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!