Name of Instrument: shamisen

Maker / Brand:

Stearns Catalog #: 2060

Country of Origin: Japan

Region of Origin: Asia

Instrument Category: Chordophone

Date of Fabrication:

Location: NCRC G116

Description: A three-string plucked lute, the Shamisen is the instrument par excellence of traditional Japan. It comes in different sizes, and produces a variety of distinctive timbres, each of which is associated with specific genres, ranging from the singing of folksongs to the gidayu music of puppet theaters (bunraku). The shamisen displays a number of distinctive organological features. The lowest string stretches and vibrates over a small cavity carved in the pegbox, producing sawari, a resonance that adds to what is considered to be good shamisen tone. Plucked with left-hand fingers and strummed with an ivory or ivory-tipped wood plectrum, the shamisen produces pizzicatos, slides, “hammering-on”, and other distinctive sounds.

Research: Stearns Staff