Daily Practicing Regiment

Playing/Techniques
#1

Dear All,

Finally doing my first post on Bachido! Long time supporter, now trying to become an active player. Thanks to Kyle and other wonderful Bachido folks for their support and care in helping me cultivate a new life passion.

After an outstanding workshop yesterday with the master’s themselves (Aki, Mike, Kyle), I am now determined to do a daily regiment of sorts. At first, shamisen was, and remains, a very daunting instrument; I can never, as much as I try, feel fluid playing this mysterious three stringed thing-a-ma-bob. As much as it is supposed to be an organic extension of the self, I felt my self constantly discouraged with opposing feelings.

But, I think my biggest problems were (a) a bad attitude and (b) a lack of appreciation for “taking it slow.” I jumped right in, trying to learn songs and driving through Kyle’s book out of a desire to sound like a pro asap. I never stopped to take the time to just practice striking correctly, tune by ear, or learn a scale.

Now, to start from the beginning, I think I am just going to take it one step at a time, starting with a regiment of just hitting each string consciously and successively for about 20 minutes without any neckboard work. Once I get down how to really feel the bachi and strike without having to look, I will be able to move on to the more complex work of forming sounds.

What kinds of daily regiments does everyone else use? Any tips or advice? Thanks!

#2

Kyle has some warming up stretching in his book, but I must admit I am too lazy for that.

Instead my warmup consists of starting on san-no-ito and playing different drills there and doing bachizuke. Since the thin string requires less power from your bachi hand it works better for warming up. Then I move to ni-no-ito and do some drills there. After that I do some heavy striking on ichi-no ito.

Then I take a very short break and move my hands around a bit, and then I start playing whatever piece I am working on.

I think your idea sounds good, but remember to take short breaks and move your hand around in between those 20 minutes.

#3

Hello James

cool you gave yourself a push towards playing this wonderful instrument.
I started out half a year ago and got quickly into trying to play different simple songs like kuroischi yosare bushi, sakura…
But I never exactely got the hang out of holding the bachi the right way…despite reading Kyles book, which is well explained, or watching different tutorials on youtube. It was my fault by doing it half hearted or sluggishly.
It’s just the other week I really feel holding the bachi right.
Furthermore I also restarted to strike the Itos more determined and going through each string separately.
A good starting point gave me ‘The Nitta Ryu Intensive Technique Pack’ from Nitta-san, which is exactely what you describe to be your learning-path.
So I highly reccomend this lesson-pack, which goes from

  • holding the shami right
  • placing the koma
  • adjustment of the sawari
  • properly gripping of the bachi
  • striking strings (double-strikes, triple-strikes)
  • striking positions
  • precise striking
  • different playing techniques (slid, hammer on, pull off,…)
  • damping/muting strings
  • vibrato, tremolo, resonance
    …
    I’m still working on my double-strikes (nimai bachi) and will only go to triple-strikes, when I mastered it on each string completely blind.

But in doing so, something will be greately missed:
actually playing songs and long-term motivation (whereas learn to play properly could also be motivating).
All in all I can say I like your attitude towards learning an instrument and maybe you’ll give a try to Nitta-sans Lessons.

Cheers
Ale

#4

I would say you have to have at least one or two songs that you play even if you are doing hardcore practice routines. Otherwise you are at risk of only playing the instrument for the sake of being good at the technique and not focusing on the music you produce.

That is just my opinion.

I can only agree with Alessandro on “The Nitta Ryu Intensive Technique Pack”! It contains everything a beginner needs to know and helps intermediate players refine their technique.

#5

Dude, I know what you mean. Without something orderly to play it’s hard to convince yourself to spend the time to improve your technique. But it doesn’t hurt doing simple exercises like hitting the strings, trying to find the right tone, or other things like that and just recognizing that you’re getting better with every strike of the Bachi!

If you ever want to jam, hit me up!

#6

Karl: I second your sentiment; it is important to be working on songs. Otherwise, the jump into applying those techniques becomes a whole new barrier.

My personal style (which I can’t remember who I picked it up from; maybe Kyle?) is to stretch a bit and warm up my wrists for maybe 2 or 3 minutes, then dive into a couple warm up drills for 10 minutes or so.

From there, I jump into a song I am comfortable with to get my brain going, and I play that for however long I feel like (could be 5 minutes, could be 15 minutes) varying the speed and intensity in each play through. When I’m ready to move on, I go for my challenge song or “new” song (something I am trying to learn to play) and give that about 20 minutes.

Usually between warm-up song and challenge song I take a 5 minutes break; drink some tea, stretch a little, walk away from the instrument and take a breather. After the short break, I will sometimes jump back into the challenge for a while.

Finally, I end with some improv/goofing. Improv/goofing is good to just test yourself out; maybe try some song you like that is not an actual shamisen piece. Or, you can even play improv along with some tune you dig. I find it helps my brain to come down and decompress, and it also helps you to learn how to cover up for live performances. The basic concept being if you can fill during a song that doesn’t stop if you make a mistake, you can catch up and keep flowing.

If there is one thing I would stress, it would be that you should never practice any one thing for longer than 25 minutes; your brain just goes into autopilot and you stop building. Practice in 15 minute chunks and keep changing how your “regiment” flows. Always keep your brain on it’s toes, and you’ll grow that much faster.

Happy you made it to the workshop, James!
Bummed I wasn’t there to meet you.
Best wishes with your playing~!!

#7

Adrian, very useful tips you gave; sounds quite professional.

I’ll consider to adopt some of these.
I’m a bit lazy particularly what warming up concerns, but is indeed important not to overstrain wrist, tendons and bone-joints.

Thanks!

#8

Alessandro: Happy to hear you’ll consider adopting.

Seriously though, everyone should warm up and play as mindful as possible; would hate for anyone to start getting repetitive stress syndrome, or other injuries due to a lax in proper warm-up and healthy practice.

#9

Hmh. This thread is something everyone here at bachido should read. Seriously. Important stuff here. I pretty much never do any stretching or warming up… Or maybe my going rokudan and some folk songs through are some kind of a warm up… Then i usually focus on getting some techniques right or start improvising/ goofing or learning something new. I’ve been a bit lazy training to play. Also i find it sometimes “awkard” to start playing since i know some of my friends don’t like it when i play the shamisen. Neither did my ex girlfriend… ( I was almost 5 years with her and she didn’t like shamisen that much) So i got a bit discouraged to play shamisen. Now i’m in a new apartment and a new girlfriend and i’ve been somewhat more open minded or couraged to play shamisen. Though my neighbors don’t appreciate it much (Glad i’ve got mugen 21 silent :PP the mute is perfect). But yeah maybe i should also get some training vids from bachido and start some warm ups.
Great post this one!

#10

You just need to play more Finnish Polka and the neighbors will be happy!

#11

This is all Incredible and Great info. I do want to add one personal observation here though and that is that although the technical part of warming up/stretching /striking strings/ finger technique and running through songs is VITALLY IMPORTANT to developing as a Shamisen player, I think the main thing that fuels all of it is worth mentioning too. It’s likely to be different for everyone but for me it is the emotion and vision of not just “Becoming a Shamisen Player” but “Being” one at the core of one’s self.
A lot of times we think of this as something we have to work at systematically and that by doing so someday in some distant future we will hopefully “Magically” get it down, etc. That might be the right path for you at the moment but there is also another way which is to place a clear vision into the emotional grid of your inner being. In that vision-state, use your imagination to experience yourself as ALREADY HAVING ACHIEVED the highest level of Shamisen skill you can imagine. See yourself with awesome Bachi technique and imagine a clear sound of how your tone is going to blow away even to top players of today. Feel what it is like for your fingers to move freely and express any melody, phrase or musical idea you might have.
When you listen to your favorite Shamisen players, don’t “Separate” yourself from them. It’s easy to think “They are SOOOO Good and Holy Shit, I really need to practice!” But think instead “Oh no sweat ! That’s ME! I can do ALL OF THAT, and much much more !”

If you do this habitually, while daydreaming, meditating, going for a walk or whatever, you will notice that something remarkable will begin to take hold. Basically your mind will gradually begin to coax you into a parallel reality in which you actually ARE ALREADY a Shamisen master. You begin to believe it in ever cell in your body!

Then something else begins to happen which is very odd yet exciting. When you play or practice Shamisen, you will be in utter disgust when you find that in your current reality your fingers actually cannot yet move the way you see and feel them moving in your inner vision. You will experience extreme frustration, suffering and perhaps even anger. But this is because in your heart you KNOW you can do all the things you feel yourself doing.

You will find yourself crying out in anguish various words like “WHY???” & “UNACCEPTABLE!” and so on…

In the end this will cause you to practice with a fire and passion and urgency that will catapult your technique into uncharted territory before you even know it! You won’t really need to worry about practicing because all you will ever think about is practicing and getting better! And consequently you will find yourself doing it, every chance you get. and before you can believe it you’ll start to hear the tone, the melodies and the technique you had only imagined just a moment ago.

Personally I feel that this is a very important aspect. To develop passion. Just start by using your imagination to hear the way you want to play Shamisen then be willing to surrender to the inevitable frustration because that is a big part of developing the passion. Otherwise there is a danger this all might become routine. Like a daily workout in which no emotion is really required etc.

All right Kmetz Out …

#12

Thanks for your insights, Kevin. They are an inspiration.

#13

Kevin Sensei and others prior

Thank you very much for your advice and recommendations. It is so gratifying to see such an active community and such generous support!

#14

Kevin Kmetz; Bachido Guru. Sincerely, thank you again for imparting your spiritual teachings to us.

Truth; I have definitely found myself at times way too caught up in my “limitations” of the “present”; disconnected from the fact I already am a shamisen player.

#15

Wise words Kevin! Already starting to “feel” myself sitting in a big hall filled with people and rocking the shit out of them (literally)!

#16

Motivational speeches for the win! Nice one Kevin!

I have one more tip that I started with recently. You might be familiar with Power Balls. Here’s a link: http://powerballs.com/

I haven’t tried warming up with it but that should be possible too. Basically I use it after playing. You’re not supposed to max it out as a muscle building exercise. Just get it spinning until you comfortably can hold it in your hand and keep it spinning and feeling how it makes your hand automatically move in circles.

My hand feels perfect after a couple of minutes with it. You really feel a difference directly. I is a proven method for helping against problems with your wrist so I’d say it’s a perfect match for our awkward bachi holding technique :slight_smile:

#17

Shamisen Player and Motivational Speaker Kevin Kmetz

#18

Woah! So many responses! I don’t have time to read them all, so I’ll just tell you what my daily routine is.

My bass teacher, and LA studio musician, once told me: “Cats are ambush hunters, they can focus for hours. Humans can’t. So set a timer for about 3 minutes of hard concentration when working technique.”

Keeping that in mind, I do these all in 3-minute durations and then move on. I begin with 8th notes at 70 bpm, playing each string for one full measure before moving to the next string. I focus on my sound: is it consistent in quality, and sound? Are my movements fluid?

After straight 8th notes, I start to work the LH by continuing 8th notes with the bachi, while playing index finger on 3 for 2 beats, then ring finger on 4 for 2 beats. This stretches out my fingers. If that’s super easy, I will also move up and stretch from 4 to 6, then 6 to 9 (this also helps solidify the muscle memory for hand positioning).

After that, I do 3 minutes of down and up strokes in the bachi, beginning at 80-90 bpm. I do the same pattern: 3rd string for one measure, 2nd string for one measure, 1st string for one measure. The downbeats (1, 2, 3, 4) are down strokes, and the “ands” are the upstrokes. I struggle with these, so I sometimes do them for 6 minutes: the first 3 focusing on fluidity of motion, and consistency of sound and rhythm, the second 3 on speeding it up.

By now, I’ve had a decent warm-up, and will usually move onto specific tunes, beginning with hard licks in the tune, and working them like I do the warm ups before attempting a run-through.

I hope that helps! Feel free to steal ideas, and modify as needed!

K2

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