Chapter 11: Introduction to the Region

2. Chapter 11: Introduction to the Region • Shakuhachi - the traditional vertical bamboo flute of Japan • The music of the shakuhachi is often compared to the sound of a breeze blowing through a bamboo forest • Ma – Japanese aesthetic principle

3. Chapter 11: Introduction to the Region • Japan consists of four main islands—Honshu (the mainland), Kyushu, Hokkaido, and Shikoku—and about 3000 smaller islands • Almost the entire population is ethnically homogenous • The language is Japanese, traditionally written in pictographic characters adapted from Chinese

4. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Common elements that are distinctively Japanese and help distinguish their arts from those of China or Korea include the following: • Scales with Semitones • Slow Tempos • Sense of Space • Prominent Classical Solo Repertories

5. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Kagura—Shinto Music • rituals and music that are a part of the Shinto religion • Satokagura - festival performances • shishi-mai (lion dance) – popular satokagura dance

6. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Kagura—Shinto Music • Hayashi - a small folk ensemble that accompanies the dances • It may include: • take-bue - transverse flutes • Taiko - small, shallow drums • o-daiko - a very large barrel drum with riveted heads • small cymbals or gongs

7. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Kagura—Shinto Music • taiko drumming – an imitation of instrumentation and playing style of the group known as Kodo • Mikagura - ancient music for imperial court rituals

8. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Shomyo—Buddhist Chants • Shomyo – Japanese Zen Buddhist chant • Densho - a giant cylindrical bell • The music is performed responsorially—that is, a lead singer intones a part and is answered by the rest of the monks

9. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Modes in Japanese Music • Choshi - Japanese modes, whichare modeled on Chinese modes lacking semitones

10. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Modes in Japanese Music • pentatonic modes the Japanese eventually adopted are the: • ryo 1 2 3 –5 6 – scale and the • ritsu 1 2– 4 5 6 – • Another pentatonic mode, yo, is associated with folk music rather than the classical choshi

11. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Modes in Japanese Music • A Schematic Diagram of Various Japanese Scales is shown below:

12. Chapter 11: Elements of Japanese Music • Modes in Japanese Music • In mode – has a distinctive scale that includes two semitones balanced by larger intervals • Ryukyu - this distinctive mode (from Okinawa) also includes semitones, and resembles some modes found in Southeast Asia

13. Chapter 11: Gagaku – Ancient Court Orchestral Music • Gagaku - the ancient orchestral court music of Japan • the repertory of Chinese and Korean melodies expanded into two basic genres: • Togaku - music of the left or old melodies • a repertory that includes Chinese and Indian influences • Komagaku - music of the right • a repertory that includes Korean, Manchurian, and indigenous melodies. • Bugaku - the graceful and controlled dances that sometimes accompany gagaku

14. Chapter 11: Gagaku – Ancient Court Orchestral Music • A gagaku piece, which may last from five to twenty or more minutes, is generally performed in three large sections: • Jo – introduction • Ha – exposition • Kyu - ending

15. Chapter 11: Instruments of the Gagaku Orchestra • Sho • The sho (left) is a collection of seventeen single-reed pipes connected to an air chamber. • Biwa • The biwa is a four-string, fretted, pear-shaped lute. • Kakko • The player of the kakko, a small double-headed cylindrical drum, is the conductor of the gagaku orchestra. • Tsuri-daiko • The tsuri-daiko is a large vertically suspended bass drum with an elaborately painted drum head. • Shoko • The shoko is a small metal disc hung vertically from a stand.

16. Chapter 11: Gagaku – Ancient Court Orchestral Music • A Gagaku Performance • Etenraku, Nokorigaku Sunben • one of the oldest and best known pieces in the gagaku repertory • Netori - short prelude, which sometimes precedes a gagaku performance

17. Chapter 11: Gagaku – Ancient Court Orchestral Music • A Gagaku Performance • The following graphic shows the texture of Etenraku in a diagram of the first half of section A

18. Chapter 11: Japanese Instrumental Music • Music for the Shamisen • Shamisen - a fretless long-necked lute, similar to the Chinese sanxian • Katarimono - narrative songs • Bunraku - puppet theater • Gidayu – narrator • utaimono or jiuta - lyrical songs • Sankyoku - a chamber ensemble made up of shamisen, koto, and shakuhachi

19. Chapter 11: Japanese Instrumental Music • Music for the Shakuhachi • Shakuhachi - a vertical bamboo flute • Honkyoku - a classical repertory for the shakuhachi • Shinkyoku - new compositions for theshakuhachi

20. Chapter 11: Japanese Instrumental Music • Music for the Koto • Koto – curved board zither • Kumiuta – classical songs accompanied by koto • Dan – sections in Japanese music, poetry

21. Chapter 11: Japanese Instrumental Music • A Koto Performance • Yatsuhashi Kengyo’s Rokudan no shirabe is one of the most famous classical pieces for the koto • Rokudan means “six dan,” and each dan is a variation of the first • Except for the four-beat introduction, each dan has exactly twenty-six metrical units of four beats, divided evenly into two halves

22. Chapter 11: Japanese Instrumental Music • A Koto Performance • The following graphic shows a particular four-beat segment as it appears in each dan

23. Chapter 11: Music of the Japanese Theater • Noh Classical Theatre • highly refined, stylized, and reserved • noh’s roots lie in folk dramas full of acrobatics, pantomime, and comic interludes • Hayashi - musical ensemble that accompanies noh • Kakegoe - shouts and exclamations from the drummers • Kotoba – free recitative in a heightened speech-song • Fushi - song melodies

24. Chapter 11: Music of the Japanese Theater • Kabuki Classical Theatre • use of not one but up to four different ensembles, each of which performs largely independently of the others • Debayashi • Shitakata • Gidayu • Geza

25. Chapter 11: Popular Music • When Japan opened its borders in 1868, it embraced cultural influences from Europe and America much as it had Chinese influences more than a thousand years before. • Western musicians brought European harmony and diatonic melodies, and a young generation of Japanese composers began to apply these innovations to Japanese melodies.