I hate to have a late blog once again this week. I wracked my brain on Wednesday and Thursday morning, trying to think of a cool topic. Then, on Thursday afternoon, it just kind of happened. I accompanied my mother (a long-time guitar player) and a friend of mine to a pawn shop, specifically to pick at a guitar for my friend (a new learner). After waiting for a long time and putting it off for dutiful expenses, she said she got sick of the wait, and put money aside for a new guitar. In the shop there were bass guitars, acoustic and electric guitars, fiberglass violins and even an antique double bass. As we were making the purchase, I saw this in the glass case behind the counter.
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| It had beautiful abalone inlays. |
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| This other one had a single string. I have never seen it before. |
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| Creeper hands |
A friendly sales hand named Jose actually bothered to take it out and let me play it a little. He said he didn't know the proper name for it. I told him "It's called a koto, and it's instrument from Japan." I went on to mention that it was a instrument that only royalty were allowed to see or hear it played. The man who would come to be known as the master of composition would also be the one to play it in front of the masses, and subsequently get fired from his job in the palace. I'm told he's regarded as a hero of the people.
I'm realizing now that it was mostly a show piece. The strings were a bit thin, and might be broken by the three picks that a player traditionally wears, also it was a great deal smaller than a koto should be, but I had never seen one in real life, so it didn't occur to me until later.
For your listening pleasure I found a youtube video. Fuyuki Enokido, a professional koto player, shows us many variations on the traditional melody "Sakura", which invites people to come outside and watch the cherry blossoms bloom.
