Everything you need to know about the Shamisen!
Shamisen Accessories: What you need for a basic setup
Getting a brand new shamisen and need accessories? Find out what you really need! It's common to think that the shamisen maker is the one who puts on the strings, koma (bridge) and other accessories before selling. While that's true for makers who sell their instruments direct to customers, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]