～Shamisen～

A short demonstration of a Shamisen player's ability

I had the pleasure of being able to attend a shamisen concert at my language school in Iidabashi, Tokyo in November 2015. Previously I wasn’t aware of what the Shamisen was, what it sounded like, or any of its history but the concert educated me on several aspects of the traditional Japanese shamisen and its importance in Japan.

This is what I learned from the concert:

                -The Japanese shamisen is a three stringed instrument with a long neck and squat round body. There are no frets on the shamisen meaning that the player has to memorize the positions for each note with precision.

                -The sound of the shamisen is very “tight” due to the high tension of the strings.

                -The belly of the shamisen is made of cat skin.

                -To play the shamisen, one holds the instrument similar to that of a guitar. Place the body of the instrument on one’s right knee then hold the neck of the instrument with the left hand. In the right hand a batsi is held. This is used to pluck the strings up and down.

                -The shamisen is used in Japanese traditional music and is very melodious. Traditional Japanese music also employs the use of no chords. Shamisen can accompany a singer or it can make its own melody.

After further investigation, this is other information that I was able to discover.

                -Since the 17^th century it has been an important aspect of Japanese music, used in theater or music performances (Shamisen).

                -In the Kansai area, the shamisen is referred to as the samisen (Shamisen).

                -The strings are made of waxed silk (Kennedy).

              Clearly, I learned plenty from the concert itself. But what was I able to gauge from the concert other than general facts. I found that the majority of the concert-goers were not Japanese but were foreigners which leads me to question whether the Japanese shamisen is still being appreciated by the general Japanese population. Another aspect of the concert that I noticed was that several of the pieces the shamisen player performed were covers of western influenced songs or of contemporary music. He performed a cover of Family Mart’s theme song and also a rendition of the Mario Brother’s franchise theme song. This is representative to me of Tokyo’s ability to blend the old and the new as well as the strong influence from the West. From the buildings to the musical compositions using traditional aspects as well as the new I felt that even though the shamisen is a traditional instrument, those who play it in these newer generations will be able to balance the new with the old.

"Shamisen." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 28 Jun. 2016.<http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.libproxy.temple.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/25576>.

Kennedy, Michael, and Joyce Bourne Kennedy. "shamisen." The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Ed. Rutherford-Johnson, Tim. : Oxford University Press, 2012. Oxford Reference. 2013. Date Accessed 28 Jun. 2016 &lt;http://www.oxfordreference.com.libproxy.temple.edu/view/10.1093/acref/9780199578108.001.0001/acref-9780199578108-e-10333&gt;.