Challenge to all great shamisen groups: Ravel's String Quartet

General
#21

Thanks Albert! Yeah I too am surprised by how fun this is to arrange for Shamisen and how good some parts sound and seem to fit! It really was a Great idea that you had there! Thanks to you we very well might hear the whole piece someday arranged for Shami-ensemble .Of course I won’t be able to do it alone so you’d better start learning some of it too! (haha!) some other players that come to mind…Kyle? Grant? Masahiro? Mike Penny? Anne? Ortjo? Karl ?

Well…Someday!
There are A LOT of notes to learn!
Appreciate the challenge Albert!

& Thanks again B H !

-K

#22

I’m actually trying to get better at playing faster more western music with the shamisen but it’s so hard compared to guitar due to the big bachi. I’ve been working on my bachi angle and the advice to have the thumb kinda on the side of the blade a bit. It gives me a much clearer and stronger tone more easy, but my wrist gets tired faster. In any case, to make it sound good you have to have solid technique imo.

I have a LOT of songs that I think would make epic arrangements for several shamisens but the skills are lacking :slight_smile:

#23

Hah i’d be thrilled to play this with few other shamisen players but i think it might be a bit hard… Though if we had a smallish group who all played different parts it might be possible :stuck_out_tongue:

#24

Ortjo, yeah that’s what I was thinking too!

Karl,
I’ve noticed that when I’m playing my best not only does my wrist Not get tired but it hardly feels like I even used my wrist at all. You might want to try completely relaxing the wrist when you play. I’ve additionally noticed when watching and analyzing my playing that when it sounds like crap the most is when I’ve felt tension in my wrist. There’s some kind of secret here. Keeping the wrist completely flexible like you are fanning yourself on a hot summer day with your hand. Ironically that can produce the most powerful tone. It’s not about physical strength so much as finding the “flow”!

#25

Yeah I understand what you mean. I’ve been watching a couple of shamisen players including Masahiro and Asano Sho and they really have the hand at the edge of the dou which creates a huge angle. I just have trouble finding the strength to hit the ichi-no-ito with power from that angle because when the hand is way back there, it kinda gets angled “upwards”. Maybe I have to bring my whole arm a bit further back when I strike the ichi-no-ito? But I’m working on it and I will think about being relaxed even more.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott