The Music of Japan

General Characteristics of Japanese Traditional Music

    • The Shakuhachi

    • The Kouta (short song) and Shamisen (lute)

  • Folk Song

Pitch/Scales

  • Diversity in scale systems, but most based on Pythagorian scales.

  • Exact pitch intervals between notes differs according to genre, the pieces of music itself, or the performer.

  • No single set of pitches is used by all musicians.

  • Two pentatonic (5 tone) scales - the in and yo

  • Melodies tend to emphasize the interval of a fourth (do-fa)

Timbre - Unpitched sounds commonly heard in instrumentals melodies

    • Breath sounds of the shakuhachi bamboo flute

    • Hard twang of the shamisen lute

Melody/Harmony

    • Melodies of folk songs differ greatly from the shakuhachi music

    • Often short bits of melody repeated and varied

    • Complete repetition of phrases at beginning and end commonly heard

    • Changes in timbre more significant that changes in pitch or tempo in instrumental music

    • Vocal music may include ornamentation

    • Heterophonic texture - both or all parts basically play the same melody, but in slightly different versions.

Rhythm

    • Flexible pulse, beatless or free rhythm (not tied to a steady beat)

    • Powerful expression of feelings

    • When beat is present it is in groups of 2, 4, or 8.

    • Wide variety of tempos from very slow to very fast.

    • Often music is associated with theater with the tempo accelerating as excitement and drama build up.

Musical Form - Most common - jo-ha-kyû (tripartite structure)

    • Based on rhythmic changes rather than melody

    • Jo - introduction or slow beginning section

    • Ha - "breaking apart" where tempo builds

    • Kyû - "rushing" tempo reaches peak then slows to the end.

Great PBS Resource for Japanese Cultural History

The Shakuhachi - The Bamboo Flute

    • Shaku (30 centimeters) and hachi (54 centimeters)

    • Versatility in pitch and tone production possible by changing the angle of the lips to the mouthpiece

    • Produces microtonal pitches

        • Meri - when pitch lowered

        • Kari - when pitch raised

    • Solo shakuhachi flourished during the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) with the Shogun living in Tokyo

    • Priests called komusô (emptiness monks) traveled the countryside spreading Zen Buddhism

    • Not called a musical instrument - but a hôki (spiritual tool)

    • The spiritual approach to playing the shakuhachi is called suizen (blowing Zen)

    • Enlightenment in a single note - ichôon jôbutsu

    • Spiritual and meditative

    • Free rhythm - no regular beat

    • Ma (space or interval) linked to the rhythm and timing of the piece (the pauses and rests and the relationship between sound and silence)

    • Emphasis on silence conforms with Zen ideas concerning the importance of emptiness and space

    • "Good ma" and "bad ma" refer to the quality of the sounds and silences and their proportion to one another.

    • Natural breathing pattern is crucial with intake and release of breath

    • Dynamics achieved by shading tones or exploding the air

Shaku Design - Shakuhachi Index

Additional Web Resources on the Shakuhachi

The Koto - Popular Traditional Japanese Instrument

    • The thirteen strings of the koto are stretched along a soundboard of nearly two meters

    • Soundboard made of hollowed-out paulownia timber

    • Strings were traditionally made of silk, nowadays synthetic.

    • Tuned for different songs by movable bridges of ivory or plastic.

    • Play the virtual koto at Virtual O-Koto - http://www.genkienglish.net/genkijapan/koto.htm. Listen to the tuning (requires Shockwave plugin)

Websites

The Kouta (short song) and the Shamisen (lute)

Folk Songs

    • Farming class or poorer merchants in cities

    • Called minyô

    • Originally accompanied many daily activities to relieve boredom

    • Provided a steady beat

    • Associated with simpler times, romanticizing rural life for city dwellers

    • Minyô - currently one of the most popular forms of music in Japan today.

Kouta - Short Song

  • Song form - Short, 1-3 minute song evoking images and allusions

  • Earliest participation of women in music

  • Linked to the geisha of the city of Edo (now Tokyo)

  • Edo - the seat of government where the Shogun held state.

  • Welcome to Edo - http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu/

  • Edo History - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2128.html

  • Iemoto guild system devoted to different forms of music, dance, flower arranging, the tea cermoney, etc.

  • Guilds transmit knowledge and control quality by setting standards for teachers and students

  • Guilds helped maintain the artistic level in traditional Japanese music.

Shamisen

    • 3-string long-necked lute

    • Used to convey outpouring of emotion and drama

    • Considered excellent instrument for the theater

        • Bunraku puppet theater

        • Kabuki - Japanese Traditional Theater

    • Used to accompany folksongs

    • Body is made of a wooden box roughly square in shape covered on both sides with skin or plastic

    • Long piece of wood forms unfretted neck that is inserted in the box

    • Pegs hold the strings which are of different thickness

    • Sometimes use plectrum to pluck the string

    • In Kouta, use bare fingers or fingernails for lighter, less percussive sound.

    • A special buzz or hum called sawari (touch) is added to the instrument and provides an unpitched sound

  • Lowest string resonates against a special cavity at the top of the instrument that sets noise in motion as other strings contribute sympathetic vibrations.

Enka

Taiko Drumming

    • Post WWII era

    • Drums played in Shinto and Buddhist festivals

    • Emphasize samurai values: discipline, hard physical and mental training, group coordination, and perfectionism

    • Taiko means drum and stands for all kinds, sizes, styles of drums

  • Osaka World Exposition in 1970 drew large audiences