Ichigenkin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ichigenkin (一絃琴「いちげんきん」, literally "one-string zither") is a Japanese monochord (single string) zither. Its silk string is plucked with a pointed tubular plectrum placed on the index finger of the right hand while a tubular ivory device similar to a guitar slide placed over the middle finger of the left hand presses the string against the hardwood soundboard to vary the pitch. As with the Chinese guqin, from which it was likely originally adapted, the ichigenkin has no frets, so sliding tones are an important part of the technique of the instrument.

Although the ichigenkin has its own solo repertoire, it is also used to accompany traditional singing. The instrument was once popular among samurai, literati, and priests, but today players of the instrument are very rare. The Canadian multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch, perhaps the only non-Japanese ichigenkin performer, has composed and recorded new works for the instrument.