16th
Sanshin notes: basic playing
Question: I’m a beginner picking up the sanshin. Where do I start?
Learning to play the sanshin is easy. It’s just a tad daunting when you open up a piece of music and see characters that you’ve never seen before. Get over that, and you’ll be right on your way. All you have to do is remember where these characters are in relation to the sanshin.
These top notes are played open string.
These notes are played with the index finger.
These notes are played with the middle finger.
These notes are played with the pinkie.
When I was learning to play, I would set a chart like this one next to the kunkunshi I was working on to help me memorize where the notes were. Start with something simple like 安波節 (aha bushi) and work your way onto other songs while using YouTube searches to find song samples. It might also be wise to mark where the notes are on the sanshin to visually aid your playing.
Names of the notes
On the low string:
合 = “ai” 乙 = “otsu” 老 = “rou”
On the middle string:
四 = “shi” 上 = “jou” 中 = “chuu” 尺 = “shaku”
On the high string:
工 = “kou” 五 = “go” 六 = “roku” 七 = “shichi”
