Shamisen

Chinese origins

A distant ancestor of a Chinese instrument called the xiantao from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), the Japanese shamisen is more directly descended from the Okinawan sanshin, which also has three strings, but features a snakeskin-covered body (in this respect it is similar to the Chinese erhu). The port town of Sakai near Osaka began importing these instruments in the 1500's, and soon musicians on the mainland modified the sanshin into the modern shamisen.

Rise to prominence

The shamisen can be played alone or with other instruments, and it is often accompanied by a singer. Its rise in popularity was aided greatly by the fact that it featured in traditional Japanese drama such as kabuki (a wild, stylized drama) and bunraku (puppet theater from Osaka). By the mid 1600's, the shamisen was a major part of kabuki and well-known as the quintessential sound of Japanese theater.

Playing styles

The traditionally silk (now often nylon) strings of the shamisen give it a simultaneously sharp and warm tone. The bachi is used not only to pluck the strings but to strike the animal-skin body, giving a percussive thump, similar to Appalachian clawhammer banjo playing. One of the three shamisen strings is positioned so that it vibrates, giving the instrument a kind of ringing drone reminiscent of the sitar. Some styles see the shamisen strings played without the bachi, instead plucked with the fingers.

Introduction to Japanese music

The music of the shamisen is, along with taiko drums and the shakuhachi flute, the best introduction to the traditional folk music of Japan. Modern acts like Agatsuma (see sidebar) and the Yoshida Brothers are keeping the shamisen in the public consciousness with new techniques and new interpretations.