First, I will give my warning, this only works for songs that play in the Hirajoshi scale, so only Jiuta, Sankyoku, Soukyoku, Some Tsugaru pieces, most Nagauta pieces, Most Kouta pieces, and some Min’Yo pieces. So with my Shamisen, since I’m still a beginner, I have the Hirajoshi scale marked. This not only tells me the positions for most Traditional Japanese songs, but also actually allows me to play without notation. The Hirajoshi scale is a scale used in traditional Japanese music. It consists of the notes “C D D# G G#” when played in the key of C. Because of it’s pentatonic nature, it is fairly easy to improvise on. I can’t tell you the numbered positions exactly, but maybe someone can help me out with that, but I recommend you use the tuning CGC for this. By listening to the songs very closely, I can tell approximately how to play the songs, and by practicing, I can refine my technique and get the notes more perfectly. This is similar to the oral transmission of songs when Geisha learn how to play Shamisen. Here are a list of songs I can play (Many of these are just excerpts since I’m still learning how to play many of these):
Yachiyo Jishi
Echigo Jishi (Nagauta version, first movement)
Genroku Hanami Odori (A certain excerpt)
Sakura Sakura
Rokudan No Shirabe (First movement)
Gion Kouta
I think you are On the right track bro! I’ve always felt that music is a language and it sounds like your approach is going to work great in terms of absorbing the language and musical phrasing of those songs and even beyond!
Excellent idea! I will be using this method to improvise as well. Arigatou!