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The heike shamisen compared with a medium-sized, or chuzao shamisen. The construction of the shamisen varies in shape and size, depending on the genre in which it is used. The bachi used will also be different according to genre, if it is used at all. Shamisen are classified according to size and genre.
Shamisen – a banjo-like lute with three strings; brought to Japan from China in the 16th century. Popular in Edo's pleasure districts, the shamisen is often used in kabuki theater. Made from red sandalwood and ranging from 1.1 to 1.4 metres (3 ft 7 in to 4 ft 7 in) long, the shamisen has ivory pegs, strings made from twisted silk, and a belly ...
Sanxian – plucked lute with body covered with snakeskin and long fretless neck; the ancestor of the Japanese shamisen; Duxianqin (simplified Chinese: 独弦琴; traditional Chinese: 獨弦琴) – the instrument of the Jing people (Vietnamese people in China), a plucked, monochord zither with only one string, tuned to C3.
From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the biwa tradition: satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa. [3] From roughly the Meiji period (1868–1912) until the Pacific War , the satsuma-biwa and chikuzen-biwa were popular across Japan, and, at the beginning of the Shōwa period (1925–1989), the nishiki-biwa was created and gained ...
The satsuma-biwa "emerged from interaction between moso and the samurai class" in Satsuma Province, starting a period of popularity for "modern biwa" until the 1930s, while the chikuzen-biwa had its origin in the 1890s in the Chikuzen region of Kyushu, drawing upon aspects of mōsō music, shamisen, and the satsuma-biwa technique. [13]
Blind musicians known as biwa hōshi at Tōdōza improved the instrument and created what would be the shamisen. They used the plectrum of the Japanese biwa to play the shamisen, thus creating the beginning of jiuta as shamisen music. Ishimura-Kengyo is particularly regarded as originator of shamisen music.
Professional players can produce virtually any pitch they wish from the instrument, and play a wide repertoire of original Zen music, ensemble music with koto, biwa, and shamisen, folk music, jazz, and other modern pieces. Much of the shakuhachi 's subtlety (and player's skill) lies in its rich tone colouring, and the ability for its variation.
Sawari was first found in the biwa, and this quality was a desirable trait that biwa players wanted to reproduce in the shamisen. Thus, players began to use oversized plectrums for the shamisen instead of the fingers, and the 1st string was purposely laid lower at the nut of the instrument so that it purposely vibrated against the wood of the ...