When you're just starting out on the shamisen, practicing songs you already know is faster than jumping into something difficult. Here are beginner-friendly songs you can practice right now with free bunkafu scores on Shami Ittai, sorted roughly by difficulty.
Songs to try first
- Sakura Sakura— a classic Japanese folk melody, a great first taste of the shamisen's sound.
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star— a familiar tune that's easy for connecting bunkafu numbers to melody.
- My Grandfather's Clock — a slow tempo, good for practicing finger-position changes.
- Happy Birthday — short, repetitive phrases, good for basic rhythm practice.
- Auld Lang Syne — a familiar melody, good for long-tone and bowing-hand practice.
- Nanatsu no Ko— a Japanese children's song with melodic movement typical of shamisen phrasing.
- Yuyake Koyake — a slow-paced song, good for checking each note carefully.
How to practice these
Rather than playing through the whole piece right away, learn the basics of reading bunkafu and finger positions, then break the song into short phrases. Once comfortable, slow the tempo down and record yourself to check your progress objectively.
You can play all of these free on the Discover page in Shami Ittai, no login required, and add any of them to your own scores to start practicing.
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