Hi, I’m new to the shamisen community. I hadn’t even heard of the shamisen before two months ago!
I was cruising Youtube looking for Biwa music and my favorite “Ogi no Mato” performances when I ran across this video:
After watching the Yoshida Brothers performing: YOSHIDA BROTHERS – Kodo, I was hooked! Since then I have found so much more shamisen music! I love it!
How did you find “shamisen”?
Gael
Hi Gael! Nice idea for a post. Having grown up in northern Japan I had the unbelievable good fortune of seeing Takahashi Chikuzan Live while he was at his best! Sat about 10 feet away from him in a huge concert hall (like 3rd or 4th row back from the stage) when I was just about 14 years old.
Ever since then I was determined to become a Shamisen Player someday!
Let’s hear some other stories!!
How about one from Karl H. ?
Hi everybody! I guess my “story” started about two years ago. I fell down a YouTube hole and stumbled across this video:
I started poking around the internet and even sent a youtube message to Kevin Metz with a few questions about the Shamisen. I ran all over San Francisco’s Japan town looking for a shamisen and/or a teacher and came up empty handed, so I kinda gave up for a while. But then a few months later I came upon another awesome Shamisen player on YouTube, Mike Penny!
He had a video on how to get a shamisen along with some info on Kyle’s book and that he also happened to teach in Los Angeles. And since I was moving to LA I hit him up and last February I had my first lesson he’s been my teacher ever since!
Wow, Kevin! I’m so envious that you got to see Takahashi Chikuzan in person! I can see how you would have been motivated after an experience like that. Thanks for sharing that.
Hey Joseph! I’ve seen some Youtube videos of this performer. I really like him too! Shinichi Kinoshita. I have one of his videos in my Shamisen favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_tEd0miH7U&list=PLAfzkphZSNtgJ2ABnmUbCzp4qAbg6qHx0&index=16
It was one of Mike Penny’s Youtube videos that lead me to this site and Kyle Abbott’s book.
I’d like to learn to play but not sure I have what it takes. I’m in awe when I watch and listen to folks who really know the Shamisen. Best to you on your shamisen travels!
occasional guitar player background and strangely (zero woodworking in general interest or experience) felt the urge to create something with strings . . . using the only loose piece of wood I had at home and a half broken string set from the accoustic guitar I ended up creating something that happened to have 3 strings and no frets of course . . .
what could have just been a fun experiment or prelude to getting into guitar playing again more often I did also post a couple of pictures of to the off topic category of an alpine snowboarding forum . . .
http://www.freecarvers.com/sem/pics/sem3.jpg
and there (http://bomberonline.com) the very first reply was “that’s a shamisen” obviously joking about 3 strings and no frets . . . so I looked up what a shamisen could possibly be and after some yoshida brothers clips also found Bachido which went online at about the same time so I signed up just for fun and that it has been since then . . . 
seriously the information I happened to find on this site and the exceptionally friendly and interesting forum did definitely solidify my interest in the shamisen . . . and then someone even composed a shamisen tune dedicated to me for reasons as mysterious as where the motivation within myself came from to create that 3 stringed instrument pictured above . . . and then someone else sent me pieces of an actual shamisen to experiment with so yeah and even before seriously playing shamisen myself I say “awesome” on this forum frequently for good reason . . .
A while back I visited a local Japanese summer festival and saw a taiko group performing. I thought it would be cool to join them next year and since I love woodworking I decided it would be best to build my own taiko.
I was worried about having a huge odaiko drum laying around so instead I thought “why not build a shamisen? It’s like a taiko but more portable and with strings” So I bought “shamisen of Japan” and the rest is history.
I have a confession: I had been aware that shamisens were a thing that existed for a couple of years, but I developed interest in playing after seeing a video on youtube. It was Mike Penny’s Bed Intruder cover.
It was at least another year plus change before I had the funds and proximity to buy my own shamisen though. Been hooked ever since. 
I was lucky enough to see Noriko Tadano play live at a concert I was performing at with my taiko group. I was even luckier that she was both living in Melbourne and interested in giving lessons. It’s hard not to be inspired…
years ago i had fascination with geisha/geiko and came across the word and looked it up, finding it was explained as a japanese banjo. I was a bit dissapointed, so dug more and found all the music and videos i could.
About 2 years after that i had saved some money and bought a damaged nagauta and in my digging to find out who to send it tofor repair i came across Chords canada and Kyle on youtube. After finding the cost was huge to reskin at the time i sold my shamisen as i had other priorities.
A few years later the longing came back and having made some instruments from kits i looked to see how i could make a shamisen. Up popped Kyle again…and Kevin. Promptly threw away the idea of making and bought several damaged shamisen, Kyles book and spent a LOT of time on the internet till Bachido evolved from Shamisen of Japan, and here i am,still lurking.
How interesting to hear all the stories of your encounter with Shamisen!!!
Here is how it went with me. Luckily I have been in Japan since I was born(except missed Chikuzan’s live concert even though I was always here) and several years ago I went to Hiromitsu Agatsuma’s concert just because my friend asked me to and I happened to have a free time then. It was so good and I began to listen to Tsugaru instrument and decided to start the instrument myself. I found a good teacher near my area two years ago and started to learn.
While looking for my teacher’s play on Utube, I got attracted by Kevin’s play and Monsters of shamisen and such and such and finally came to Bachido site. How could I say, this was a lucky coincidence? Or rather destiny.
From my Profile:
My great grandmother taught shamisen in the Kabuki theatre and to geisha in Fukuoka, so I was familiar with traditional Japanese music, but I truly fell in love with shamisen music last year at Taiko Gathering in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. They were playing this amazing music over the loudspeakers, so I Shazamed it, and found the Yoshida Brothers. Except for some taiko groups (On Ensemble, Taiko Project), I hadn’t heard too much Eastern and Western fusion before. I loved it!
I bought the album standing right there and downloaded it to my phone. That album has more plays than all of my other albums put together. When I heard that music, I thought then and there that I would like to play shamisen for my taiko group (Togen Daiko, Oxnard CA), but even more for myself. I have a bit of an advantage, I have been a musical comedy performer and a guitar player for cough cough 40 plus years, but I’m new to the shamisen. I’ve been playing about six months now, and I can stumble through Koroishi Yosare Bushi, and Rokudan, and a few others well enough now. I think (hope) I could perform the slower pieces by summer.
Wow, I hope more people post - this is a great thread, thanks for starting it, Gael!
Joseph, that is one of my favorite taiko/shamisen performances, thanks for posting it so I could see it again!
Thanks for sharing guys!
From my profile:
Thank’s to Grant Reimer I got introduced to the world of Shamisen and I immediatly fell in love!
I started playing after I had visited the Hirosaki tournaments 2012 together with Grant Reimer and Kevin Kmetz. I nagged them until I got to borrow Grant’s shamisen and Kevin started teaching. I only meant to stay a week in Aomori, but I wanted to learn more, so I hang around a week longer than planned.
And I was so lucky that I could follow Grant up to Sapporo to meet the coolest shamisen player on earth, Masahiro Nitta and buy my shamisen from him! It was a great experience! So now I have some standards to match. There is some recordings on when Masahiro is playing the same shamisen… need to keep my practice up!
I played in the Hirosaki tournaments this year, you can find it on the bachido blogcast. Just gonna continue learning!
Wow–great stories! I really like hearing how each person found shamisen and bachido.com! Thanks everyone for sharing your stories! I’m encouraged to continue to someday learn shamisen. I was becoming discouraged. But these stories have lifted my spirits!
Thanks for the post Gael. I’m a newbie too, even though I’m and old coot. Discovered the shamisen online while researching japanese music and instruments. I came across Bachido while looking for components to build one and found Kyle’s awesome guide on Amazon. Just getting started building my shamisen when I finish Christmas woodworking gifts for family. I’ll REALLY be up a creek when I start learning how to play, and will soak up everything I can from folks in here. Enjoying the spirit of this place tremendously.
Regards everybody.
Youtube.
How I actually got a shamisen, much longer story
Here’s maybe even a bit better version of the same piece, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this
My beginnings into shamisen started with my mother-in-law. She is Japanese, from Yokosuka. She used to play shamisen. She hasn’t played for quite some time and is unable to now because of arthritis. So, she gave me her nagauta shamisen. I was honored. It had so many bunkafu notation song books and other shamisen accessories. I was familiar with reading western style music but had not seen bunkafu style before. Now where I live (Alabama) no one has heard of a shamisen before so finding a teacher was impossible. I did an Internet search for shamisen teachers. I came across bachido.com and began there with the basics. I knew that the site was primarily focused on tsugaru style shamisen though, so I continued looking for a nagauta style teacher. I finally found a teacher that is located in Tacoma, WA and she teaches via Skype as well as in person. This worked out perfect for me! So now I am a little over two years in on playing and I love it. I have passed beginner level (10 full nagauta songs) and will be receiving my certificate from the Kine-ie school in Tokyo, Japan.
Youtube.
Figured out it’s Hiromitsu Agatsuma playing, btw.