Bachido Blog: How to Tune Shamisen
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Read the full blog post here! - community.bachido.com/t/how-t...
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. In this video and in the blog post, we'll break down tuning into a practical method of feeling the tonal spacing between the strings! 
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the key of "metaphysical distress"... lol. now i want to compose a tune in that key
A very clear and precise instruction. Thanks!
Im excited my brother got me this instrument for Christmas along with your definitive guide to the tsugaru shamisen. So i really hope i can learn this enough to play him something before he has to go back to Japan.
Oh nice!! You have such an awesome brother! :-D Have fun, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
I think it's really cool that ni agari is tuned just like an Appalachian dulcimer. I also use this tuning for my guitar when I break strings at the end of the month.
I'm thinking of buying one of these soon. I noticed san sagari is basically the same as a bass guitar in standard tuning - I already know how to play one of those, so that kind of makes my mind up for me really :P
Awesome!! Yeah, it's great that san sagari is the same tuning, isn't it! Ironically, many tsugaru shamisen players have a difficult time playing in san sagari because they're so used to playing in niagari. (Mostly speaking for myself, but others who have told me the same). Only recently I've made a mental breakthrough and finally feeling comfortable with it. It's a great tuning for improvising with western songs!
Thanks for the help
question: on the pitch of CGC, is the C higher on the top string?
or is the top Main string supposed to be lower pitch like a Sanshin?
EDIT: oh, I see the tuning is not too different from a Sanshin with the exceptions of how it is tuned
Amazing awesome shamisen music 🎶 😉 😍 😉 😍 😉 😍 😉 😍
Hey Kyle! Thanks a lot for making these videos. Helped me a lot. I bought a used nagauta shamisen two months ago. I'm a Heavy Metal musician who wanted to add something to my arsenal so I've been obsessing over the shamisen for over four years now.
I have a question for you sir. Knowing that the standard shamisen tuning is CDC, and that the shamisen is an instrument that easily goes out of tune, I've been tuning mine one whole step lower ( A# F A#). It helps a bit because my 7 string guitars are tuned to A#D#G#C#F#A#D# so it's easier to transcribe the music that I wrote on guitar into the shamisen, and the decreased tension makes it less quicker for my shamisen to get out of tune. But I can't fully practice your licks with the A# tuning that way. I try to tune mine yo CDC but I just can't seem to. I do that squeezing the itomaki into the shamisen head (tenjin?) while tuning but it just gives 😭. Is there a way for my shamisen's itomaki to be more stable? I think if I force it, I might break my strings or worse, the itomaki.
Thanks in advance for answering. More power to you sir. 🤘🏾
I just replaced my strings a few days ago. I jumbled the itomaki because I followed your steps in restringing from your other video. Since then the itomakis are just so unstable. I try to tune it to CDC but after tuning the ichi no ito to C with much squeezing of the itomaki into the tenjin, it just gives. 😭 I don't want to force it so maybe you could offer a little advice. Thanks again sir.
The tuning is the same as a Mountain Dulcimer (CGC) so you can strum simple songs like Up on the Housetop
awesome bro.
OMG Metaphysical distress!
Whenever I try to play instruments, I may as well just leave it in the key of Metaphysical distress...
thats how all my guitars are tuned
where can i get a shamisen???
Can you use three notes to play Triad chords or does it just have to only be two notes and one octave higher
I think that would be totally fine! :-)
Could you tune it to E A D
Sure! Although it's not typically tuned that way, it's certainly doable. :-)
cool, now I can tune one of my strumsticks like a shamisen
Those pegs (name?) are super cool! Also does a regular guitar tuner work? I’d assume so
Thanks, Payton! Yep, any tuner should work just fine. :-) I like the Snark tuners myself.
11:40 - Hear all three strings played
Got a quick question. I have a new Tsugaru shamisen that I have tuned to niagari D because I want to match it with my D-tuned guitar. I know a lot of people tune to C, but if my ears are correct I hear some Tsugaru-style players tuning to D. The middle string snapped almost immediately after I got it, but since I replaced it a couple weeks ago it's been fine, yet I'm wondering if it's too much higher than recommended. Tsugaru shamisen has a thick neck, so I'm pretty sure that wouldn't warp at all, but in your experience is D tuning too hard on the strings? Thanks!!
Fushiryuu tuning to D should be no problem, though being tighter, the strings are more likely to break sooner than if they are tuned lower. it's possible that the strings that snapped was just an old string. :)
Ah, that's good news. Thank you!
Well.. this basically applies to any stringed instrument. If you know the tonal spacings, there you go.
Guitar and bass - pentatonic.
Indeed! :-)
At 4:05, the tuning was C F A. I reckon that tuning would work for something.
Ni Agari would be the same as a Mountain Dulcimer so I learned to play simple songs like "Up On the Housetop".
How do you decide where to put the bridge?
As a general rule, it's placed about three fingerwidths from the neo (tailpiece), but it can be adjusted slightly for tone preference - Farther for a warmer tone, closer for a sharper tone. :-)
That's interesting. So, when you guys jam, do you have to intonate to each other as well? Or do you just adjust your fretting positions?
Hmm, that's a good question. It's such a small change that I don't notice a huge difference in that regard. Because the instruments are fretless, I think players just unconsciously adjust their fingers until the sounds match.
Honestly I'm also currently tuned to the key of metaphysical distress
what kind of skin do i need to use?
Goat skin.
REALLY?
Yes
Are shamisen.. shamisenS? whatever... typically equipped with friction based or mechanical tuners?
Almost all shamisen have friction based tuners, though my friend recently had one built with guitar tuners. The shamisen paradigm is changing. ;)
Holy mackerel batman! I can play power chords in ni agari.
That seems complicated. I just remember what a 4th, 5th and octave sound like and that works perfect for me. 😀
But you're a genius who knows all the best ramen shops and Mac&Cheese recipes. :-P (Good point though!)