The Long Overdue Music Post
One day long ago during Annie's Adventures 1.0, I was preparing to perform at a folk festival with my shamisen instructor and his other students. We were sitting backstage with dozens of other folk musicians, and someone started playing a folk tune and suddenly, as is wont to happen when folk musicians are gathered, we had an impromptu jam. I was so overwhelmed by the experience--and by how happy it made me--that I promised myself I would return to Japan and continue to study the shamisen.
My first week back, Dr. Hayashi invited me up to Tokyo to meet his friend Kuroda-san, a biwa musician. Kuroda-san was my original connection with Ishikawa-sensei, my shamisen instructor. Though I had never met her, she had really altered my life, so I was excited to get to meet her.
We first went to her apartment and she showed me her instruments. They were gorgeous, of course, and her main instrument had beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay on the body, depicting a ginko tree. After she demonstrated how to play the biwa, she let me give it a go. The biwa is very different from any other type of instrument I've tried. It has thick frets that stand about three inches off of the fingerboard. Different tones are created by depressing the strings between the frets. (This is the same way a koto is played, but with one movable fret for each string.) For example, on a guitar, the tone between two frets stays the same. But because the frets of the biwa are so high, many different tones can be created. It was really difficult to know exactly how far to press the strings, and that was clearly the biggest challenge of the instrument. The bachi (plectrum) is also much different from the shamisen's bachi; while the shamisen bachi could be compared to an ice scraper, the biwa bachi looks more like a cropped fan.
After I was done asking questions about the instrument, she invited us to a performance she was doing a few days later. She is in the midst of a monthly performance series held at a bar near her place, starring her and her friends. February's show was just her, performing "Hoichi the Earless," which happens to be one of my favorite Japanese ghost stories. She also suggested that I perform a few songs for the March show, which I'm not really sure if I'm ready for, but I'll give it a shot. (Performing solo for Japanese people! Dear lord what am I getting myself into!!!)
Kuroda-san performing
Today was my second shamisen lesson. The first lesson consisted of me stumbling through my old songs, but I was so mortified that I practiced until I remembered them for today's lesson. Ishikawa-sensei was satisfied by my progress and started teaching me a new tune. At the end of my lesson, another student came into the studio. At first I thought it was Ishikawa's daughter, since she was around my age, and I haven't met any Japanese folk musicians in their 20s (or 30s...). I was really happy when she came in, made herself at home, and started chatting with me. Her shamisen case was decorated with plush toys and baubles. It was really adorable. She was just really adorable all around.
Ishikawa-sensei asked me during my lesson if I would be interested in performing with him and other people from his studio during hanami, the cherry-blossom viewing festival. The shamisen shop where I bought my instrument is right next to a river that is lined with cherry trees. Every spring folk musicians perform for the hanami there. He asked if I had a kimono and I said no, but he said one of his other students could loan me one.
I have to say, performing the shamisen with other folk musicians in a kimono during hanami was always kind of a pipe-dream of mine. I was really amazed that it was handed to me on a platter like this, so soon after my return. I'm so ridiculously excited by this opportunity that I don't really know what to do or say or think, besides practicing my butt off so I don't embarrass myself. Needless to say, I was a smiling fool all the way home.
My first week back, Dr. Hayashi invited me up to Tokyo to meet his friend Kuroda-san, a biwa musician. Kuroda-san was my original connection with Ishikawa-sensei, my shamisen instructor. Though I had never met her, she had really altered my life, so I was excited to get to meet her.
We first went to her apartment and she showed me her instruments. They were gorgeous, of course, and her main instrument had beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay on the body, depicting a ginko tree. After she demonstrated how to play the biwa, she let me give it a go. The biwa is very different from any other type of instrument I've tried. It has thick frets that stand about three inches off of the fingerboard. Different tones are created by depressing the strings between the frets. (This is the same way a koto is played, but with one movable fret for each string.) For example, on a guitar, the tone between two frets stays the same. But because the frets of the biwa are so high, many different tones can be created. It was really difficult to know exactly how far to press the strings, and that was clearly the biggest challenge of the instrument. The bachi (plectrum) is also much different from the shamisen's bachi; while the shamisen bachi could be compared to an ice scraper, the biwa bachi looks more like a cropped fan.
After I was done asking questions about the instrument, she invited us to a performance she was doing a few days later. She is in the midst of a monthly performance series held at a bar near her place, starring her and her friends. February's show was just her, performing "Hoichi the Earless," which happens to be one of my favorite Japanese ghost stories. She also suggested that I perform a few songs for the March show, which I'm not really sure if I'm ready for, but I'll give it a shot. (Performing solo for Japanese people! Dear lord what am I getting myself into!!!)
Kuroda-san performing
Today was my second shamisen lesson. The first lesson consisted of me stumbling through my old songs, but I was so mortified that I practiced until I remembered them for today's lesson. Ishikawa-sensei was satisfied by my progress and started teaching me a new tune. At the end of my lesson, another student came into the studio. At first I thought it was Ishikawa's daughter, since she was around my age, and I haven't met any Japanese folk musicians in their 20s (or 30s...). I was really happy when she came in, made herself at home, and started chatting with me. Her shamisen case was decorated with plush toys and baubles. It was really adorable. She was just really adorable all around.
Ishikawa-sensei asked me during my lesson if I would be interested in performing with him and other people from his studio during hanami, the cherry-blossom viewing festival. The shamisen shop where I bought my instrument is right next to a river that is lined with cherry trees. Every spring folk musicians perform for the hanami there. He asked if I had a kimono and I said no, but he said one of his other students could loan me one.
I have to say, performing the shamisen with other folk musicians in a kimono during hanami was always kind of a pipe-dream of mine. I was really amazed that it was handed to me on a platter like this, so soon after my return. I'm so ridiculously excited by this opportunity that I don't really know what to do or say or think, besides practicing my butt off so I don't embarrass myself. Needless to say, I was a smiling fool all the way home.