ShamiZone – your virtual space for focus

Shamisen is still a very „exotic“ instrument – in the sense that almost nobody know someone who plays it. m Sinne von: kaum jemand kennt jemanden, der das spielt. That’s the main reason why most shamisen players outside of Japan don’t have a group or friends they can play together (yet).

Sooner or later you reach the point where you feel lonely or lost. Most people learn and work better when they’re not isolated and all by themselves but are surrounded by like-minded peers. 

A shared space to work on yourself focused and individually – that’s what ShamiZone aims to become.

You can use the opportunity to exchange contact infos with fellow shamisen players, find friends, or you can stay to yourself and simply enjoy knowing you’re not alone in being passionate about shamisen.

This page offers an overview over how the ShamiZone serves you, what a session usually looks like, a link to register for the sessions, and answers to some selected „frequently asked questions„.

Practice with more focus and motivation – together

You might know this feeling from other parts of your life such as the local gym class, your library’s reading room – you instantly feel more motivated to tackle something when you feel you’re not alone in whatever you’re woring on. In the ShamiZone everyone can practice by themselves, but we’re still practicing together – we’re all  “in the zone”: focused and motivated, wholesome instead of lonesome 🙂

Open focus sessions for all skill levels

The ShamiZone sessions are open to everyone. Because we’re not working on something specific together but everyone brings their own little piece of work to the sessions, every participant can choose their own tempo. It’s similar to an (assisted) open studio or a co-working space – but for shamisen 🙂

At the start and end of each session there’s room for open exchange – everyone can share but nobody has to. That’s also the time for you to ask questions and get help with specific challenges.

Inspired by similar formats to help people who work from home but are having trouble working isolated and without colleagues, I created this virtual space where we can make progress in our shamisen adventure together, among like-minded people.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can join?

Everyone can join, no matter how experienced and what style they’re playing. Because everyone focuses on working on their own challenges, there are no „competing interests“ – the challenges when it comes to learning and practicing are the same for everyone, so we can all support each other, share our experiences and learn from each other 🙂

How can I register for the sessions?

Please register via the booking portal. You will receive a booking confirmation and a reminder 24 hours and 2 hours prior to the session via email. 

Participation in all ShamiZone sessions is free. Signing up for a date is supposed to be treated as a serious commitment by you as a participant though. When you schedule a session and actively commit to practicing shamisen during that time, it will result in a more productive session for you. Your fellow shamisen friends and I are counting on you, so please show up for yourself and us or cancel the appointment in time to give someone else the chance to join. 

What makes this better than practicing by myself?

You ask yourself why you should commit to a fixed day and time to practice although it’s not a group lesson but you’re practicing individually anyways? You will notice the difference right after the first session. You simply focus and practice differently when you’re not isolated and detached from the world  but have this set and limited amount of time to do your best and make progress on a specific problem. Apart from organizing and leading the practice sessions I share valuable advice on practice topics (e.g. how to practice efficiently, or how to tackle hurdles and overcome plateaus).

It is my hope that the ShamiZone will help many of you to practice and learn better, have more fun playing and to feel less alone playing shamisen and making music!

How much time should I plan for a session?

The sessions are scheduled to be 60 or 45 minutes in total. A 60-minute session will contain a 45 minute focus section. A 45-minute session contains a 30 minuten focus block. You can, of course take as many breaks as you need in the focus block.

Please plan for 5-10 minutes of time before the session to get your instrument ready, lay out your sheet music and think about what you want to work on during the upcoming session. I usually jot that down in my practice journal, but some scrap paper will do the job just fine!