Kankara/Shamisen questions?

[Sam_Taylor]

Hey, I’m pretty new here and I’ve been doing a load of research into getting a Tsugaru Shamisena and I’m now at the point where I’ve decided to start putting money towards getting one; as money is tight, I’ve been considering getting a Kankara from this site to get a feel for playing Shamisen, but I just had a few questions which’ve made me uneasy about starting with kankara then moving onto a Tsugaru’.

Do they use the same tabs? Do Kankara’s use the same bachi, or is it finger picking? And also, how similar is the tuning?
I suppose overall I’m also wondering how good an idea is it to start with kankara if I plan in the future to play Tsugaru shamisen?

Big thank you in advance!

[B_H]

you can make use of shamisen tabs, bachi, tunings … since a kankara usually is shorter the finger positions on the neck are closer together and therefore somewhat easier to do … you pretty much miss out on the percussive striking options or at least the cool sound they can produce on an actual shamisen with a skinned body …

all of the above also applies for a more sophisticated and a bit more expensive sanshin which you should consider too … a ko shamisen (bachido store) is also available and at least cheaper than a full sized shamisen …

welcome!