Playing with a Koto group

Playing/Techniques
#1

Hello shami-buddies!
I have a true story for you all;

I have teamed up with some koto players here in sunny Calgary, AB, and we plan to storm the Canadian listeners with our amazing abilities!

Only…

I can’t read traditional notation. Also, I’ve never written a shamisen part to match a koto part. Oh, and I don’t really know how to determine the key of a koto piece.

HOWEVER!! That won’t keep me from taking vacation, bros!
I need your help;

Answer ALL of these questions, and you get extra points! (The points can be converted to Reddit Karma at a rate of 100:1)

  1. How do I read traditional notation music?
  2. Where can I find some examples of that music with an audio example so I can practice reading it?
  3. How can I feasibly transpose koto notes to my sha-blami?
  4. What is the capital of Assyria?
  5. Is there any way to determine the key of a koto piece by looking at the tuning of the instrument to the song? (I have pretty good theory knowledge, just wondering if tonal centres play any major part…)
  6. Can you answer the questions that I’m thinking of right now but did;t write down (because I’m sure I’ll have a few?)

Kthanksbai!

With your masterful help, I can certainly MISSION:COMPLETE!

Travis

#2

Question 1 :
Question 4 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria

#3

I play Minyo Shamisen and Ikuta-ryu Koto and probably can help you.

Are you planning on accompanying traditional Japanese pieces or jamming? For tradition tunings see http://imgur.com/Akw1cOI where I uploaded the nine tunings based on the key of D. The first three are the most popular tunings for Japanese classical music. The top numbers on the chart indicate the strings, 1-13, starting at the low notes (far side of the koto) when seated to play. Normally the 1st and 5th strings are the same note, but sometimes an octave below. It varies based on the musical piece.

If you are planning to play Jiuta Shamisen, I have some examples, but their notation is really different from the standard used by Minyo/Tusgaru.

June

#4

Hey Travis,

Good luck with your performance! Seems like a lot of fun.

Here’s my opinion concerning japanese classical music based on what I’ve heard: Tonal centres are a thing. They might not be as clear as they are in most western pieces, but there isn’t an atonality as you would see in some of Schönberg’s compositions.

I’m not sure if the term “tonal centre” is used in the japanese musical context, though. Looks like their music theory has a lot of different terminologies, and makes sense that it does. Took me a while to write this comment because I was having a hard time associating this term with japanese classical music.

You could just listen carefully to the piece you’re going to play and then figure out the prominent tonal structures (maybe even a tonal centre). Then, tuning your shamisen accordingly should be easy.

That being said, this process depends on both the piece and the arrangement. Some arrangements really highlight the tonal structure of a composition, while others do the opposite. I imagine that happens more often to japanese traditional music than it does to western music.

I’m new to the shamisen, so I wouldn’t be able to answer any other questions. I apologize for that. :frowning:

All the best!

Luis

© 2020 Kyle Abbott