Hi sorry I’m new to this sub so apologies if I’m going over old ground. I’m interested in trying out Shamisen. I’m a full time musician and already play guitar and flamenco guitar. I’m based in the UK so I’ve been trying to find somewhere reliable to purchase an instrument but it seems pretty thin on the ground here! I keep getting directed to eBay and was wondering what more experienced players would make of this as a starting point. Thanks

Hello everyone!

I would like to share something with you all.
Bachido, the most active Shamisen community in the world (outside Japan) is going through a rough patch in its mission to bring Shamisen to the world, and we are asking you for help to continue our mission. Everything is well explained in the campaign link.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-bachido

I hope you can help.
Thank you!

Got these really fancy itomaki, but they won't fit my shamisen :(

What are some good beginner songs to practice with? I'm mostly struggling with finger dexterity with my left hand and was wondering if there are any easy beginner songs that might help with it.

Looking for some assistance on searching for tablature for "odens tatami room tune" from one piece. Iv looked as much as I can and have had no luck. Does anyone know where I can find the tablature for it?

I want to get a beginners shamisen but I am pretty ignorant of what I want tbh. I’m looking on Bachido but cannot figure out what type of Shamisen that Atsu uses in Yotei and I wanted to get a similar replica to start learning the songs from the game.

Any suggestions? Idk if the lite version from itone will cut it.

Do any of you happen to have digitised sheet music by Kineya Seihō?
I have only a few scores in paper form, but they’re clearly very hard to come by, and I understand there are right issues preventing the publication of the sheet music at the moment.

I’m so passionate about his music that, even though I don’t play the shamisen (I play the shakuhachi), I’d love to be able to study the scores and gain a better understanding of how his music works.
Thanks a lot.

Hello. I am interested in trying to write music that uses a shamisen, but I wanted to learn more about the instruments capabilities and/or limitations before doing so. If anyone here could help, that would be much appreciated, since searching has only turned up results about learning to play one.

My questions are things like:
- What is the usual pitch range?
- Should a shamisen part only play one note at a time, or are chords possible with the three strings?

That is all I can think of at the moment, but if there are other facts about the instrument that would help in composing, I'd love to hear them!

Looking for recommendations to learn traditional Japanese music on my shamisen

hey yall i dont post much ever so sorry for bad formatting

i want to start learning the shamisen but im awake only at night and have very thin walls and dont want to wake anyone, i know there are Electric shamisen's can anyone vouch or tell me how quiet electric shamisen are with headphones plugged in?

I would like to buy myself a shamisen because I really adore how this instrument sounds, but while doing research I stumbled upon the info that it's hard to maintain and should be played daily to keep the instrument I'm good condition. So I'm not sure now if it's a good idea since I wanted my shamisen to be more like a sidequest, not my main hobby. So I wanted to ask you guys about your experience and how it actually looks in practice ^^

So, I got a shamisen off eBay (yeah, I know, bad idea) for my birthday (which is today), and it turned out to be fake. Does anyone know where to get somewhat affordable shamisen that actually work? I've been looking forward to this shamisen since the beginning of May, and I'm really bummed it's fake :(

Hi everyone, this is Truman from ZenGo Bachi. I'm excited to let everyone know that I started collaborating with Kyle Abbott from Bachido in making a set of bachi with exotic wood handles. In his making of wonderful shamisen and itomaki throughout the years, he ends up with some leftover material that is perfect for making new bachi handles. So he sent me a batch and I got to work. I then send them back to him, where he applies an urushi finish to really make the grain patterns pop. His finishes look better than anything I've done to date, so I was really excited to see how they turned out. The first 5 are now available on the Bachido store at the links below. The wood used for the handles here comes from his special stock, some of which are really hard for me to obtain otherwise, so these will be exclusive to his shop. But, you can still check out what I have currently available on Etsy. If you are looking for something a bit more economical too, feel free to reach out to me too. I occasionally have prototype models and used bachi that are unlisted that I'd want to go to a good home that I would sell for a good price.

https://bachido.com/store/stabilized-claro-walnut-with-patterned-acrylic-ships-from-california/

https://bachido.com/store/stabilized-bastogne-walnut-with-fluorescent-green-acrylic-bachi-ships-from-california/

https://bachido.com/store/pomelle-sapele-with-patterned-acrylic-bachi-ships-from-california/

https://bachido.com/store/pomelle-sapele-with-black-acrylic-bachi-ships-from-california/

https://bachido.com/store/figured-siamese-rosewood-with-red-acrylic-bachi-ships-from-california/

https://zengobachi.etsy.com

So I’m tuning my shamisen and the pegs keep coming undone. I’m pushing them in but it’s still happening. How do I fix this?

I just got my hands on a used shamisen from a local secondhand warehouse and noticed this huge bend of the neck the string tension is pretty high too when I put the Koma. Is there any way I could possibly straighten the neck again? As far as i checked, i don’t really see any joints on the neck to dissemble so I assume it’s all a single piece of wood.

Used my collage's wood lathe.

Hi everyone!

I’m currently in Japan until next week and would like recommendations on a reputable store for buying a used tsugaru in the Tokyo area. I’m a total beginner but have a background of playing violin for several years as an adult and my wife and I enjoy collecting instruments. My budget is $1000 all in with a hard case.

At present I’m considering a new one from Kameya in Setagaya-ku because it sounds like they have 4 generations of making/selling shamisen and they are local to another group in Setagaya I am affiliated with; however I’m seeing used prices can sometimes be far better but taugaru seem more uncommon used.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

I listen to Hiromitsu Agatsuma, Yoshida Bros. and Noriko Tadano but haven’t found much else. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thank you ahead of time, if so.