How to Convert Staff Notation Into Shamisen Bunkafu

Players who come from piano or wind instrument backgrounds often want to convert a staff-notation melody into shamisen bunkafu. Here's the basic idea behind that conversion and a manual, step-by-step process.

The basic idea

Staff notation encodes absolute pitch; bunkafu encodes which string and finger position to use. Converting means mapping each note name in the staff score to a string-and-position combination under your chosen tuning. The same melody uses different string/position combinations depending on whether you play in honchōshi or niagari, for example.

Manual conversion steps

1. Decide which tuning you'll play in.
2. Find the open-string (position 0) pitch of each string under that tuning.
3. For each note in the melody, work out which string and position (measured in half steps) produces it — the same pitch is often available on more than one string, so pick whichever is easiest to play.
4. Write the resulting string and position numbers into standard bunkafu format (three lines, numbers).
5. Play it back and check against a tuner or your ear.

Common pitfalls

• The key of the staff score won't always line up neatly with your tuning — you may need to transpose the whole piece.
• Because the same note can be played on more than one string, you'll want to try different fingerings by hand.
• Mapping note by note takes time, so start with short phrases.

Using a tool instead

If you already have a paper score, Shami Ittai's photo importcan turn a photographed bunkafu page into a digital draft automatically. It doesn't auto-convert from staff notation, but it's the fastest option whenever a bunkafu version already exists on paper.