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Tsugaru Sansagari Kyokubiki

津軽三下り

[Genre]Min'yo
[School]Min'yo

History (Takahashi Yujiro):

This virtuosic shamisen improvisation (kyokubiki) is based on the song "Tsugaru Sansagari". (Sansagari is a shamisen tuning.) Tsugaru-jamisen is one of the few Japanese traditions that allows significant improvisation, which comes to the fore particularly in the solo style. Tsugaru-jamisen contests small and large have long been common. In one early format, two or three players each improvised for a couple of minutes, continuing until all but one had run out of new ideas.

Tsugaru Sansagari Kyokubiki appears on the following albums

Album Artist

Jonkara Shamisen : Satō Michihiro
Play ButtonMin'yo - Folk Song from Japan - Takahashi Yujiro and friends
This virtuosic shamisen improvisation (kyokubiki) is based on the song "Tsugaru Sansagari". (Sansagari is a shamisen tuning.) Tsugaru-jamisen is one of the few Japanese traditions that allows significant improvisation, which comes to the fore particularly in the solo style. Tsugaru-jamisen contests small and large have long been common. In one early format, two or three players each improvised for a couple of minutes, continuing until all but one had run out of new ideas.

Copyright 1999 - Dr David W. Hughes
e-mail dh6@soas.ac.uk