Shamisen facts for kids
The shamisen or samisen (Japanese: 三味線, literally "three taste strings"), also called sangen (literally "three strings") is a Japanese musical instrument with three strings, that is played with a big plectrum called a bachi. The pronunciation in Japanese is usually "shamisen".
Images for kids
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Tokyo Geisha with Shamisen, c. 1870s
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A Japanese man playing a shamisen while another sings
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The heike shamisen compared with a medium-sized, or chuzao shamisen.
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Pictured: Bachi for minyo, tsugaru and heike shamisens.
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Pictured: Bachi, or plectrum for the shamisen.
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Horizontal shamisen tablature, read from left to right. Similar to guitar tablature, three horizontal lines represent the strings of the shamisen. Nodes are represented by Arabic numerals, and note subdivisions are indicated by lines under them.
