The shamisen or samisen (三味線), also called sangen (三絃), is a traditional Japanese musical instrument with three strings. It was inspired by the Chinese instrument called sanxian. A small tool called a bachi is used to play the shamisen.

In Japan, the instrument is usually called shamisen. However, when the word is used at the end of another word, it is sometimes spelled and pronounced as jamisen, such as in tsugaru-jamisen. In Western Japanese dialects and some writings from the Edo period, it is spelled and pronounced as samisen.

The shamisen can be made in different shapes depending on the type of music it is used for. The version used in kabuki plays has a thin neck, which helps musicians play fast and skillfully. The version used for puppet plays and folk songs has a longer and thicker neck, which is better suited for the stronger and more powerful music of those styles.

Construction

The shamisen is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking its strings. It is built like a guitar or banjo, with a neck and strings stretched across a hollow body. The neck of the shamisen has no frets and is thinner than those on a guitar or banjo. The body, called the dō, is shaped like a drum and is covered with skin on both sides, similar to a banjo. The type of skin used depends on the music style and the player’s skill. In the past, animal skins like dog or cat were used, with cat skin preferred for high-quality instruments. However, by the mid-2000s, animal skins were less commonly used because of social concerns and a shortage of skilled workers who prepared them. Today, many shamisen use synthetic materials like plastic for the skin.

The sao, or neck, is usually made of three or four pieces that fit together, allowing the instrument to be taken apart easily. The neck crosses the drum-like body of the shamisen and extends slightly on the other side, acting as a support for the strings. The pegs used to tighten the strings are long, thin, and hexagonal. In the past, these pegs were made of ivory, but now they are often made of wood or plastic because of rules about trading ivory.

The shamisen has three strings, which are traditionally made of silk or modern materials like nylon. The strings are stretched between the pegs at the head of the instrument and secured by a cloth piece at the end of the neck. The strings are raised above the body by a bridge, called the koma, which sits on the tight skin. The lowest string is intentionally placed lower at the nut to create a buzzing sound, known as sawari, similar to the buzzing of a sitar. The top of the dō is often covered with a cloth called a dō kake. Players may wear a cloth band on their left hand, called a yubikake, to slide along the neck. The head of the instrument, called the tenjin, may also be covered. Silk strings are used by professionals because they produce a rich sound, but they break easily. Students often use nylon or tetron strings, which are more durable and less expensive.

The shamisen comes in different sizes and styles, depending on the type of music it is used for. The three main sizes are hosozao, chuzao, and futozao. Examples of music styles that use the shamisen include nagauta, jiuta, min'yo, kouta, hauta, shinnai, tokiwazu, kiyomoto, gidayu, and tsugaru.

Shamisen used in traditional Japanese music, such as jiuta, kouta, and nagauta, are made with strict rules. These instruments must use specific types of wood, skin, and plectrums (bachi). However, the tsugaru-jamisen is used in modern music like jazz and rock. It has a more flexible design, and some versions include electric pickups to connect to amplifiers, like an electric guitar.

The hosozao is the smallest type of shamisen. It has a small, square-shaped body and a thin neck that narrows near the body. It is used in nagauta music, which is played in kabuki performances. The hosozao is also used in kouta music, where the strings are plucked with fingernails.

The chuzao is slightly larger than the hosozao. Its neck is thicker, and the distance between the strings and the fingerboard remains consistent. The fingerboard ends abruptly, and the neck curves sharply into the body, creating a feature called hatomune. This design gives the chuzao a higher pitch range and is often used for jiuta-style playing, which has a warm, full sound. It is also a versatile instrument used in many music styles.

The futozao is the largest type of shamisen. It has a thick neck and is used in robust music styles like gidayubushi (from bunraku puppet theater) and tsugaru-jamisen. The thick neck allows for the strong playing style needed in these genres. The tsugaru-jamisen is a newer version of the futozao, made larger with a longer, thicker neck than traditional shamisen.

The heike shamisen is a special type used to play the folk song Heike Ondo, which comes from Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Its neck is about half the length of a regular shamisen, allowing it to produce the high pitch needed for the song. Steel strings are now used for better sound, and plastic is used for the drum heads to prevent damage during performances.

The bachi, or plectrum, used to play the shamisen varies by music style. For nagauta, bachi can be made of wood, plastic, or ivory. Some teachers prefer wood or ivory over plastic, but plastic is acceptable if ivory is unavailable. Jiuta bachi are made of plastic, ivory, or a mix of materials like tortoiseshell. They are the longest and widest of all bachi and have a deep indentation where the handle meets the head. Gidayu bachi are the heaviest and thickest, while tsugaru-jamisen bachi are the smallest and often have a tortoiseshell tip.

The koma, or bridge, can be made of materials like aged bamboo, ivory, ox-bone, rosewood, buffalo horn, or plastic. Koma come in different heights. Taller koma make the sound louder but are harder to control when playing fast notes. Nagauta music typically uses koma that are 3.2 to 3.6 units tall.

Variations in playing

In most types of music, the shamisen's strings are plucked using a tool called a bachi. The shamisen's sound is somewhat like that of the American banjo because both instruments have a drum-like part called a dō, which helps make the sound louder. Similar to the clawhammer style of playing the banjo, the bachi is often used to hit both the strings and the drum-like skin, creating a rhythmic, drum-like sound. When playing a type of music called kouta, which means "little song," the shamisen is sometimes plucked with fingers instead of a bachi. Occasionally, the shamisen is played with a violin bow, much like another instrument called the kokyū.

Tuning

The shamisen is played and tuned differently depending on the musical style, and the names of the notes in an octave also change based on the style. Many types of shamisen music exist in Japan, and the way the instrument is tuned, the sound it makes, and the way music is written can vary somewhat. Three of the most common tunings used in different styles are honchoushi, niagari, and sansagari.

Honchoushi means "home tuning" or "base tuning" because other tunings are based on it. In this tuning, the first and third strings are an octave apart, and the middle string is a fourth above the first string, using Western music terms. The most common tuning is C-F-C. A song that uses this tuning is Akita Nikata Bushi.

Niagari means "raised two" or "raised second," which refers to raising the pitch of the second string from the honchoushi tuning. This changes the interval between the first and second strings to a fifth, while the interval between the second and third strings becomes a fourth. The most common tuning is C-G-C. A song that uses this tuning is Tsugaru Jongara Bushi.

Sansagari means "lowered three" or "lowered third," which refers to lowering the pitch of the third string (the highest-pitched string) by a whole step from the honchoushi tuning. This creates an instrument tuned in fourths, such as C-F-B♭. A song that uses this tuning is Tsugaru Sansagari.

Unlike instruments like the guitar (which has a fixed tuning of E, A, D, G, B, E) or the violin (which has a fixed tuning of G, D, A, E), the shamisen does not have a set tuning. Instead, it is tuned based on the singer's voice range or the player's preference, as long as standard tuning rules are followed.

Musical notation

Music for the shamisen can be written using Western music notation, but it is more commonly written in tablature notation. Although tunings may be similar across different styles of shamisen music, the way the points on the instrument's neck (called tsubo in Japanese) are named varies between genres. Because of this, tablature for each style is written differently. For example, in the min'yo shamisen style, the open string is labeled "0." In the jiuta shamisen style, the points are divided into octaves and labeled starting with "1" for the open string, then repeating for the next octave. The labels also differ for tsugaru-style shamisen. Additionally, some points may be "sharped," and since the names and positions of points vary by genre, these labels change as well. Because of these differences, students who learn one style of shamisen may struggle to read tablature from other styles unless they are specifically trained to do so.

Tablature can be written in traditional Japanese vertical right-to-left notation or in Western-style horizontal left-to-right notation, which looks similar to modern guitar tablature. In traditional vertical notation, Chinese characters and older symbols for dynamics are used. However, some elements from Western music notation, such as Italian terms for dynamics, time signatures, and the fermata, have also been included in tablature. The tuning required for a piece is usually shown directly on the tablature.

History and genres

The Japanese shamisen came from the Chinese sanxian (三弦). The sanxian was brought to Japan through the Ryūkyū Kingdom (Okinawa) in the 16th century. There, it became the Okinawan sanshin (三線), which later led to the development of the shamisen. It is believed that the first shamisen was introduced to Japan in the 16th century through the port city of Sakai, near Osaka.

The shamisen can be played alone, with other shamisen, in groups with other Japanese instruments, with singing such as nagauta, or as background music for drama, especially kabuki and bunraku. Both men and women traditionally played the shamisen.

The most well-known and most difficult style of storytelling with the shamisen is called gidayū. This style is named after Takemoto Gidayū (1651–1714), who was important in the bunraku puppet-theater tradition in Osaka. The gidayū shamisen and its plectrum are the largest in the shamisen family. The singer-narrator must speak the roles in the play and sing all the descriptions of the action. Because this role is very hard on the voice, performers are often replaced halfway through a scene. The books (maruhon) used in this tradition only include the words and names of certain shamisen responses. The shamisen player must know the entire work perfectly to respond effectively to the singer-narrator’s interpretations. From the 19th century, female performers known as onna-jōruri or onna gidayū also continued this tradition.

In the early 20th century, blind musicians such as Shirakawa Gunpachirō (1909–1962), Takahashi Chikuzan (1910–1998), and sighted players like Kida Rinshōei (1911–1979) created a new style of playing based on traditional folk songs (min'yō) but with more improvisation and fast, showy fingerwork. This style, now called tsugaru-jamisen after the region in northern Honshū where it originated, is still popular in Japan. The skillful tsugaru-jamisen style is sometimes compared to bluegrass banjo.

Kouta (小唄) is a style of shamisen music that was historically played mainly by geisha and maiko. Its name means "little song," which is different from the nagauta style found in bunraku and kabuki. While geisha and maiko are trained to play both kouta and nagauta, most performances at events they attend are kouta.

Jiuta (地唄), meaning "regional song," is a more classical style of shamisen music.

• Takeshi Terauchi & Bunnys used shamisen played by Michiya Mihashi in their instrumental rock group on their single "Tsugaru Jongara Bushi" with "Dark Eyes."
• Japanese rock musician Miyavi has played the shamisen in albums and during concerts, such as at the debut live of superband S.K.I.N at the 2007 Anime Expo in Long Beach, California.
• American tsugaru-jamisen player and guitarist Kevin Kmetz leads a rock band called God of Shamisen in Santa Cruz, California. He also plays the shamisen with the band Estradasphere.
• Japanese musician Hiromitsu Agatsuma blends traditional Japanese styles with jazz, funk, techno, and rock. He arranged jazz standards and Western songs for the shamisen on his 2008 album Agatsuma Plays Standards.
• Noriko Tadano is a tsugaru shamisen player from Japan who now lives in Australia. She has worked with musicians in blues, jazz, folk, experimental, and electronic music. She performed in the blues duo "George & Noriko" on season 6 of Australia's Got Talent, reaching the finals.
• Wagakki Band is a Japanese folk-rock group that includes the shamisen, played by Beni Ninagawa.
• Japanese metal group Ryujin has used the shamisen in some of their songs.
• Takeharu Kunimoto was a shamisen player who performed and recorded bluegrass music alongside traditional Japanese music.