. Noh
. Kabuki
Buddhist chanting (Shomyo)
Basically, shomyo was the religious music in the Japanese culture. It was introduced to Japan by Chinese scholars, who brought Buddhism to the empire. Considering the fact that the number of Buddhists increased greatly and became the majority in the country, also all the Buddhist readings and rituals are done with music, shomyo was very common in Japan. Another feature of shomyo is that because it is religious, it was seen both in ordinary people’s lives and in the Japanese court, so it was a type of music which regarded the whole Japanese nation.
Shomyo was played in the Yo scale.
Orchestral Court Music (Gagaku)
Heian period, which was more peace-lasting when compared to other political eras on Japan, provided the environment for the Japanese elite people to be more interested in music rather than political events. This situation allowed the development of gagaku, the type of music performed in the Japanese court. It was only to be played along with dance or pantomime, which made it even more elegant.
As the importance of gagaku became greater, certain initiatives were taken in order to organize the performance of gagaku. This was majorly done by an Imperial department in the palace, the gagaku department, whose task was to train musicians and separate gagaku even more than other traditional music types.
Like shomyo, gagaku was also played in Yo scale.
Japanese Theatre
Music was an essential part of Japanese theatre, because every play would be presented with music. There are two main parts of traditional Japanese theatre, which are noh, indigenous Japanese theatre, and kabuki.
Noh: It is the traditional Japanese theatre, a rather simpler form of kabuki. An orchestra of flutes, drums, and vocals would accompany an act of noh.
Kabuki: Kabuki is a more widely-known form of Japanese theatre. Unlike noh, kabuki’s orchestra is much larger than a noh’s, using similar instruments.
Musical Groups
Biwa Hoshi: This was a guild-like organization spread all across Japan. Its name comes from biwa, a form of flute used in traditional Japanese music. This guild’s job was to accompany stories instead of theatre, so it is different that kabuki or noh.
Moso: Moso were small groups of blind monk travelers. They played biwa in small settlements, and it was believed that moso would bring luck and fortune to the settlements which they played in. So, moso had an important role of arranging social relationships in Japan.
Goze: Goze were blind women, who traveled across Japan to play koto and shamisen.
Traditional Japanese Music Theory
The Japanese music theory was wholly derived from Chinese music theory. Just like Chinese, Japanese music is also in pentatonic scale. However, as a unique property for Japanese and Chinese pentatonic scales, the notes in the scale get their names from the nature.
Wood Fire Earth Metal Water
The reason for interchanging the positions of 1st and 3rd notes is that unlike western pentatonic scales which are named based on their 1st note in the scale, Japanese pentatonic scale is named based on its 3rd note.
Yo Scale
The Yo scale is a common form of pentatonic scale in the Japanese traditional music. It is used mostly in shomyo and kabuki. The notes for the Yo scale are as follows:
Instruments
Traditional Japanese music uses a large variety of instruments.
- Biwa
- Okawa
- Shakuhachi
- Shamisen
- Shinobue
- Suikinkutsu
- Tsuzumi
Here are brief descriptions for the instruments used in Japanese traditional music.
Biwa: a short lute Shamisen: string instrument, very widely used
Ryuteki: a small flute Hichiriki: similar to oboe, double reeded
Horagai: horn, made of sea shell Kokyu: bowed string, only example of the kind
Taiko: drums, played in groups
