About Shami

What you can do with Shami

Shami currently offers the following features.

• Create and view bunkafu scores
• Turn paper bunkafu into digital scores
• Practice with interactive digital scores

You can listen to a score, slow it down, and repeat difficult passages while you practice.

Why a shamisen craftsperson built an app

Over the long term, the number of people who play shamisen has been declining.

When fewer people play, fewer people buy new instruments or bring them in for repair. The number of craftspeople who build and repair shamisen declines with them.

Many performers and craftspeople are working to change this. We have also taught shamisen classes at elementary schools and joined hands-on instrument-making events.

People of every age are delighted when they can make a sound with their own hands and learn to play a song.

After these events, many people ask us how they can learn another song.

We used to tell them to search online or on YouTube.

But finding a score that suits a beginner is not easy. Even after finding one, a learner may not know how to play it, and videos make it awkward to repeat only the passage they need to practice.

Shamisen scores for songs familiar to children and younger players can also be hard to find.

Someone has discovered the shamisen and wants to keep playing, only to get stuck at the next step. As a shamisen craftsperson, I felt that was a great loss.

Passing shamisen culture on takes more than creating a first encounter with the instrument. People also need a way to keep enjoying it afterward: finding music they want to play, practicing at their own pace, and gradually learning a favorite song, just as they can with guitar, piano, or ukulele. We wanted to build that environment for shamisen too.

A practice companion for shamisen players

Six months after the first idea, we were finally able to release Shami.

Shami lets you view bunkafu scores, play them back to check the sound, slow the tempo, and repeat difficult passages.

You can also digitize a paper bunkafu score you already own and use it for practice.

Scores can be created and edited as well. We are building Shami for beginners, longtime players, and working performers alike.

We hope it feels like a companion that stays with you while you practice alone, helping you check the sound and work through the same passage as many times as you need.

Shami is currently available on the web and iPhone. We are also preparing an Android release.

The basic features are free, so please give Shami a try.

About Shami Members

Shami Members is available for ¥1,000 per month or ¥10,000 per year. The annual plan works out to ¥833 per month.

The basic features are free. Members can use additional features and create and view more scores.

We built Shami little by little with a small team while continuing our daily work as shamisen craftspeople.

Keeping the service running and continuing to add scores and features requires steady support. Membership fees help us improve Shami and grow an environment where more people can keep playing shamisen.

Members can choose a numbered wooden name plate and add their name to it.

If you share our hopes for Shami, we would be grateful to have you help us grow it as a member.

Keeping shamisen enjoyable for years to come

Shami is only just beginning.

By listening to the people who use it, we want to make it easier to find scores, practice, and move closer to playing the music you love.

We want the joy of a first shamisen experience to lead to learning one more song.

We also want longtime players to keep enjoying the instrument. We believe each of these steps helps protect shamisen culture and pass it on to the next generation.

We hope you will give Shami a try.