- 17-string koto
The nihongo|17-string koto|十七絃 or 十七弦|Jūshichi-gen|extra=lit. "seventeen strings" is a traditional Japanese musical instrument, a
zither with seventeen strings. It is a variant of the koto, which traditionally has thirteen strings.The instrument is also known as "jūshichi-gensō" (十七絃箏), "seventeen-stringed koto," or "bass koto" (although kotos with a greater number of strings also exist). The "jūshichi-gen" was invented in 1921 by Michiko Miyagi, a musician who felt that the standard koto lacked the range she sought. Her seventeen-stringed creation, sometimes described as a "bass koto", has a deeper sound and requires specialized plectra (picks worn attached to the player's fingers with which the strings are plucked). Though her original "jūshichi-gen" was considerably larger than a normal koto, seventeen-stringed koto of a normal koto size are more common today; these presumably do not have as deep a sound.
Though Miyagi also invented an 80-string koto, and a short koto, these did not catch on and spread as the "jūshichi-gen" did. It is still used today in various forms of traditional music; some of its more prominent exponents include
Kazue Sawai ,Shoko Hikage , andMiya Masaoka . The members of the Japanese bandRin' are among those who use the instrument in modern popular music.References
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