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.