Everything you need to know about the Shamisen!
Caring for your Shamisen
Tips and tricks to keep your shamisen at it’s best.
How to Tune the Shamisen
Being a folk instrument, the shamisen is very easy for people to pick up and learn how to play (assuming they allow time to get accustomed to the large plectrum and the whole fretless thing). However, in the beginning, one major difficulty is understanding how the shamisen is tuned. [...]
Perks of Posture
What do you need to level up your tone and abilities? Perhaps a new flexible bachi, or a freshly reskinned dou? How about something free and immediately implementable? Posture! If you’re like me, you probably haven’t put much importance into proper posture. After all, wielding that giant putty knife [...]
Can Left Handers Play Shamisen?
Since establishing Bachido in 2011, one common yet specific question I receive is, “Can I play shamisen as a left-hander, or is right-handed the only way?”. Before I answer that question, I’d like to give my feelings about the general principle. Bear with me. It won’t take long! [...]
Concept of Flavors
Back in 2015, my friend Adrian and I led regular group lessons in San Jose California. Our group played some Minyo (Japanese folk songs), and we added solo parts in-between verses to let students build their improvisational skills. Our group lesson practicing Mike Penny’s Chop Builder! Recently, [...]
Hajiki – Consisent Tone
I received a question from a Bachido member (let’s call him Sam) who’s learning Hanagasa Ondo. This song has a phrase where Position 3 (let’s call this ‘P.3’) is sounded with the bachi, then subsequently sounded with hajiki (pull-off technique). Though sounded with two different techniques, the pitch [...]