Concert of the Japanese band “ShamiPia”

The ShamiPia project is a collaboration between two Japanese musicians Ono Keisho and Motooka Mamoru.

Ono Keisho – a musician who plays the traditional Japanese seven-string instrument. His motto is “to keep traditional music going beyond traditional music.”

Motoroka Mamoru is a diverse Japanese pianist who plays in genres such as jazz, rock, pop, classical music and more. In 2017, the musicians performed a concert tour in four European countries, and in March 2018 released the first disc “Moonlight”.

Shamisen is a three-stringed musical instrument with a fretless fretboard and a small body, with a total length of about 100 cm. Along with the beat, koto and shakuhachi are among the most important musical instruments in Japan. The range is 2 or 4 octaves, the sound is produced mainly by the plectrum, less often by the fingers.

In 16th century Japan, it was believed that there were only two styles for playing the shamisen: kouta (for a short song) and nagauta (for a long one). However, today there are more than 70 genres of traditional music, and progressive musicians use the instrument to perform parts intended for electric guitars.

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