Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Jiuta Shamisen Resource and Blog Project

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you a project I started recently: Tsukiko Shamisen.

I have been playing shamisen for over 3 years, and I was disappointed by the lack of English resources for shamisen. The ones that do exist are mostly focused around tsugaru style - which is quite distinct from the very traditional jiuta. The project is a blog and resource, written in English, for jiuta style specifically. While my highest recommendation is to find an instructor, this resource will be available for those who cannot find an instructor and want to know the basics or for those with an instructor who would just would like a reference in between lessons. Much of the information will be things that may seem simple, but the instructor may not necessarily teach you - like how to read the packages of strings to know that you're getting the right size and gauge. I also will talk about reading music, instrument care, etc. And I hope to document any milestones in my own playing.

If you are at all interested in shamisen, please take a look!

4 comments:

  1. Very interesting project ! Thank you !

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  2. Just checked back on your website and found this gem. Wow! What an incredibly awesome project! I was staggered by the number of pieces you've learned and can't wait to hear/see your recordings as you update the page and upload them. Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge! (now I have all kinds of questions - you've created a monster!) hahaha

    Ganbatte, Tsukiko-san!!

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    1. Thank you, Hasume-san! I am no expert, but I figured it may be helpful to start building a resource. I hope I do it justice!

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