hey guys I want to share some of my
playing with you and for those of you
interested maybe a bit on how and where
you can start I started my
apprenticeship with the Yoshida brothers
exactly eight years ago this month a
year ago I had the opportunity to play
with them on TV and shortly after that I
was lucky enough to be able to document
the process of having a brand new
shamisen built by a Japanese craftsman
this is that shamisen here my old one is
actually sitting there in the back and
this is how I practice pretty much every
day - the the camera and all that
usually starts with tuning because a lot
of people are curious the strings are
tuned to see GC there are no frets the
biggest string is made out of silk the
smallest is made out of nylon and the
middle one is made out of something
called Petron after tuning each practice
tends to start with something called
butt g zu k which goes like this
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
and that's actually one of the most
challenging things that you can do that
is the warmup and it serves two main
purposes number one is obviously an
additional layer of tuning but
originally the shamisen was played by
blind musicians and this was their
opportunity to let people know that a
performance was about to start
many Tsugaru shamisen songs actually
start opening with that but she's a gay
my first while of shamisen practice or
okay ko was literally just that initial
strike that or or then it reminds me of
trying kendo a while back and focusing
on that first strike over and over and
over and still after eight years every
single Gaeko starts with a little bit of
a semi sin fun fact I go through about
one of these but she every year to two
years and they do not come cheap because
of the size that I use I used to be able
to get them at about $1,200 u.s. but
recently they've gone up in price and
I'm getting closer to $2,000 per bocce
we're searching for alternative options
so after practicing the but Suzuki we
usually go into a song called Doku Don
[Applause]
now this song is a great warm-up because
it has most of the difficult techniques
in Sagada japanese hand wrapped up right
inside of this one song even in that one
that I did there I stumbled a little bit
in the beginning I usually do a couple
rounds of this song to help me warm up
but today I want to do something just a
little bit more interesting called
Komachi now come on she's really fun
it's really fast it's got a lot of build
up
okay but more than anything that
definitely takes a lot of stamina
it starts out really easy this side is
easy this side is doing all the work if
I were to play that really slow it's
like this
it's just that again and again and then
you just pick up the speed it's really
easy to get carried away with those
there's actually another one that you do
at the end of the song which again all
this hand does is move up and down like
this that's it everything else happens
right here like this I love warming up
of the Komachi because it requires so
much stamina because there's so many
different ways to play around with it
and because there's such a variety of
different Komachi you can do like and
usually after warming up the first song
that I'll practice almost every single
time it's called Tsugaru jongara bushi
it is like the main song of cicadas I'm
inside
[Applause]
[Music]
now that song that song is really
challenging it was actually passed to me
from the older of the two Yoshi brothers
and then I spent a couple years
adjusting it changing parts and forming
it into my own version that I use for
performances and the shamisen
competitions here in Japan being able to
play something like that takes years of
dedication which is one of the reasons
that I don't always recommend people to
start the shamisen I practice on average
for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours every
single day on days where I have a little
more time that'll go anywhere from 4 to
5 hours if possible but for those really
interested I'm gonna share a little bit
later on about how and where to get
started my absolute favorite song to
play is the one I've been learning for
about the last year or so called Ibuki
[Music]
honestly the song is just so much fun to
play and since this is my favorite part
of this entire video so far I want to
share something with you I've actually
secretly been running a patreon for the
last while as a place where I can put
out content and new streams for only
those people who really want to be a
part of it this is a secret podcast a
hit an Instagram account where I go live
once a week just a fun place to hang out
and lets me spend more time with you a
few people have found it already so I
thought it was time to let you know that
it exists if you want to come out and
hang out over there I would love to have
you anyway I think that's given my hands
and enough of a rest that I should be
able to play a little bit more
[Applause]
[Music]
I honestly just loved this instrument
it's become such a huge part of my life
and a lot of people have asked where
they can get started in how they can get
started first and foremost I'm gonna
link it below I would recommend starting
at shamisen climate SIA there's a couple
different reasons but the main one being
that climates the Sun the shamisen maker
who actually made my shamisen a is
someone I definitely trust both the
interaction and the quality of his
products and be even a beginner shamisen
like the one that I have behind me here
can cost you thousands of dollars that
one there was well over two thousand
American but come on son has made
something called the chummy boy which is
kind of more like a beginner just kind
of play around chime he said like if
you're not super super serious and you
don't want to invest hours a day in
thousands of dollars the Xiaomi boy is a
really great place to start the main
part is I actually trust the person
who's selling it and the quality of
their work in their products I've seen
way too many people go in the wrong
direction and spend far too much money
on a shamisen that almost definitely
wasn't worth what they paid for it so
start with shamisen comaat SIA if you
have additional questions feel free to
hit me up if there's enough interest it
might even lead to the creation of
something exciting but I kind of want to
get back and do this a little bit more
practice also I'm well aware that this
video has probably created way more
questions that it's answered so if you
do have questions feel free to leave
them in the comments down below I'm
definitely gonna be doing a shamisen Q&A
video at some time if we have enough
interest I'm also gonna link an entire
playlist of shamisen content that I have
put together but I kind of want to wrap
things up but just a little bit more
playing there's so much that you can do
with the SHINee Center there's a few
things that I've been working on things
like
that's actually the first part of the
song that I used to open up this video
the one that wouldn't like I think
that's it I think that's all the stamina
that I have for today this has been a
lot of fun and I'm so glad that you
actually took the time to join and watch
this video I'm hoping that this can be
the beginning of much more schemey sanic
content to come again if there's
anything that you want to know about I
opened up the question on Instagram the
other day and got so many amazing
responses that almost each and every one
could become its own video so if there's
anything specific that you want to see
or know don't hesitate to let me know
down below there really is so much more
that I wanted to include into this video
but this is kind of a just a peek at how
I practice the shamisen I hope that you
enjoyed it I'm gonna get back to
practicing and I will see you guys again
real soon
I don't know if you can hear that but
just kind of been on a break for the
last while because there's because
there's a dog that just keeps barking
and if you're planning on making the ice
scraper joke I I've already heard it
looking forward to doing this video so
much I cannot even tell you it has a
creator you tend to hold back on the
content that you really care about the
personal content and put out stuff that
more people will be interested in which
is one of the reasons I created the
patreon kind of a safe space where I can
share the stuff that I really like with
the people who really want to watch it
but for those of you who have watched up
to the end of this video and I don't
know potentially enjoyed this piece of
content thank you I I appreciate you so
much and I am so lucky to have you here
thank you for being a part of this I
really really enjoyed I'm actually I'm
actually just gonna get back to get back
to playing for now hi it's not gonna be
good I'm gonna
you