17-string Koto

17-string Koto

. The 17-string koto (十七絃 or 十七弦, Jūshichi-gen?, 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 Michio Miyagi, a musician who felt that the standard koto lacked the range he sought. His 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 his 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.