![]() It took a slow few years before playing the instrument was once again permitted, but many of the great pieces were lost to history with no one to pass them down.Ī rendition by Riley Lee of the piece San-an. If a monk was suspected of being a spy, he would need to play a very challenging piece to prove his authenticity! Talk about performance pressure.Īfter the fall of the shogun in Japan in 1868, the instrument was actually completely forbidden. The Fuke monks where the only ones permitted to travel freely around Japan at the time, and the shogun often disguised his spies as them. Originally played exclusively by the Fuke sect of Buddhism in Japan, because it was banned from being played by anyone else. The shakuhachi has a mysterious sound which is backed by its mysterious history. The craftsman on this Japanese instrument has to painstakingly find a natural piece that is of suitable shape. Its great cost comes from the fact that it can’t be mass produced, because not any piece of bamboo will do. ![]() It is a very expensive instrument, made from real bamboo. 尺 is a unit of measure (like cm), so its probably to do with it’s size. The kanji translates to “measure eight”… and I can’t fathom why that is. The shakuhachi (尺八) instrument is a very mysterious sounding flute, with long aristocratic origins. Want to try playing the tsugaru shamisen? You are in luck! A fantastic English speaking community exists that makes getting into the art very painless (except for your pinky finger, but you will find out more about that once you start playing).īachido – Traditional Japanese Instruments: Shakuhachi If you enjoy anime give it a watch.ĭid the videos pique your interest? Here are some great artists that I recommend. Whilst the records are not accurate enough for this to serve as a documentary per say, this interesting anime gives a story about the history of Tsugaru-shamisen. A quick YouTube search should let you find it. There is an anime called “Nitaboh” which has an excellent ending performance. Here is a Tsugaru in action, performing the song “Beat it” by Michael Jackson. For example, Hiromitsu Agatsuma is famous for being a little more modern too. Source: youtube Are Traditional Instruments Still Used Today?īut it’s not all old pieces. It was (probably) pioneered by the blind performer Nitabō in the 1870’s, but due to its non-conformist nature of origin, clear records are not available.Ī Nagauta in action, performing the song “Genroku Hanami Odori”. This type of shamisen is the most modern and popular, and was originally devised as a much louder and different style compared to the traditional methods. It was favored for folk songs and street performance. The neck is a bit thicker and it can hit higher registers. It is the most elegant of the types of shamisen. It has a very thin neck and is mostly used by Geisha and in Kabuki performances. The original shamisen type is known as Nagauta or Hosozao. Each type has a role for which it best suited, but with enough of a punk rock mentality any song can be played on any type. The shamisen comes in three main varieties. The instrument is characterized by its buzzing sound and the loud sound from the body when it is played. ![]() Its kanji (Chinese characters) can be literally translated into “three flavor roads”, which I guess means there are three strings each tuned differently. The shamisen is a three stringed banjo like instrument. So what were those instruments I just name dropped? First let’s look at the shamisen (三味線). Traditional Musical Instruments: Shamisen Please read our disclosure for more info. Whenever you use these links to buy something, we earn a commission to help support our work at Voyapon. Some of our articles contain affiliate links.
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