So I have been watching shamisen videos lately and I’ve seen how different players switching mid piece to play the san no ito and ichi no ito with both the index finger and ring finger, is this some technique?
Please, someone, explain.
It is not really clear what do you mean. Can you please provide some examples (some videos you mentioned with the timing where is the part you talking about).
Are you trying to figure out in what case the each finger used?
0:22 Kyle uses his index finger to play the ichi no ito
0:41 Kyle then uses the index finger to play the san no ito
So when playing the shamisen what finger are you suppose to use? Is it like a certain finger for each string or one finger can be used to play multiple strings?
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Oh, I see. The way the shamisen is played is usually by one string at the time. The reason for this is because it it fretless. So it is very hard to place several fingers at the same time on the neck to get clear sound. There some exceptions of course. So, there is no specific fingering for the strings or for positions. The index finger mostly used for all notes And strings except playing some intervals and phrases and combinations with use of the ring finger. Some players also use the rest, especially on the high speed parts.
Hey there,
In orthodox play for min’yo and tsugaru, the index, middle, and ring finger are all used. As @Alexey noted, there are no specific positions that require fingers - but song notations often have typical fingering. In Fujimoto bunkafu, this is labeled as I, II, III - index, middle, ring, respetively.
When not labeled, I is implied.
The reason to use one finger or the other depends on the desired sound and the relationship between positions.
When using your index finger on the third string, the ideal form is to press the string down with your nail to create a clean, clear sound. When playing with your middle or ring finger, more of the flesh of your finger tip will be used, which fuzzes out some of the clarity.
For … whatever reason, many positions on the shamisen seem to very naturally fall between the width of outstretched fingers. At least on my averageish hands.
Which is to say, if you want to hit position 8 from position 10, alternating between your index and ring finger instead of sliding back and forth allows you to move between them more quickly. Similarly, the odd positions (3, 5, 7, and so on) tend to fall within the distance between index and middle fingers. When an extremely clean sound is not necessary or desired and other techniques would not cause issue, it’s common to use these other fingers in order to ease play.
At least, this is my understanding.