What is Shinnai?

Shinnai is a style of joruri narrative singing created by Tsuruga Wakasanojo I (1716-1786) around 1760. This class of joruri works are dramatic and intense, emphasizing human feeling and passion as opposed to narration and description. Through their performance styles, Shinnai singers communicate excitedly or subtly, elegantly, dramatically, strongly, urgently, happily or sadly, passionately.

Shinnai is one of five different styles of narrative singing. Each style has its own characteristic method of vocal production. The music and lyrics of each style's repertory differ as well. Furthermore, the shamisen used to accompany the narrator/singers of each style of joruri differ in many ways, including the length and thickness of the neck of the instrument; the thickness of the strings, the bridge, and the skin covering the body of the shamisen; how taut the skin covering is; the size, thickness, and weight of the plectrum (pick); and the materials that the shamisen is made of. In other words, each genre uses a shamisen suited specifically to that style of singing.

Continue to A Brief History of Shinnai