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.