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''Kunkunshi'' is the style of musical notation used for playing the [[Okinawa|Okinawan]] three-stringed [[sanshin]], and elsewhere in Okinawan music.

''Kunkunshi'' is the style of musical notation used for playing the [[Okinawa|Okinawan]] three-stringed [[sanshin]], and elsewhere in Okinawan music.

Developed in the early 20th century, the notation consists of columns of boxes, read from top to bottom, and right to left, just as in traditional Japanese texts. ''[[Kanji]]'' are used to denote each specific note. For example, when playing the open strings, without any fingering on the neck, the notes (from lowest to highest) are called ''ai, shi, kô'' (合・四・工). As fingering is added, the notes played on the bottom string, known as the ''miijiru'' (女絃), which plays the highest notes, include ''go, roku, shichi,'' and ''hachi'' (五・六・七・八); the middle string, or ''nakajiru'' (中絃), plays ''jô, chû, shaku'' (上・中・尺); and the top string, the ''wuujiru'' (男絃), which plays the lowest notes on the instrument, includes notes designated by the ''kanji'' ''otsu'' and ''rô'' (乙・老).

''Kunkunshi'' is believed to have been first developed by a musician by the name of Mongaku ([[1682]]-[[1753]]), or by his student Yakabi Chôki ([[1716]]-[[1775]]). However, it only became standardized and used widely beginning in the last decades of the 19th century, or in the early 20th century.

Most notes are of the same length as one another, one note per box, one note played after one another at a constant tempo (the speed of that tempo depends on the song). Often, a note will be played quickly and softly between two "standard" notes; these are called ''kubanchi'' and are denoted with a ''kanji'' written smaller, and on the line between boxes. Notes are typically always played in a downstroke manner; upstrokes are called ''kaki utu'' and are denoted by a 90-degree angle drawn to the top right of the ''kanji''. Another common technique, which is a key component of the sanshin's distinctive sound, is called ''uchi utu''; the left hand strikes the appropriate point for the fingering of that note, but the right hand does not play it. Slides (''uchi urushi'') and notes played together (''chiri bichi'') are uncommon, but when they occur, are denoted by a straight vertical line connecting the two notes, either to the left for slides, or on the right for ''chiri bichi''.

 

 

Most notes are of the same length as one another, one note per box, one note played after one another at a constant tempo (the speed of that tempo depends on the song). Often, a note will be played quickly and softly between two "standard" notes; these are called ''kubanchi'' and are denoted with a ''kanji'' written smaller, and on the line between boxes. Notes are typically always played in a downstroke manner; upstrokes are called ''kaki utu'' and are denoted by a 90-degree angle drawn to the top right of the ''kanji''. Another common technique, which is a key component of the sanshin's distinctive sound, is the hammer-on, called ''uchi utu'' in Okinawan; the left hand strikes the appropriate point for the fingering of that note, but the right hand does not play it. Slides (''uchi urushi'') and notes played together (''chiri bichi'') are uncommon, but when they occur, are denoted by a straight vertical line connecting the two notes, either to the left for slides, or on the right for ''chiri bichi''.

The Nomura-ryû school of classical ''uta-sanshin'' (song and sanshin) uses a system of notation for vocal pitches as well, but outside of Nomura-ryû, vocal notation is not particularly common.

The Nomura-ryû school of classical ''uta-sanshin'' (song and sanshin) uses a system of notation for vocal pitches as well, but outside of Nomura-ryû, vocal notation is not particularly common.