many times before. Not this time. I guess because this piece is one that I will have to master, the master wants me to master it now before moving on. It may be a long time!

The Octave notes are the problem. Replicating them consistently is a challenge. However, Position 7 on the san no ito is also problematic because of the constant stretching of this thin string. As soon as I can consistently hit Position 7, the string stretches a bit and I have to re-tune. That takes time and is a pain, but nothing can be done. It is part of the nature of the instrument.

So, I practice and practice Wakamizu. Sometimes it's okay; most times not so much. If I can ever nail down Octave 1, I might have a chance at Octaves 2, 3, 4, and 7. I get IT once in a while, but if I miss Octave 1, of course, everything else that follow is also off.

On the good side, I am not getting so frustrated as I have in the past. Why? It has finally dawned on my puny brain that this is not a sprint but a marathon. I am not going to "get it" tomorrow, the next week, or even next month. If I keep practicing, I hope to get better--over the long haul. So, it's not a 100 meter dash, but a long-distance event when considering learning the sangen. It has taken me a while to realize this. And once realized, the frustration and pressure has lessened measurably.

My ivory itomaki have arrived and I should be using them by next week. Some other sangen players have said that the slippage of ivory itomaki is much worse than kokutan itomaki, so I should not get too excited. It's more for looks than practicality. We shall test that theory shortly. In addition, after looking diligently for over six months, I have found a bekko jiuta bachi to purchase. That should be arriving from Japan in the next few weeks.

Shamisen Week 26 Lesson

The sensei and I go over Wakamizu. Of course, I thought I was nailing it in practice but when I actually have to play it, I suck. The Octave notes are difficult to locate by sound. My transitions up the sao to Position 7 and 8 on the san no ito are still not where they should be. Sometimes I'm not even close. I'm still pressing too hard on the strings and sao. My tempo is better, but this is a relatively easy piece regarding that.

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but it is so frustrating when I believe I have had a good week of practice to come to Lesson time and find out that I am not doing as well as I would hope. I don't know if it's because I'm nervous or if I have just not practiced correctly at home. I want to do well for my instructor--perhaps I am trying too hard when we play together.

The sensei says I am doing much better, but it is hard to get excited when I feel I am blowing it every time I go to a lesson. Plus, I don't think I am progressing as fast as I should. I realize that every person's progress is relative. I just don't think my progress is relatively good!

Shamisen Week 25 Lesson

I practice a number of San Sagari and Ni Agari pieces that have 1/8 notes in combination with 1/4 notes in a single or an immediate following double measure. I do this in preparation for the week's lesson as I assume we will be playing the pieces my sensei has asked me to practice.

Surprisingly, I do much better this week with the tempo issues associated with those note combinations when playing the new instrument. My errors, as predicted by my sensei, are more obvious for sure. When I miss a note, it sticks out like a sore thumb now. But somehow the new instrument gives me renewed confidence. I believe a light bulb has gone on regarding how I need to approach playing 1/8 notes that are not consistently through an entire measure. Still errors abound, but I am getting better. The sound of the new sangen is incredible and reminds me of why I took the instrument up in the first place.

The lesson for the week does NOT go over the previous week's practice but goes on to learning a new song called "Wakamizu." Translated that means fresh or young water. This piece is one of the five I will have to master before I can get my beginner's certificate in sangen.

The song is in Ni Agari tuning, 3/4 time, and straightforward. There are a number of new notes (Octave 2, 3, 4, 7) which go way down the sao and are not easy to find. However, there are no intricate transitions and absent the new octave notes, the music consists mostly of san no ito positions 3, 5, 7, and 8 with a smattering of ni no ito parts.

The problem is I am still having difficulty finding Position 7/8 on the san no ito when I have to move from the lower part of the sao to the upper part. I am hitting Position 5 on the san no ito about 90-95 percent of the time within one cm. Not perfect, indeed, but much improved since I began the sangen six months ago. And finding 7 (and of course 8) is normally not a problem when I can move from the top of the sao downward. In that case, when there is a rest in the music, I have time to briefly pause at 5 and then lower the finger onto 7 or second finger on to 8.

Coming from below, when I am playing notes below (higher) than 7 or 8 (like all of the octaves!), is problematic. If there is a rest involved after a higher note (as noted earlier), again I can move to the top of the sao, slide down, pause at 5, move to 7 and/or second finger 8 with some consistency. I don't do this with the consistency of when I need to play Position 5, but still okay. When I have to come up from below, it is murder.

I know it takes time for motor memory to lock in, but it is a hit-miss situation moving to 7/8 when I don't have time to transition to the top of the sao and try to locate the notes using the anchor position of 5. I am attempting to use hand/finger/body positioning to help, but this often does not work. Wish there was some handy-dandy trick to finding those notes when transitioning from below them, but somehow I doubt there is one. Practice, practice, practice.

Shamisen Week 24 Lesson

This was an exciting and frustrating week combined. The excitement came when the sangen I purchased from a friend of the sensei finally arrived from Japan.

The instrument was made sometime in the 1950s in Japan. It was used professionally by the friend's mother before the mother passed the instrument down to her daughter (at about the age of 10). This individual then used the instrument for the past 50 years (also professionally). When my sensei was in Japan for a concert tour, she contacted this friend to see if she had any sangens to sell. The friend graciously consented to sell me this instrument.

The sao is made of Kokutan. Kokutan (ebony) is from the native Okinawan tree Ryukyu Kokutan or Ryukyu Symplocaceae. In olden times, this tree was often used to make ebony saos for sangens. Unfortunately, for the most part, this is way too expensive today. There are not many sangens now being played that have solid ebony saos. In fact, the only ebony sao on a sangen that I have seen is the one my sensei plays and some pictures of sangen museum pieces.

Additionally, the sao has gold inlay where the joints of the three pieces fit together. The cut lines are so fine and the joints so tight you have to hunt for them--they are not easily discovered. A new dog skin covers the dou. Pre-ban ivory itomaki finish this work of art.

I don't wish to sound corny, but I am surely not worthy of playing this fine instrument. However, I will try my best. At the very least, I can admire both its sound and beauty.

The frustration came with understanding playing on the "off-beat" and understanding the musical notation of 1/8 notes on the beat and on the off-beat. I wish I could explain it better or that the sensei could explain it better. I am struggling with this. Let's just say I don't completely "get" the right tempo and timing of one practice piece we have been playing (Lesson 19 on this blog). Timing, tempo, pauses, etc. are everything (obviously) in music. So this lack on my part is disheartening. But I keep on trying.

Shamisen Week 23 Lesson

I return from the long, football infused Labor Day weekend ready to go. I have had one additional week of practice for the previous lesson and for the song Sakura. I've played ahead a bit in anticipation that we will move from what we have done the previous two weeks into new material.

New material, yes. What I expected, no.  Instead of advance fingering in some new practice pieces with the ni agari tuning, we switch gears yet again and take on the new tuning of San Sagari.

San Sagari means "lowered three" or "lowered third" wherein the honchoshi tuning is taken (D-G-D), but the third string (San) is lowered a whole step. Thus, the tuning of the instrument now becomes D-G-C.

Going from D-A-D to D-G-C is a dramatic change in the sound. It is much mellower with the third string not so "strident" in the playing. This third tuning (combined with the other two) covers about 85-90 percent of the music for jiuta sangen. There are some additional tunings in the future, but my sensei says they are less important than the major three: honchoshi, ni agari, and san sagari.

The new material is challenging although there is not much new as to string positions. The transitions and the tempo of the practice pieces are always a challenge for me, a "counting challenged" individual. But I look forward to new material. My sensei always seems to know when to move on with new material or new challenges. Thus, just at the point where I have about "played out" in practicing, we go to new material.

Shamisen Week 21 Lesson

We continue the same material as we did in Week 20. We go over the latest practice piece along with the song Sakura. I am doing passably well, but nothing to write home Momma about. After we go through Sakura a few times with the sangen, the sensei pulls out the koto. A real treat as the instructor is a master of the koto as well.

We do a duet of Sakura. I butcher it in a few places, but the added sound of the koto makes the piece come alive. It is these moments, when I can "hear" the music, that keeps me going.

Next week is the fifth Saturday of the month and also Labor Day weekend. The master normally gives everyone a break when a month has a fifth Saturday, so we both take the following week off. As has been done since I started this blog, the 22nd week will be "counted" but the next blog entry will have Week 23 as the title.

I have some space here to do a little rant on the vagaries of practice. This past week is a typical week of practice. I warm up a bit doing the major positions on all strings (open, 2, 5, 7), kokis, and then some other string transitions. After a bit, I practice the current material (in this case, Lesson 15 as contained in the Lessons tab of this blog), along with the song Sakura.

The practice goes well. I hit around 90 percent of the positions and the tempo is mostly maintained. After an hour, I put the sangen away, satisfied with the session.

The very next day, same hour of day for practice, same place in my home, no difference in my temperament, weather, whatever, and the hour-long practice is a disaster. I can't buy a Position 5 and 7 is no where to be found. My transitions on the other notes are horrific. I can't get comfortable with the bachi and even the sangen does not seem to want to rest in its normal position.

What gives? I'm a former teacher and the research shows that you should study (practice) the same time of day in the same place every day to get the most out of your efforts. Yet here it is, everything replicated, nothing more than the next day, and the practice session is crapola.

I'm sure I am not the first one to experience this, whether it is someone playing the sangen, guitar, drums, or practicing football or tennis. But although I acknowledge that this is not a new phenomena, it is frustrating nonetheless that a perfectly good practice session is followed up with one that bombed.

It would be fun to see if any research has been done in this area of why one practice differs from another so dramatically when the conditions are as near to identical as possible.

Shamisen Week 20 Lesson

I continue to practice Lesson 15 as contained in the Lessons tab of this blog. The transitions are brutal and my fingers are misplaced 90 percent of the time. An added problem is that I have now removed the white markers that denoted the number 5, 7, and Octave 1 positions on the sangen.

When I acquired my current sangen, those marks were on the instrument from the previous owner. They are initially used to ease the learning of the instrument. Sangens, as you recall, do not have frets and there are no markers, signs, or other distinguishing marks to indicate the specific note positions of the sao. Thus, the notes played on the sangen must be memorized using muscle memory and tones. Learning to play the guitar, even though it has more strings, is a walk in the park compared to learning jiuta sangen. Why? Frets!!!

My teacher has allowed me to continue to use the marks as a learning tool (crutch) for the past 20 weeks. No more. I removed the marks as instructed by my sensei. Easy to do; hard now to remember exactly where those base positions are without my constant peripheral eyeball check on the white marks. Thus, it is two steps forward, one step back--or maybe even two back--with Lesson 15.

I struggle with it in the previous week's practice. I continue to struggle the entire current lesson with the instructor until we rest a bit. I wonder why we are stopping since I have clearly butchered the practice material and need tons more work. Then the sensei pulls out a new song. It is Sakura, a famous and oft played song for the sangen in Japan. The title translates to Cherry Blossom. The song, however, has a new twist.

Instead of the usual jiuta tablature learned so far, it is in a new format. Individual notes (or combination of notes) are placed in single boxes. There are four boxes per measure and four measures per line (4/4 time). New markings are there as well indicating when to repeat notes or complete sections of the song. There is also new nomenclature showing which finger to use to play the note (first, second, third finger).

My instructor tells me that this tablature is equally as common as the tablature we have been learning these past five months. The instructor wants me to learn both tablatures so that if I wish to play a particular song, I will not have to hunt down a specific tablature form in case I come across the song in the other format.

The song, as mentioned, is in 4/4 time with a slow-medium tempo. No difficult notes or transitions to learn, but learning the new nomenclatures is enough.

I have included the song under the Songs tab in the blog. Since it is a recognized song, I have not also included it in the Lessons material.

Shamisen Week 19 Lesson

The previous lesson and practice hours were difficult. Again, my instructor felt I had mastered it enough within one week that we move on to new material. I am a bit surprised but enjoy pushing on even though I don't have it perfect. Remember what Coach Sabin of the Alabama Crimson Tide says: "Perfect prevents you from getting good."

In this week's lesson, many new notes are once again introduced along with the first piece that is in 3/4 time:

Position 3, San

Octave 2, San

Position 10, Ni

Position 9, Ni

Position 8, Ni

Position 7, Ichi

My head is swirling with all the new notes and combination of notes that are contained in the last two lessons. I gulp and push on.

Shamisen Week 18 Lesson

When it rains, it pours.

For the past three weeks I have been practicing Lesson 12 (in the Lesson tab of this blog). Simple piece, 4/4 time, about 60 beats per minute tempo. As noted in previous posts, I have struggled with the playing of notes that go beyond one beat and those that are shortened to a half-beat to maintain the four beats per measure. If each note only has one beat, I can usually maintain the correct tempo for the piece. Not so much when you introduce longer and shorter notes. That messes me up often. It sounds silly and probably is way too easy for those of the musically inclined to replicate, but for me (the musically challenged), it continues to need work.

Although I have not mastered my above tempo issues, my instructor decides it is good enough to move on to new material. However, since I am not ready for the more challenging pieces in the current music book, we are changing books.

The music instruction book I began with on this journey was in the honchoshi tuning. This is the base tuning of the jiuta sangen. It is D-G-D. The first string is tuned to D; the second string to G; the third string to D. The new music book has the ni agari tuning. That tuning is D-A-D. In addition, the two new lessons my instructor introduces has six new notes with two new kokis:

Ichi, second position

Ichi, fifth position, koki

Ni, fourth position

Ni, sixth position

Ni, fourth position, koki

San, seventh position

San, eighth position

San, first position, one octave higher

As noted in previous posts, it is difficult to tell you exactly where the above notes are located on the sao. Different lengths of sao give you slightly different distance reference points. However, for the san, seventh position, if you place your index finger on the san fifth position, then stretch out your third finger about as far as you can go without pain, that will be position seven on the third string. Eight position is a little beyond that.

As for the one octave higher note for the san (which is signified by a small dot immediately to the right of the standard nomenclature for this note--the numeral 1) it is beyond position 10 (designated by "X" in Japanese tablature). In other words, it's way down there on the sao!

The practice material is much more difficult with the introduction of so many new notes and the new koki. Plus, sometimes you play Position seven on the san with the index finger; other times you play it with your third or ring finger. Finding the one octave higher san position 1 note is really hard to do.

With the new tuning on the second string, the sound coming from the sangen has a lighter, less melancholic flavor than with the honchoshi tuning.

Shamisen Week 17 Lesson

Nothing new this week because I am still struggling with the music piece that is Lesson 12 under Lessons in this blog. My counting the beats is still slightly off. My instructor always wants you to master the material before forging ahead to new stuff. So, I'm still plugging away on that piece.

Nothing else happening. We may move onto new material next week. We'll see.

Shamisen Week 16 Lesson

No new material this week as I continue to try to master last week's music. It is a song using many of the latest notes and techniques I've learned in the past three weeks. I'm having a hard time "getting it" because of timing.

As I have mentioned in several previous posts, I have no musical background. None. Zip. Nada. Many of the pieces I am learning are in 4/4 time, which for me, is a semi-easy concept to understand. However, tempo, which can vary widely, is difficult for me to grasp. Each piece may be in 4/4 time, but the tempo of the songs vary.

When to move on to the next note, when to pause, when to speed up a bit, when to slow down??? Some of the notes are combined together to make up one beat of the measure. Others are not. Some notes have to be held slightly longer than others because of the musical notation associated with them. Some have to be speeded up (like a grace note). It is all new and very confusing to me.

A perfect example is my practice. I play the notes, but no music is coming out. It's just a series of notes. When I play with my teacher, I can hear the music because she shows me the pace and the timing of each note played. I need to get to a point that I can do that at home during practice. I love playing the sangen and enjoy practice a lot. But I can't hear the music yet.

I am hoping a better instrument will help a bit with that and have purchased a much higher quality sangen from a friend of my instructor. The friend lives in Japan and the sangen needs to be reskinned. It will not be ready until late August or September. Cost plenty moola but looking forward to a better sound output. My instructor has lent a cautionary note, however, by saying that the better quality the sangen, the easier it is to hear your mistakes. Your mistakes cannot easily be hidden with a better instrument.

Shamisen Week 15 Lesson

I must be doing okay as to my playing although I think I am doing horrible. The "okayness" condition comes from the fact that we are again moving on to new material. I surmise that if I was really doing badly, we would stay on the material a bit longer. In any case, a long practice song piece is next on the agenda.

One new technique and one new note has been added. A dot under a note indicates that the note should be played one-half beat longer than a normal note. The new additional note is Position 5, ichi no ito.

The long musical practice piece also introduces major and minor themes. The tablature widens to accompany two sets or lines of notes going down the page. The rightmost line is the major theme. Left of that is the minor theme. On this piece, I am learning the minor theme. However, I assume I will learn the major theme as well sometime in the future.

This is once again (deja vu?!) getting much harder. Although the practice music is still in 4/4 time, most of the notes are either koki or combination notes (two notes combining to make one beat). Thus, it is not uncommon in this piece to play eight notes in a single measure. My fingers are flying all over the place and usually are not landing where they should!

I have not reached a skill level so that I can just read the note(s) and play them. At this stage of the game, I see the note(s), I then interpret them as to where my fingers are supposed to be, then I move my finger(s) to the note(s) and play. That is to say, things are speeding up and I am playing catch up most of the time.

Shamisen Week 14 Lesson

No moss is growing under the sao. As with last week's lesson, the sensei has moved on to new material. This week I learned two new techniques that act like new notes. The first is the "grace note."

Not sure why it is called that. Think of it as a koki on steroids. In the standard koki, you play the note (the note appears in the music with what looks like a large letter "C" underneath it), then you move your fingernail down the ito to the correct position, making a sound as you go. If it is Position 4, san no ito koki, then you play Position 4 and slide your finger nail down the ito to Position 5. If it is Position 4, ni no ito koki, then you play Position 4 and slide your fingernail down the ito to Position 7.

In the grace note, you quickly slide your fingernail down the ito without pausing to a new position on the sao. You move your entire hand down the sao to the correct position while pressing down with your index finger on the ito involved and then lifting quickly. In effect, it is a koki that is speeded up and does NOT stop on the next note listed after the grace note (as you do with a standard koki).

This is extremely hard to master and my fingers are flying all over the place making for some interesting noi...I mean music as the grace note is played. Fun stuff--weird sounds!

Much easier is the Uchi Yubi usually shortened to just Uchi. The uchi is a notation just to the left of the note that you are supposed to play telling you NOT to play the note by strumming the ito but instead quickly snap or press your index finger down at that note. This causes a different sound from the note originally intended.

For example, in an uchi on Position 2, ni no ito, the symbol for this note is listed in the tablature with the uchi symbol just to the left of it. When this uchi symbol appears, strum the ni no ito in the open position, then quickly snap your index finger down on Position 2.

My instructor, while discussing the difficulty of mastering the sangen, said again that it would take me about three years to play well. I still don't have a problem with that. I ain't doin' nothin' else interesting! However, the sensei continued on saying that we were near the end of learning new techniques and notes such that we will be through that phase of our lessons together and soon move on to mastering songs.

I find that hard to believe. I'm not sure if I understood the instructor correctly on that or not. If it's true, I'm surprised since new stuff just keeps on coming week after week! We'll see.

Shamisen Week 13 Lesson

The instructor often stays with the same material we learned the week before. Usually because I have not mastered it or even "near" mastered it. However, we move on to new material this week, although not radically new.

One new note and several new techniques are introduced. The new note is Position 9 on the san no ito. I wish I could tell you where it is located. I cannot. I am having a devil of a time figuring out exactly where that note is. We did not replicate it enough during our one-hour session together for me to anchor the position in my mind. Complicating matters is that the note is played with the second finger. The second finger is on the note while the first finger trails immediately behind it.

An additional challenge is the transition from Position 9 back to Position 6 on the san no ito. My fingers feel glued to the sao and they don't want to move. When they do move, my second finger is spread too wide from the first finger when I reach Position 6 from Position 9 such that the note is off.

Position 6 is played with the second finger while maintaining the first finger on Position 5. When I slide down to Position 9 those two fingers get further apart from each other. When they slide back to Position 5/6 (first finger on 5, second finger on 6), the Position 5 finger is close to where it is supposed to be, but the second finger has been splayed as I move up the sao so that Position 6 is not correct. Since the note required to be played at this point is Position 6, this becomes extremely frustrating.

The new techniques are not really new--just new musical representations of something learned before. For example, hajiki, as mentioned in Lesson 12, is the plucking of the string with the finger (not the bachi). You pluck the note that immediately precedes the hajiki symbol. But suppose you want to pluck a different string--not the one that appears previous to the hajiki symbol? For this, the hajiki symbol appears immediately to the left of the position you are supposed to play.

Example: ^5 is hajiki, position 5, san no ito. So here, you pluck san no ito with the third finger while holding down position 5 with the first finger. This is not difficult, and although the musical symbols for the action to take are straightforward, interpreting them quickly enough and consistently takes me lots of practice.

Shamisen Week 12 Lesson

Well, my sensei has finally returned from a successful concert tour in Japan. I have been without lessons for three weeks and thus have not posted my weekly blog during this time. I did add several lessons to the Lessons Page on the blog for those studying along with me.

It was great to have a lesson again and I didn't do too bad. The last song we were practicing (before the three-week absence) went okay, but my timing was completely off. I knew the notes (I had been practicing it one hour a day for the last three weeks!) but this is where my lack of general musical training shows.

The timing was 2/2 time, but moderately. Unfortunately I was not sure what "moderately" meant in musical terms. Thus, I practiced it more quickly than it should have been. In one sense, this might not have been such a bad thing. When the sensei and I played it together, it was much easier done the "slow" way than the way I had been practicing it. But it was still frustrating since it appeared I had no clue as to how quickly or slowly the notes should have been played.

This week's lesson was chock full of new material. It included two new notes, one new position (but not played), and two new techniques. The new notes and techniques are as follows:

Position 6 on the San no ito using the second finger

Position 6 on the Ichi no ito using the second finger

Position 7 on the Ni no ito (not actually played)

Koki (sliding your index finger nail along the string to the next position)

Playing two strings at the same time (similar to a chord)

Position 6 on the san no ito is done with the second finger--the first introduced note on the sangen that uses a finger other than the index finger. The second finger is moved into a position slightly down from the Number 5 position on the san no ito while still holding the Number 5 position with the index finger. You thus have two fingers on the string--on Number 5 with the index finger and Number 6 with the second finger.

Position 6 on the ichi no ito is done with the second finger as well. While the index finger is in Position 5 on the ni no ito (the second string from the top), you reach over this string with your second finger and place it on the ichi no ito, just slightly down from where your index finger is currently placed.

"Koki" is where you slide on the string with your finger nail into the position indicated, then slide again to the next note that will be played. The position you slide your finger to is NOT played. The sliding of the finger itself becomes like a note in the musical composition.

The difficulty of the above technique is knowing where to slide your finger. The sensei explained that it is a complicated rule based on Japanese musical theory. The instructor did not want to go into a detailed explanation of why you slide your finger to a certain position with one note, while it is a completely different position with another note.

For now, if the note played is Position 4 on the san no ito, and the koki symbol immediately follows (it looks like a "C" on the tablature), after playing Position 4 on the san no ito, you slide your index finger to Position 5 on the san no ito (as if the sliding constitutes a note), then slide your finger nail to the next note in the measure. However, for Position 5 on the ni no ito, you would think you would then slide your nail along the string to Position 6 if the koki symbol follows that note, then slide back to the next note. NOT!

For koki following Position 5 on the ni no ito, you slide your nail along the string to Position 7 on the ni no ito, then slide it back to the next note that will be played in the measure. Again, the sensei said that it will be explained in the future. For now, just use memorization to accomplish it.

By the way, Position 7 is approximately 2 3/4 inches below Position 5. I say approximately because sangen sao length varies depending upon the instrument, and thus the different finger positions vary with one or two exceptions.

Finally, the first "chord" if you will was introduced. In this case, it is expressed in Japanese tablature as two notes occupying the same position in the measure. The introduced note or chord was Position 5 on the san no ito along with the Open position on the ni no ito. They are both struck (strummed) at the same time using the bachi in the flattest angle possible so that the notes sound "together."

Shamisen Week 8 Lesson

Two months of lessons and I sometimes wonder if I am making significant progress. It doesn't get any easier as time goes on. I am still enjoying myself immensely and still look forward to practicing every day. However, I sometimes wonder if my instructor thinks I am a worthwhile pupil because of my slow progress, but I keep trying.

No new notes or techniques were taught in this session. However, a second song was introduced that uses close to 100 percent of all the notes learned so far. The transitioning is hard as you jump from note to note utilizing everything I have learned so far. I have to interpret the note, move my fingers to the correct sao position, then strike the ito and move on to the next note and repeat. It is frustrating how slow I sometimes react and the many mistakes I make. Patience.

My instructor has gone to Japan on a concert tour. I will not have any lessons for the next three weeks. To keep this blog consistent as a weekly expose on learning the sangen, Weeks 9, 10, and 11 lessons will not be recorded or posted as such. The next weekly blog post will be for Week 12 in late June. However, I will be posting the new song, some additional lessons, and some other information that hopefully will prove useful for any of you following along in learning the sangen on your own.

Shamisen Week 7 Lesson

As the lesson begins, I am still having some difficulty holding the bachi consistently for any length of time. It continues to get out of position in my hand as the lesson (or practice for that matter) progresses. Maybe my hand is built wrong! I am seriously considering investigating making my own bachi with plastic resin and a custom mold to fit my hand better. I'll let you know if I pursue that.

In addition, the positioning of the sangen often needs correction. I hold it one way at the lessons and another way at home during practice. I need to be more consistent in how the sangen is held along with the height of the sao in relationship to my body. Frustrating.

My instructor has determined we need to go on to new material and we do so in a big way. A little overwhelming. I'm a bit slow on the uptake so I think it has taken me longer than the instructor would have liked for me to have some kind of consistency in playing the sangen, especially in regards to transitioning the notes. It has taken me a long time to get any better at strumming an ito at the same time my finger has been placed into the right position on the sao. By no means have I mastered this technique, but I am getting better.

Although briefly introduced in Week 6, we go headlong into the back strumming of the san and ni no itos. This technique is known as "sukui bachi." As mentioned in the last post, it is where you back strum the ito with the bachi. Gives you a completely different sound.

The sukui bachi technique is introduced using the san and ni no itos. In addition, we move on to 1/16 notes where the sukui bachi technique is used very quickly on the itos with an initial downward stroke and then backward with a rapid flip of the bachi edge. Going slow is easy--going this faster speed is not.

Next, we tackle a new position--position 4 on both the san and itchi no ito. I get confused at first because I assumed we would first learn the number 2 and 5 positions on the itchi no ito before moving to the number 4 position--like we did with the san and ni no itos. My confusion is apparent and so I ask my instructor why the jump to the 4 position before exploring the number 2 and 5 positions on the itchi no ito.

My teacher explains that with the open string notes, the number 2 and 5 positions on the san and ni no ito, the sukui bachi technique, and now the number 4 position on the san and itchi no ito, I will be able to play a lot more songs--with the addition of one more technique. That's when I am also introduced to hajiki, the plucking of the itos on the sao with the fingers.

The ito plucking with the fingers sounds easy but it's not. For now, the hajiki is done only on the san no ito, in the open position and in position 5. I keep missing the san no ito in the open position as the technique requires you to open your left hand completely, your thumb anchored against the sao, and then curve downward all four fingers catching the san no ito with your first finger.

Hajiki is a bit easier in the number 5 position on the san no ito because you use your third finger (ring finger) to strum the ito. You wouldn't think plucking some strings with your fingers would be tough, but the special technique you have to use complicates matters.

With the positions and techniques now learned (but definitely not mastered), the ability to play many more notes is possible. Surprisingly, I am having an easier time with the number 4 position on the san no ito than I did when first introduced to the number 5 position. Maybe this is because of the previous practice with number 5 or perhaps it is just simpler to locate. The number 4 position is halfway between the number 1 position and the number 5 position on the sao.

The number 4 position on the itchi no ito is a little more difficult because you have to reach all the way over to the top string with your index finger. Remember, at this point in the sangen instruction, you are using only one finger, your index finger, to play the notes on the sao.

Shamisen Week 6 Lesson

I STILL don't have the holding of the bachi down. I keep on trying, but... The plectrum is not an easily handled item. Not like a small guitar pick to be held with the thumb and forefinger or the picks used with Okinawan shamisens where they fit over the fingers. This is a BIG piece of wood or plastic that must be held with the entire hand AND in a semi-awkward position IMHO. Will be working on that a lot this week in practice!

Sliding up and down the sao so I can get into the number 1 and number 5 positions correctly is improving. Not quite there yet but the coordination between plucking the ito at the moment my finger gets into position is much better. Again, without frets, getting into the same position consistently where the note will be played correctly is difficult. I can sometimes replicate it two or three times in a row, but invariably the fourth or greater time I miss the right point.

The instructor reminds me once again NOT to rely on looking at the mark on the sao that indicates position 5. It will become a crutch I will never be able to get rid of once I get proficient in playing the sangen. Looking at the sao mark while playing any of the numerous finger positions speeds up progress, my teacher says, but invariably holds you back because if you go with a different sangen, you will not be able to play it. The teacher had a student like that and it was sad. So long as the student had her own sangen, she played well--because she looked at the sao for all the different finger positions. When she borrowed another sangen, disaster. She could not play the instrument. I don't want that to be me.

We are finally onto a new musical notation--the back plucking of the ito. The teacher gives me the name of this musical notation and I quickly forget it. I'll mention it in a future post. Regardless, this notation tells you to pluck the ito with the back end or backward motion of the bachi with whatever note precedes it. That is, if the note that precedes it is a number 1 position for the san no ito, than the following marker tells you to strum the same string (in this case, the san no ito) with a backward (upward) motion of the bachi. Completely different sound comes out of the ito when you do this.

This is only introduced late in the session since we have concentrated on the note transitions I have already learned and not quite mastered.

Shamisen Week 5 Lesson

I got my butt kicked in this session, figuratively speaking. I thought I was moving forward, albeit slowly, but I have not made enough progress such that we are still stuck on the seven notes I have learned on the sangen.

There are four problem areas I am having: Bachi holding, sao sliding, stable wrist, and coordinating movement from position 1 to position 5 on the ni and san no ito. The correct holding of the bachi is constricted because of the size of my hand and the size of the jiuta bachi. The teacher and I have made a compromise such that I will not hold the bachi in the absolute correct position but a make-do situation because of my hand. I believe this will work in the long run without major issue.

The sao sliding is proving much more difficult. When you hold the sao by the left hand, you are supposed to be able to slide up and down unencumbered, holding the wrist in a relatively stable position. The yubikake, a small knit mini-glove for the thumb and forefinger, allows the sliding to go easily. However, the yubikake I have is a bit large. The yubikake should be somewhat taught across the thumb and index finger--some bounce in it--so that the yubikake does not completely rest or curve downward into the space between the thumb and forefinger.

Because mine is a bit large, the knit material rests on that aforementioned space and thus has no tautness to speak of. What happens then is that I have a tendency to grip the sao with the thumb and forefinger and prevent the smooth sliding up and down the sangen neck. Without that smooth sliding, getting into the correct finger position in a speedy manner is difficult. You grip the neck, thus artificially restricting the sliding movement. Yubikake are not expensive but the only two sources for them are in Canada and Japan. I'm tempted to wash it in hot water and dry on high to shrink it, but not sure if that will work.

Stabilizing the left wrist as it slides up and down the sao is critical. If you get the wrist out of position you are out of position for placing the forefinger correctly on the string. Unless you concentrate on it, the wrist naturally moves and is bent one way or the other as you slide up and down the sao. I keep on bending the wrist and thus get out of position for a correct finger placement/pressure on the sao.

The teacher has suggested taping a chopstick to the base of my wrist to restrict the movement, thus helping me "train" the wrist not to move. I don't have a chopstick but modern wrist stabilizers for injuries to the wrist are available. I purchase a "mild" one and hope this helps. If not, I will go back to my local drug store and look for an even more restrictive wrist brace.

Finally, the coordination of the movement of the index finger to a new playing position and the simultaneous striking of the bachi on the appropriate ito is extremely difficult for me. You would think this involves good eye/hand coordination--which I am atrocious at. However, that can't be because the majority of early 17th century jiuta sangen players were blind monks. Thus, it takes coordination but no eyesight to do this.

As hard as I try, I am at a loss as to how to move the left hand into the proper position AND at the same time strike the ito at exactly the moment the finger is in that position. My instructor has told me to begin striking the ito FIRST and then move the finger into position. It is not optimal and it is definitely not the correct way to do it, but it is an attempt to improve the coordination of the two movements.

I practice that after the session and it does improve both the sound and the coordination of the two movements (finger sliding, striking bachi), but I am concerned it will take me longer than I feel is necessary to master this technique. My teacher is patient, but says we cannot move on to new notes (positions on the sao) until I have mastered that technique. It may be a long time.

Shamisen Week 4 Lesson

Can't believe four Saturdays have come and gone since taking up the Sangen.

This week's lesson began again on sangen positioning in regards to the body. A few minor adjustments are made but I had the positioning close as soon as I picked up the sangen. Good news.

Left wrist position on the sao was not so easy. I keep opening up the hand (palm out) when sliding up and down the sao. A big no-no. The wrist must be held steady such that the wrist is straight, fingers curved inward a bit, as you slide up and down the sao. Sounds easy--its not for me.

In addition, note transition timing is still off. When you transition to a new note, it should be simultaneous with the striking of the bachi. Very coordinated. I'm not so coordinated, so although I am practicing this technique a lot at home, I still don't have it yet. I see many hours of practice ahead on this one.

Again, the instructor emphasizes that playing the individual notes on the sangen is like a conversation. The notes are played at the same timber. I am playing them as if I am saying "and THEN what happened IS it came LOOSE." The all caps amounts to shouting or raising the voice in a conversation on different words. That's what I am doing in playing the different notes. I am not consistent in hitting the strings with the same force and thus elucidating the same general level of sound. It makes for a discordant hodge-podge. I really need to work on this.

I have practiced the song given to me in Week 3. The teacher explains it is called "Spring Moon." The song originates from one of the oldest novels extant in Japan. The song is a brief narrative of how, as dusk falls on the landscape, you see grass in the mist, and then the moon rises as if coming out of the mist.

As mentioned in an earlier post, many of the songs in Jiuta are played with vocal accompaniment. This is one of them. Unlike most Japanese vocals that attend the playing of the sangen, this one is not sung a half beat before or after the note is played. The ito is struck and the vocal is sung at the same time. The instructor explains this is to ease me into the concept of vocals with music. Later, most of that will change with the vocal a half beat ahead or behind the playing of the note on the sangen, depending upon the song.

The teacher goes through each of the vocal sounds and I write them down phonetically to practice. I cannot sing for $hit but I will try. I can't read Japanese so this will be the norm for quite a while until I learn some rudimentary kanji.

We play together and the instructor sings. It is a beautiful song (the teacher has a great voice) even though I am butchering the notes playing alongside the instructor. I hit the itos with different force, I'm off on timing, and I don't get the note transitions anywhere close.

The teacher reminds me that if I am going to miss the position of the note, it is better to be short on the note (further up the sao), going from low to high in pitch, then long on the note (further down the sao), going from high to low in pitch. The reasoning is that it sounds more natural that way--more pleasing. Easy to say, harder to execute. Of course, the teacher points out you don't want to miss either way if you can help it! This needs a lot more practice as well.

I am making progress, but slowly.

Shamisen Week 3 Practice

Nothing much happened during Week 2's practice so no post. Week 3 was more productive as I believe I have finally got the process of holding the bachi correctly. I still fuss and take some time to get it correct in my hand, but I am able to do it more quickly than before.

Although I don't have particularly large hands, the jiuta bachi is larger than the other sangen bachis used for the various styles of shamisen music, both in width of the blade but more importantly in the girth of the plectrum itself. This girth, as it widens out to the end of the bachi, places pressure on the little finger as it curves under the bachi as seen in the photo below.

If you have smaller hands, the little finger squeezes in just fine. In addition, notice the three fingers that actually hold the bachi are splayed outward a bit. I cannot fit the bachi completely parallel to my fingers because this would crunch my little finger too much.

The thumb does NOT hold the bachi and should not be used as a pressure point (as in using it to move the bachi up and down while striking the itos). Some instructors like the thumb to be on top of the bachi, the tip of the thumb (thumbnail) not to extend beyond where the bachi begins to curve downward (there is a crease on most bachis to help with alignment.

My instructor wants the thumb at the edge of the bachi, split in half, as the following illustration shows.

Remember, you hold the bachi with the three fingers, the little finger is curved over the edge, and the thumb to the crease of the bachi or where it begins to slant downwards. The thumb should sort of "rest" on the bachi, not be extended a great length. This should allow the bachi to be held perpendicular to the itos for playing. Additional photos below.

Please excuse my hairy and age-spotted hand!

Although the bachi holding improves daily, the sangen positioning in relation to the body is still a work in progress. I take more time with that (and initial tuning) than anything else. However, I am feeling more comfortable, as the practice days go by, that it won't be long before I can pick up the sangen and have it positioned near perfect within seconds. We'll see.

As to the tuning, it is interesting that the instrument does not have knurled ratchets that can allow the tuning to remain rather stable. The itomaki (the wood pegs that wind the strings inside the open wood chamber called the itogura) have no ratchets to lock the strings in place. They are held in place by wood against wood pressure alone.

Since I am unfamiliar with string instruments, this is probably true of all of them. However, it makes for a bit of frustration since all three of the itomaki, no matter how tight you push into the itogura, eventually loosen. This loosening then changes the base tune setting of the instrument. In plain English, my sangen gets out of tune often.

I believe it is a problem with my particular sangen and not in general, but I am not sure. My instrument is a lower cost one where the itomaki may have worn down enough to make semi-permanent tuning wishful. In any case, I can see an improvement in the sangen by installing a small ratcheting device inside the itogura whereby the itomaki would not loosen. Having said that, it would probably alter the sound of the sangen, since metal would probably be the best material. Something to think about.

The week's practice goes well (I think) as I learn my first song. Very brief and, unfortunately, no vocal accompaniment. Many jiuta songs have vocals associated with them. The song I practice has no new ito positions but does have vocal notation alongside. It's good to actually hear a song, although I don't play it that well since I have not nailed the number 5 position yet on the sao. Patience.

Shamisen Week 3 Lesson

My third lesson goes well. I'm learning more and more about the sangen each day. I'm also learning how difficult an instrument it will be to master. However, I practice about five hours per week and that keeps me from falling too far behind.

More adjustments to sangen, bachi, left hand, right hand positions are worked on in Lesson 3. I feel much like the former Soviet Union when their motto was pretty much “two steps forward, one step backward.” As soon as I believe I have one position right (like holding the bachi), I find I don't have the correct left hand position when pressing itos. Then I get the bachi position right, but the sangen is slightly out of position in relationship to my body.

And so it goes. Correction, practice, more correction. My instructor and I are connecting well and I believe this will work out to be a long-term, successful teacher-student relationship. I have hopes. The teacher is also hopeful because I have a long time horizon to be able to play the sangen successfully—about three years.

During Lesson 3 I meet an ongoing student that has been playing for two years under the guidance of the instructor. The student has an extra jiuta bachi for sale and a brand new case that is half the normal cost of a typical new one. We strike a deal and I get both.

No new ito positions are learned during the session. We concentrate on technique, which is enough!

Shamisen Week 2 Lesson

My fear about my first week of practice and not having the sangen and bachi positions correct has come true, although the damage doesn't seem to be too bad. As the session begins, I find I am holding the sangen slightly wrong. More importantly, the way I am holding the bachi is completely incorrect.

Part of the problem is that the bachi I am using is not a jiuta bachi. As I mentioned in an earlier post, many of these particular bachis are made of tortoise shell and can cost upwards of $400. I cannot find a plastic jiuta bachi readily online (eBay) although I could order it from the two major suppliers of sangen supplies—Bachido.com or CanadaChords.

My instructor has said that a former player will sell me a plastic one in the coming week or so. In the meantime, I am loaned a jiuta bachi that has had damage done on one of the striking edges. I will flip it and use the good edge. The jiuta bachi is quite different than the minyo bachi that came with my sangen. It is much longer, heavier, and the striking edge much wider. See below for a comparison.

 

 

 

 

I tell the teacher I am practicing five hours a week (fudging on one day last week because of my sore bum). The sensei replies that neophytes should practice at least 1/2 hour a day or 3.5 hours per week. I feel good that I am putting in the required time plus then some.

Before we begin each session we tune our instruments. The teacher's sangen sounds different than mine because it is made of different wood and the dou is made of cat skin not dog. In addition, the sao is not the same length as mine. I am surprised since I had understood that the length of the sao for each particular sangen (hosozao, chuzao, and futozao—corresponding to thin neck, middle neck, fat neck) would be the same lengths. The instructor and I both have a chuzao sangen—but the saos are different lengths. This comes into play as well when positioning the fingers on the sao to change the sound of the itos.

When I tune my sangen using a digital chromatic tuner attached to the neck, it is slightly different than the teacher's suggested tuning using a free-standing, pure tone megahertz tuner. I tune mine to match although my itchi no ito is tuned lower that what my digital tuner says is a D. In any case, we tune until the teacher is satisfied with all the itos.

We spend a lot of time in getting the bachi position correct with the new (to me) jiuta bachi. Since I don't have great hand coordination, I'm a bit slow in this--trying to mimic what the teacher is demonstrating versus my own hand and wrist position. It takes a while but I finally get it semi-right. It doesn't help that I am six feet tall and my thigh is interfering with the bachi's downstroke. The bachi's lower edge keeps hitting me. The instructor puts a pillow under me and that helps.

Since much of the practice time has been spent getting my bachi positioning correct, there's little time to review what I practiced the previous week. The instructor moves on to the next page of the music book with finger positioning.

Thus far, I have been taught Position Number 1 or Open position where no fingers are placed on the sao as the itos are struck. The four new positions in this session are Position 2 and 5 for the san and ni no itos. Since there are no frets on the sangen, this proves a challenge. In addition, because my sao differs in length than the instructor's, where I place my finger for position 5 is different than the instructor's—thus trying to mimic the sensi's finger position through visuals is not useful (Position 2 is not affected by this).

Position 2 is in the crook of the sao at the top where the chibukuro (heart shaped bulge below the itogura (holes where the itomaki or pegs are screwed in) bends inward and the sao technically begins. Position 5 is downward a bit, about six and 3/8 inches from the top of the chibukuro on my sangen. You only use your index finger for each finger position unless the note tablature tells you otherwise. In addition, I am introduced to 2/2 time. This speeds things up a bit in moving the index finger to press the strings and adds to the frustration level.

Position 2 on the ni no ito is a G sharp and on the san no ito a D sharp. Position 5 on the ni no ito is a C and on the san no ito a G. Again, without frets, aligning your index finger to press down on the string to get the desired sound is difficult. Position 2, since it is at the crook of the sao is much easier to get right than position 5 which is down the sao. I can see where this will take lots of practice to master exactly where the finger should go.

At the end of the session I ask about a fujaku which is a paper or plastic numbering system that can be placed on the sao facing you to help with proper finger position. The instructor replies that this speeds up the learning of proper finger positioning, but in the sensei's experience, becomes a crutch and those learning this way have a tendency to always be looking at the sao (even when the fujaku has been removed) instead of the music sheet facing them. Thus, they never learn the proper finger position by muscle memory. The instructor tells me that correct finger positioning is what makes the sangen hard to learn as compared to the koto.

I am once again surprised. The koto is a massive, six-foot long, 13-string instrument that would appear to take forever to learn as compared to the three-string sangen. But, the koto is set up before each song with the proper musical tones for each string adjusted using multiple bridges. After that, you just need to learn to pluck the strings in the proper order and tempo. You can play a song on the koto after only three days of instruction says the teacher. It takes about three years to master the sangen so that a song sounds right!

Am I discouraged? No. I have three years to retirement and had already figured that it would take me that long or longer to learn the sangen, especially since I have had no musical training in the past.

Although I don't consider the second lesson a huge success because I am a slow learner, I am enjoying myself.

Shamisen Week 1 Practice

The Saturday lesson finished, I go home, exhausted. So much to learn and do. Do I practice now when things are fresh in my mind or do I wait—let the learning sink in a bit before doing practice in the future? You can argue it either way—and I've heard both arguments at various times in my life. I believe you need to let your brain process all that you have experienced; otherwise, you can become overloaded and do more harm than good. My opinion.

So, I rest on Saturday and since Sunday IS the day of rest, I don't practice that day either.

Monday—I am eager to practice what I have learned in my first lesson. After work I begin. The practice session goes well, but I am still awkward with the sangen as to exact positioning as well as holding the bachi. Plus, I am unsure of how long to practice. Is an hour a day enough, too much, not enough? I'm not sure. I practice an hour and that seems about right since I am tired at the end of the session without being overly exhausted.

Tuesday—I want to be as authentic as I can when I play the sangen so I practice kneeling using a meditation bench. I cannot kneel and rest on my legs/thighs as the Japanese do. I'm too old for that and have very little practice—unlike the Japanese where it is almost a daily thing. So, I do the next best thing: rest my bum on a meditation bench that allows you to tuck your legs under the bench and supports your bum without all the weight on your legs.

I take up the sangen and practice is a disaster. Kneeling and sitting are two different things. The sangen rests differently in those two positions. I know you are supposed to practice the same way you take your lessons, but I thought I would attempt to changed things up. It does not go well for the first 30 minutes. I switch to the sitting position on a chair as was the lesson. However, this doesn't go well at all—probably because the first 30-minute session has messed me up. I surrender for the evening.

Wednesday—The practice goes much better but I still have doubts as to the correct positioning of the sangen relative to my body. How much “lean in” should it have? The itobaki should be at about eye level but the picture the instructor has provided for reference shows it a bit lower. Is that because the pictured player is kneeling Japanese style? The holding of the bachi is the same. I'm not sure if my thumb has to be exactly on the edge or if it can creep forward and flatter on the curved front like the picture. The practice session is so-so. My back aches, my wrist hurts, and my butt is sore.

Thursday—The soreness has not gone away. I want to practice one hour a day—much like the proverbial child learning the piano. But I just can't physically do it today. I feel fine emotionally—still motivated and enjoying the instrument. But the soreness in my back and butt, along with my wrist, dissuades me. Sometimes you have to step back to go forward. I decide to take the night off.

Friday—The wisdom of taking Thursday night off pays off. I feel more comfortable with the sangen and bachi and the positioning questions. Although I still have my doubts if I am holding the sangen and bachi at the correct angle, I can do nothing until my next Saturday lesson. I'm sure the instructor will correct what is wrong. The fear, of course, is that I have practiced incorrectly for the entire week which means I will have to unlearn everything I have done and start anew. I hope that is not the case.

Shamisen First Lesson; Part II

The san ito is to be struck with a downward motion of the bachi like I am hitting a drum. I mean it is a real Whack! But, it is not like Tsugaru style where you use the bachi to hit the dou to make an additional sound. You hit just the string, but like a drum instead of strumming it. You need to use your wrist in a straight downward motion, not strumming at an angle. The thumb should not be used to angle the bachi or to place pressure on the downward stroke of the plectrum. The thumb is to hold position of the bachi in your hand only.

The ni no ito is plucked or struck at a slight angle and with less force and more like strumming a guitar. Finally, the ichi no ito is struck as well, but with even less force than the ni no ito. Taking this all in is overwhelming—and this is just the positioning requirements of the two hands, wrist, bachi, sangen, and the amount of force to be used on the strings.

Now the fun part begins. I need to learn Japanese—at least enough of Japanese musical notation in the tablature format to read the music I want to learn to play. I don't know Japanese. Another thing to learn.

Japanese sangen tablature is like the language itself: it is read from back to front, right to left, top to bottom. That is, you begin at what Americans would consider the last page of the book, reading the top right of the page, move downward for each musical measure, then back to the top.

I am given a beginning music book--all in Japanese--that offers the first, basic musical notes of the sangen. It is like scale practice on piano (I think--can't play the piano so not sure). As illustrated immediately below, the beginning notes on the first page of the book (which, of course, in Japan, is our Last page) are Ichi—open strings without use of the left hand fingers to move down the sao. The symbol that looks like a “1” is San, the bottom string. The symbol that looks like a “1” on its side is Ni, the middle string. The final illustration shows the last string, top string, Ichi, as a symbol that looks like the Ni symbol but with a character that appears similar to a stylistic numeral “4" just in front of it.

I go through the first three lines of the note practice. It is in 4/4 time. The “O” represents a rest—no string is played. Again, this is using open strings only, no left hand going up or down on the sao to change the key of each string's basic tuning of D-G-D. After instructor correction and playing it several times, lesson 1 is over. I am exhausted.

Shamisen First Lesson; Part I

My instructor is a master at both sangen and koto, having been born in Japan and mastering the instrument there. The teacher often returns to Japan to present concerts and be a part of traditional Japanese music ensembles.

Proper position for the sangen and the holding of the bachi take a little getting used to. The sangen is held much like a guitar but not so close to the body. The dou (drum) is placed on the right thigh a little more than half way up towards where your leg joins the hip. It must be balanced by your right wrist alone. If you cannot hold the dou with only your right wrist as it rests upon the dou on your thigh, then it is not balanced and must be adjusted on the thigh.

Part of the challenge with balancing the dou is that it has a tendency to slip off your thigh because of the smooth wood body. That is where the dou gomu shi-ru or the more traditional hiza gomu come into play. The former is an adhesive rubber sheet that is placed on the bottom side of the sangen to keep it from slipping off your thigh. The latter is a rubber sheet or strip, non-adhesive, that is placed across your thigh where the sangen rests so it does not slip.

The instructor suggests that I purchase some rubberized shelving material available at Walmart (or almost anywhere) to serve the same purpose as either of the two gomus. Cut a strip approximately six inches wide and enough length that you can wrap the material around the bottom of your thighs so you can sit on it and hold it in place with your butt. That way it performs the same function as a gomu AND will not fall off your thigh while adjusting the sangen.

The sao (neck) is held with the left hand at approximately 45 degree angle. The itobaki (neck terminus that holds and tightens the strings) should be at about eye level. The sao should not be held too inward or too outward from the body. With the sao at about 45 degrees, let the dou come inward to the body slightly from perpendicular as you rest your right wrist on top of the instrument. If you hold the instrument such that you can just see the lower edge of the dou, it's about right. Sao not too high, not too low; sao not too inward, not too outward; dou resting on thigh and can be held to the thigh by the right wrist only.

The bachi is a plectrum made out of various materials. It is used to strike or play the ito of the sangen. Bachi vary in size in both length of the bachi itself and in the width of the plucking or striking edge. Different styles of playing sangen dictate the various sizes of the bachi. The jiuta bachi is usually made of either very expensive tortoiseshell (uh, about $400!) or heavy plastic (much less!). The jiuta bachi is designed to be heavier than any of the other bachis. It is longer and its striking edge is the widest of any other bachi.

I don't have a jiuta bachi but have a minyo bachi which is close but not exactly right. It is made of wood, much lighter than a standard jiuta bachi, and its striking edge is not as wide as a jiuta bachi. I will be getting a plastic one soon. My instructor says the minyo will do for the time being.

The bachi is held in the right hand—several illustrations of proper grip are available on the web. The bachi should be held with the three right fingers only, the pinkie finger tucked underneath the bachi, with the right thumb extended slightly on the top edge of the bachi where the curvature of the plectrum begins to turn downward.

My thumb keeps on creeping to the top of the bachi (a no-no) instead of being on the edge, and it keeps moving forward to the front of the bachi instead of where it should be. It will take lots of practice to get this right.

The ito (strings) of the sangen are made of silk (with the exception that neophytes often use a nylon string for the thinnest string since it often breaks). Ito are struck with the bachi just south of where the dou begins. The dou is made of wood and has a natural skin (or synthetic material) stretched across its box shape. Just where the top edge of dou wood ends beneath the skin is where the ito need to be struck. The koma (bridge) should be placed about three fingers up from the bottom of the dou.

The sangen can be tuned to just about any tuning you wish so long as some rules are observed (those rules are outside the purview of this blog). The short version is that the sangen is usually tuned such that the top string (the thickest, called ichi no ito) is D; the second string (ni no ito) is G; and the third string (thinnest, san no ito) back to D. Other common tunings are D-A-D and D-G-C. My instructor prefers D-G-D and tunes the instrument by ear. I can't do that yet (hope I can eventually). I use a digital tuner that is placed on the itobaki to set base tuning.

With the instrument tuned, the dou in proper position on the thigh and the sao angled correctly, bachi in right hand resting on top of the sangen, I am ready for my first notes. But keeping all the instrument positioning correctly is all I can handle about now! But the instructor forges onward.

Acquiring the Sangen (Shamisen)

I didn't know anything about the cost of the instrument, prices, where I could buy one, etc. Just figured I could buy one just like any other guitar, banjo, whatever. Wrong again.

First, these are not cheap instruments to own. In searching on eBay and several online Japanese sites, I never saw one that was fully functional for less than $900 plus shipping—usually from Japan! I was only interested in sangens, not the Okinawan sanshins with the snake skinned drums. Japanese sangens have drums of cat or dog skin for the most part and are very expensive compared to their Okinawan brothers.

High quality sangens go for $1,500-$6,000. Wow! Not chump change. Hey, I can get a decent electric guitar for well under $500! What's the deal here?! But it is what it is.

Timing is everything. When I became interested in purchasing a sangen, a reasonable-priced one showed up on eBay. It was used with average quality wood, but with a new dog skin ($400 to replace the skin!) and fully functional with the accessories needed to play (bachi—plectrum; koma—bridge; ito—spare strings; doukake—cover on top of drum; and yubikake—finger sack for left hand to slide along the neck).

A deal was struck and the sangen was on its way to my home. Of course, during this time I was valiantly searching the web every day for shamisen instruction, music books, video instruction, anything—confident that I would find what I needed to begin to learn the instrument.

No deal. Nothing out there. Well, there was some, but it was in Japanese, not in English. Here I was, just purchased a $600, three-stringed instrument with no way to learn how to play it. Time for Plan B.

Plan B was looking for an instructor where I lived, a large metropolitan city of two million plus. Again, piece of cake. This city is Huge. I'm sure to find plenty of teachers—at least within the confines of the Japanese community. Again, busted!

As I noted in the blog introduction, a miracle did happen for me. After scouring every community and university resource associated with the Japanese culture, I was able to find only one teacher in the entire city AND county—and she lived less than 10 minutes away. I could not believe my good fortune.

If this teacher were not available, I was going to have to travel 120 miles to a larger city for weekly lessons. Not an appetising choice but one I would have to live with if I wanted to learn the instrument. But as I said, I was fortunate. She was accepting students. Arrangements were made for my first lesson.

Shamisen Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog where I will chronicle my experience learning to play the shamisen (sangen).

The shamisen is a three-string, fretless instrument originating in China, migrating to Okinawa, and eventually into Japan, changing form and names along the way. I will not bore you with the history and changes of this instrument through the different cultures and time. There is plenty of web based information regarding that on the internet. Instead, I will focus on the practical aspects of taking up this instrument and learning to play.

Why? Well, when I looked into adopting this instrument I thought, “Hey, I can teach myself using books, references, online resources, sheet music, etc.” Uh, not hardly. What I found was a dearth of information on learning to play the shamisen. I should have bagged it at that point, but I persisted hoping against hope for a miracle. I got one. More on that in a later post.

As I mentioned earlier, there are tons of online resources outlining the genres, history, nomenclatures, etc. for the various types of shamisen and their varied musical styles. But resources to actually learn how to play, not so much--with the exception of perhaps the tsugaru style of shamisen.

Tsugaru is the most popular genre of the shamisen for the current generation. Because of that, there are some excellent online sites devoting themselves to this style, the major one being Bachido.com. That site actually provides a forum, initial music lessons, a place to buy necessary shamisen supplies, and much more.

Although much of what is on the Bachido site is transferable to the many other forms of playing shamisen, it cannot, by its very nature, provide specific resources outside the tsugaru style. That limitation is a severe one if you want to learn how to play some other form of shamisen, like Jiuta.

Before I get into the whys and whatfors of the Jiuta style, why the shamisen? What got me interested? I have no musical background of any kind. I cannot read music nor can I play any musical instrument—not even a kazoo! So why the shamisen?

I love Korean television dramas. Have watched them for years. I can't speak Korean or any other foreign language for that matter, so you get real good at reading subtitles!

I was watching Heartstrings, a recent (2011) Korean Lo-quad drama (lo-quad is a love quadrangle as compared to a love triangle. Many Korean dramas use this format for their TV series). One of the main characters of Heartstrings plays a traditional Korean stringed instrument called the Gayageum, similar to the Japanese Koto.

The playing of this instrument and other traditional Korean instruments in the TV series reminded me of my favorite Japanese music—music that is emotional and usually slightly melancholic. I remembered that of the Japanese instruments I enjoyed listening to was a three-stringed instrument of some kind. Couldn't remember the name so looked it up on the web. Yep, the shamisen or sangen in Japanese.

I listened to several samples of the style of playing and found that the only genre of the sangen I enjoyed was that of Jiuta or very similar forms. These are short songs, often played by geisha, that evoke emotion. Jiuta is usually slower than the other genres, more paced, and in many songs, sad. I said, “Hey, wouldn't it be cool if I could learn to play the sangen in the Jiuta style.”

In my youth, I had a passing interest in saxophone and electric guitar, but life got in the way and the years rolled on. I am now 63 and will retire in three more years. I told myself if I am going to learn to play a musical instrument, it is now or it will be never. Since I only had interest in the sangen and the Jiuta style of playing, I thought this was a logical instrument to take up.

For me, another advantage of the sangen compared to other western musical instruments is the music notation itself. I was concerned regarding the learning curve of standard western musical notation I would have to master if I took up say a guitar, flute, etc. Sure, it could be done—but I had a clean slate. Why not learn the notation of the sangen—tablature--since that was the only instrument I was interested in and all the music written for it (well, most all) is in this form of notation?

Again, you can read of the history of tablature in Wikipedia. Lots of resources out there. Let's just say it is considered by most a more simple form of musical notation. Simpler than modern western musical notation? Not sure—I'm no expert—but my singular advantage in eschewing western notation for Japanese tablature was that I had no musical notation learning to unlearn. As I said earlier, I was starting with a clean slate.