Just bought my first shamisen, a chuuzao jiuta style. I love it. What songs are good for someone trying to learn beginner techniques?
I taught myself using Kyle’s book “Shamisen of Japan” if you have access to that. It has a section about basic techniques and a series of songs that help you learn them
Howdy.
Members of my group start with Kokiriko. Our arrangement reviews all of the basic techniques and four key positions. It’s also a good introduction to the yo scale.
Other groups begin with Sakura. There’s many, many ways to play this, so it offers a song that can grow with you. It will show you the in scale too!
Here on Bachido, the crash course (a free lesson) shows you how to play Kuroishi-yosare. This is a bit harder than either Kokiriko or Sakura, but the videos will very carefully walk you through it.
If you’re less interested in actual songs, you can find some simple etudes on Oyama Kouzan’s site and on Youtube.
I’m totally looking into buying that book, but I need to allow my financial situation to recover after purchasing my shami 
That seems like a good start to me. Thanks for the guidance and heads up on the crash course.