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Free online shamisen tuner
A tuner built for the shamisen’s three relative tunings, right in your browser.
The Jam Jam shamisen tuner listens through your microphone and tells you, in real time, which note is sounding and how far sharp or flat you are, across the three strings. Shamisen tuning is relative rather than fixed to a set pitch, so Jam Jam offers the three classic patterns built from the same reference: Honchōshi, Niagari, and Sansagari. In-tune zone at ±5 cents, cents to the unit, frequency to a tenth of a hertz.
How to tune a shamisen
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Allow the microphone
Open the tuner, pick Shamisen and grant mic access: the audio is analysed on your device, nothing is uploaded.
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Set the first string as your reference
Pick Honchōshi, Niagari or Sansagari, then tune the first string to the target shown.
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Tune the other two strings from it
The tuner shows each string’s target for the chosen pattern; turn the pegs until each needle centres and turns green.
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Switch pattern between pieces
Changing repertoire often means changing tuning: switch preset and retune rather than assuming the previous pattern still holds.
A tuner that knows the three patterns
Honchōshi, Niagari and Sansagari, by name
Three presets, not one generic 3-string layout: pick the pattern your piece actually calls for.
Built for a relative instrument
Each preset is defined from the same first string, matching how shamisen players actually tune by ear.
Reference note in a shamisen voice
Every string plays its target note with a real shamisen timbre, useful to check a string by ear.
Auto, manual or chromatic
It locks the nearest string by itself; one tap freezes a string, another returns to auto. Chromatic mode covers anything outside the three presets.
Why this shamisen tuner
- Three named presets: Honchōshi, Niagari, Sansagari
- ±5 cents to be in tune, cents to the unit and hertz to a tenth
- 100% free, in your browser, no sign-up and no ads
- Everything is computed on your side: nothing is uploaded
A single-purpose tuner site stops the moment you are in tune. Here the tuner is one tab among others in the Jam Jam notebook: import a song, transpose it, export it to PDF. Offline in the mobile app.
Open the tuner →More Jam Jam tools
Shamisen tuner FAQ
Is this shamisen tuner free?
Completely: no account, no ads, nothing to install. It all runs in your browser, and the microphone audio is analysed on the spot. It is never sent to a server.
What is the difference between the three tunings?
They move the second and third strings relative to the first: Honchōshi is the base pattern, Niagari raises the second string, and Sansagari lowers the third. Which one you need depends on the piece.
Is shamisen tuning fixed to a concert pitch?
No: traditionally it is relative, set from the first string by ear. Jam Jam’s three presets give you a consistent reference so the intervals between strings stay correct.