Beginner’s Bundle

This bundle includes five songs suited for beginners:

• Sakura
• Kojou no Tsuki
• Don Pan Bushi
• Kokiriko Bushi
• Kuroda Bushi

About the songs: All of the songs are written out for shamisen in bunkafu (tabulature) notation. This version is without lyrics and is suited for beginners. Usually, folk songs come in countless variations, because every player adds a little ornamentation here or there to make it “his own”. I arranged the pieces as simple versions that bring out the core melodies of the pieces. From that vantage point, you can later add notes and ornamentations easily to create your own favorite version of the song.

Sakura is probably the most well-known song in japan. It’s a song about the beautiful cherry blossoms that have such a special place in the Japanese culture. This song has been adapted for every instrument one can think of. As the melody is so very catchy and the melodical elements are quite repetitive, this song is very well suited for absolute beginners.

• Tuning: Niagari
• Techniques: Hajiki (left-hand pluck)

Kojou no Tsuki is a sweet little piece with an interesting melody. It’s very short but fun to be played in endless repeat because it spurs the imagination. There’s no special techniques required to play this song  and it covers the same tonal range as Sakura.

• Tuning: Honchōshi

Don Pan Bushi is a lively Japanese folk song from Aomori Prefecture. As the range of positions is not very wide and there are no difficult techniques involved, this song is very well suited for absolute beginners.

• Tuning: Honchōshi
• Techniques: Sukui (upstroke)

Kokiriko Bushi is a very well known traditional Japanese folk song from Toyama Prefecture. It’s a basic simple version without lyrics, suited for beginners. It’s a great song to try out techniques such as sukui and hajiki or strums for fillers when the melody rests on a longer note. These kinds of ornamentations are a great way to make a song your own!

• Tuning: Niagari
• Techniques: Sukui (upstroke)

Kuroda Bushi is a popular traditional Japanese folk song from Fukuoka Prefecture. As the range of positions is not very wide and there are no difficult techniques involved, this song is very well suited for absolute beginners.

• Tuning: Niagari
• Techniques: double string strum

Note: The gray dotted line indicates the beginning of the verse.

Tuning:

In every tuning, the strings are tuned in a certain relation to each other. For folk songs, there’s no fixed rigid tuning to a definite pitch (in contrast, the A-string on the violin is always tuned to 440 or 442hz) but what’s most important is how the strings are tuned in relation to each other.

A good rule of thumb is to tune your instrument over the base of C. This means, the big string will be tuned to C and the other strings according to the tuning of the song:

Honchōshi: C-F-C

Niagari: C-G-C

Sansagari: C-F-Bb

Access to the pdf:

Please note that this item is downloadable once only – just as receiving a physical copy of the scores would be. Consider it a “direct delivery” 🙂

After the purchase, you can download the file from your account page under “downloads” or via the link in your order confirmation email.

Make sure you save your file in an easy to locate directory. Please don’t hesitate to contact us via email if you need further assistance.