the.com/shamisen
a three-stringed slap of sound that taught Japan to feel rhythm before melody
means A three-stringed Japanese lute, plucked or struck with a large plectrum, used in genres from folk and kabuki to bunraku puppet theater.
from The name comes from Japanese 三味線 (shamisen), literally 'three flavor strings' — though the characters are partly a phonetic dressing. The instrument descends from the Chinese sanxian ('three strings'), which reached Japan via the Ryukyu Islands' sanshin, traditionally covered in snakeskin. Japanese makers swapped that for cat or dog skin and added the distinctive sawari buzz, transforming an import into something unmistakably their own.
- played with
- A large plectrum struck like a percussive weapon
- skin
- Traditionally covered in cat or dog hide
- buzz feature
- The sawari hum is intentional, not a flaw
- theater star
- Drove kabuki and bunraku puppet drama for centuries
- modern revival
- Tsugaru style turned it into a rock instrument
tsugaru shamisen — percussive three-string instrument style from aomori prefecture, japan, developed in the 17th century
okinawan sanshin — three-string precursor to shamisen from okinawa, still played traditionally in ryukyuan music
yoshida dadario — blind shamisen master and composer of edo period japan, 1747-1817