Shamisen
A Japanese three-string long-necked lute played with a large plectrum.
What it means
The shamisen is a Japanese long-necked lute with three strings and a small, skin-covered body. The neck has no frets, so pitch is determined solely by finger position, as on a fretless guitar.
It is played with a large, wedge-shaped plectrum called the bachi, which strikes the strings and the skin together, producing the characteristically sharp, percussive sound.
Musical use
The shamisen reached Japan in the sixteenth century from the Ryukyu region and developed there into one of the most important instruments of traditional musical life. It accompanies kabuki and bunraku puppet theater, narrative singing (gidayu-bushi), and folk songs, among which the Tsugaru style, with its virtuosic, striking technique, is especially well known.
Depending on the genre, neck size, string thickness, and plectrum are adapted; the sound ranges from soft and lyrical to hard and rhythmically driving.
The shamisen should be distinguished from the lute and guitar, which have frets and a wooden body, and from the koto, the Japanese long zither, which is played lying flat with plectra on the fingers.
Performance practice
First practice an even stroke with the bachi, taking care that it strikes the skin as well without damping it. Listen closely to your intonation without frets, since every finger position must be found by ear.