![]() This wood is naturally very light brown in color, but to bring out the beauty of the wood grain, the kotokoto maker scorches the surface with a hot iron. The koto is made from paulownia ( kiri in Japanese) wood, which is very common in Asia but not indigenous to the United States. There is a sound hole on the underside of the playing end and another hole for the strings to pass through on the opposite end. The koto is constructed of two pieces: a hollowed-out top piece, which often has an intricate pattern carved on the underside for a better tone quality, and a flat bottom piece. Today performers often sit on chairs, and then the koto rests on a stand called a rissodai. When the player sits on the floor in the traditional manner the playing end is slightly elevated by a short stand (about 4-6 inches high) or by attaching two short feet. It is about 6 feet long, 10 inches wide and 2 inches thick. The standard koto is a zither (an instrument with strings stretched the length of the sound box) with 13 strings. This Digest introduces the instrument, its history and music. The koto repertoire has a wealth of compositions from 17th-century classics to innovative contemporary works. Although many people think of it as an ancient instrument whose music has not changed for generations, in fact it is a vibrant, living tradition. The koto is one of the most popular traditional instruments in Japan and one of the best known outside of that country. Hon choshi is considered to be the standard tuning for the Sanshin.Available in PDF format ( 142.97 KB ) Contents The Sanshin has 3 silk strings and is played using a plectrum called a bachi which is shaped like a dragon’s claw. The instrument is used in 2 music genres which are traditional music and folk music. Traditionally the instrument’s body was made out of snakeskin, but now artificial snakeskin is being used. ![]() The Sanshin is played mainly within the Okinawa prefecture of Japan. The Sanshin is a very rare Japanese instrument which also derives from the Chinese Sanxian. Hon choshi tuning is considered to be the standard tuning for the Shamisen. “Shamisen” by Jérôme Sadou is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Here’s a picture of a Shamisen wooden bachi The Shamisen has 3 silk strings and is played using a wooden plectrum called a bachi. The music genres that a Shamisen is used in is: Fortunately synthetic materials are now being used to create Shamisens. Traditionally the instrument’s body was made out of dog skin or cat skin, not very pleasant sounding if you’re a pet owner like myself. The Shamisen/Samisen is a Japanese instrument which derives from the Chinese Sanxian. Hirajoshi tuning is considered to be the standard tuning for the koto. Japanese koto being played with 2 ivory plectrums Traditionally the koto is played using 2 or 3 ivory plectrums on each finger on the right hand where the left hand is used to play openly. The koto’s body is made out of paulownia wood and it has 13 silk strings or it can have 13 nylon strings if it’s modern koto. The instrument was first introduced within a traditional music genre called gakaku also referred to as imperial court music. The koto is a Japanese instrument which derives from the Chinese guzheng. ![]() ![]() “Koto” by heyexit is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 If you’re looking to learn more about Japanese music, like listening new kinds of music or just want to write your own Japanese compositions. In this post I’ll be covering the 4 string instruments played in Japanese traditional music. This is quite common for Japan as even the language derives from China. Most traditional Japanese string instruments originate from China.
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