Koto is a Plucked String, Half-Tube Zither Musical Instrument of Japanese origin. It is the National Instrument of Japan. Having length of about 180 centimetres, it is normally made of Paulownia Wood. Most Kotos are made of 13 strings strung over movable bridges which are used for tuning the instrument. There are 17 string versions also used commonly. Strings are plucked using three fingerpicks worn on the first three fingers of the right hand.
In this video Rob Scallon takes us through the instrument. Tokiko, a Japanese maestro in Koto explains about the instrument while playing it. Her translator Keiko does a good job between Tokiko and Rob Scallon. Tokiko explains that the body of the Koto is hollow and the tuning is done by movable bridges kept at different positions. She explains that her method of tuning it is by listening to the main not of the song and accordingly the instrument is tuned.
Let us watch the video and learn more about Koto.
