Sorry about that! Yes, the accessory set is comprised of all the standard accessories for hosozao/nagauta style shamisen (which is the Beginner's Shamisen), and that uses the thin type. :-S
Why do you need a yubikake? I mean I know that they help the hand slide on the neck, but the shamisen is the only instrument that I know of that uses something like that. I have played the guitar, banjo, bass, and ukulele for years and have been studying music for about 19 years, and I'm just confused as to why it is needed.
Very excellent question! I too play guitar, banjo, bass, and mandolin (long before shamisen), and I would say the main difference with those instruments is that aside from guitar, your hand doesn't move as widely as the shamisen does (because there's more strings, and less need to jump up and down the neck). And even with guitar shredders, hand contact with the bottom of the neck is rather minimal. (I think just supported with the thumb?) The difficult thing with shamisen is that there is a lot more hand contact with the bottom of the neck, and the high polished wood creates a lot of surface friction with the bare hand. When you play a classical shamisen piece which are often both fast and require the hand to constantly fly along the length of the neck, that friction can cause the hand to catch onto the wood. Thus, the cloth eliminates the friction and it's a breeze for the hand to quickly slide around. Of course, you can absolutely still play without the yubikake, but experiencing it in person, you quickly find how much easier it is to play faster pieces with it. Furthermore, I believe those instruments (guitar, banjo, etc) put minimal lacquer on the neck for the purpose of being able to easily move. Less polish makes less friction on the hand. I think bare hands would be easier with shamisen necks if they too were treated similar to those necks. Case in point, when I made my homemade mandolin 15 years ago, I intentionally kept the neck fully lacquered and highly polished, and wore a yubikake as well. :-) (Because without it my skin would catch on the surface)
Excellent question! The classical style of yubikake is used for Gidayu, as I believe Gidayu is considered a classical style. (To be sure, I did a google search of Gidayu shamisen performers and confirmed they indeed wear the thinner yubikake) So, Gidayu style and Tsugaru style both use futozao shamisen (thick-neck shamisen), but the style determines what type of yubikake to use. (Assuming one is pursuing a specific style with all it's aesthetic trimmings) :-)
@@jaga1m0 Indeed! Often, the style will be said to reference the size of shamisen ("nagauta shamisen" referring to hosozao shamisen), but unfortunately that's led to some widespread confusion, as people will (understandably) assume the style and type of instrument are the same thing. I plan to make a DaFaQ episode about this. Much better to think of nagauta/jiuta/gidayu/tsugaru/etc the same way as "jazz guitar", "blues guitar", "rock guitar". They're all styles of guitar playing, not a specific type of guitar.
You might want to mention that most of them are made of wool and if you have any allergies to wool like me you may want to look for patterns on how to make one or try to find one not made from wool I was able to kinda make one but I'm going to be having my mom make me a better glove style one with open fingers. Or would that be too much?
Oh, that's a good point, Jennifer! I totally didn't think about that before. A fingerless glove style would work just fine! In fact, Mike Penny used to use a fingerless glove for years after he ran out of Yubikake. :-)
Finger pants!
Yellow Black an Kyle - your next album title ... Plaese
I wanted a double thick loop yubikake, but your store only sold me a thin one in the set.
Sorry about that! Yes, the accessory set is comprised of all the standard accessories for hosozao/nagauta style shamisen (which is the Beginner's Shamisen), and that uses the thin type. :-S
Why do you need a yubikake? I mean I know that they help the hand slide on the neck, but the shamisen is the only instrument that I know of that uses something like that. I have played the guitar, banjo, bass, and ukulele for years and have been studying music for about 19 years, and I'm just confused as to why it is needed.
Very excellent question! I too play guitar, banjo, bass, and mandolin (long before shamisen), and I would say the main difference with those instruments is that aside from guitar, your hand doesn't move as widely as the shamisen does (because there's more strings, and less need to jump up and down the neck). And even with guitar shredders, hand contact with the bottom of the neck is rather minimal. (I think just supported with the thumb?) The difficult thing with shamisen is that there is a lot more hand contact with the bottom of the neck, and the high polished wood creates a lot of surface friction with the bare hand. When you play a classical shamisen piece which are often both fast and require the hand to constantly fly along the length of the neck, that friction can cause the hand to catch onto the wood. Thus, the cloth eliminates the friction and it's a breeze for the hand to quickly slide around. Of course, you can absolutely still play without the yubikake, but experiencing it in person, you quickly find how much easier it is to play faster pieces with it.
Furthermore, I believe those instruments (guitar, banjo, etc) put minimal lacquer on the neck for the purpose of being able to easily move. Less polish makes less friction on the hand. I think bare hands would be easier with shamisen necks if they too were treated similar to those necks. Case in point, when I made my homemade mandolin 15 years ago, I intentionally kept the neck fully lacquered and highly polished, and wore a yubikake as well. :-) (Because without it my skin would catch on the surface)
@@TsugaruShamisen thank you for the explanation. I appreciate it greatly.
Just out of curiosity, which one do they use for Gidayu style? I wonder because the Gidayu sao apparently is as thick as Tsugaru sao.
Excellent question! The classical style of yubikake is used for Gidayu, as I believe Gidayu is considered a classical style. (To be sure, I did a google search of Gidayu shamisen performers and confirmed they indeed wear the thinner yubikake) So, Gidayu style and Tsugaru style both use futozao shamisen (thick-neck shamisen), but the style determines what type of yubikake to use. (Assuming one is pursuing a specific style with all it's aesthetic trimmings) :-)
@@TsugaruShamisen Thank you! So it's style rather than the physical size of the shamisen that determines which type to use. Interesting!
@@jaga1m0 Indeed! Often, the style will be said to reference the size of shamisen ("nagauta shamisen" referring to hosozao shamisen), but unfortunately that's led to some widespread confusion, as people will (understandably) assume the style and type of instrument are the same thing. I plan to make a DaFaQ episode about this. Much better to think of nagauta/jiuta/gidayu/tsugaru/etc the same way as "jazz guitar", "blues guitar", "rock guitar". They're all styles of guitar playing, not a specific type of guitar.
@@TsugaruShamisen Thanks! I was one of those confused people 🙂 Looking forward to the new DaFAQ vid!
@@jaga1m0 I was one of those confused people once too! :-D (Granted I still am for many things :-P ) Cheers!
You might want to mention that most of them are made of wool and if you have any allergies to wool like me you may want to look for patterns on how to make one or try to find one not made from wool I was able to kinda make one but I'm going to be having my mom make me a better glove style one with open fingers. Or would that be too much?
Oh, that's a good point, Jennifer! I totally didn't think about that before. A fingerless glove style would work just fine! In fact, Mike Penny used to use a fingerless glove for years after he ran out of Yubikake. :-)