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Japanese Music

Traditional Japanese music has a slow, meditative pace and is performed in a highly ritualized manner. Instruments include taiko drums, koto and shamisen zithers, and shakuhachi flutes. Chinese music was influenced by Confucianism and aimed to calm passions. Instruments include erhu fiddles, pipa lutes, sheng mouth organs, and zheng zithers. Korean music includes energetic folk songs and court music traditions. Instruments are the kayagum and geomungo zithers, haegum fiddle, piri bamboo flute, and changgo hourglass drum.

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346 views50 pages

Japanese Music

Traditional Japanese music has a slow, meditative pace and is performed in a highly ritualized manner. Instruments include taiko drums, koto and shamisen zithers, and shakuhachi flutes. Chinese music was influenced by Confucianism and aimed to calm passions. Instruments include erhu fiddles, pipa lutes, sheng mouth organs, and zheng zithers. Korean music includes energetic folk songs and court music traditions. Instruments are the kayagum and geomungo zithers, haegum fiddle, piri bamboo flute, and changgo hourglass drum.

Uploaded by

Mica Dump
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Japanese Music

Instrumental music of Japan

Traditional Japanese music is basically


meditative in character. Its performance is
highly ritualized, as much in the music
itself, as in the composure of the musicians
when performing it. Japanese chamber and
solo music have a slow meditative pace.
The performance of Japanese music
has traditionally been of a spiritual
character, similarly to martial arts and
other forms of art such as the tea
ceremony and calligraphy. It is usually
about religious festivals, work, dance,
love, and regional songs.
Percussion Instruments (Membranophone):

1. Odaiko- (big drum).


The physical energy and
sheer excitement of an
Odaiko performance is
an integral part of many
Japanese matsuri
(festivals).
2. Tsuzumi (hourglass-shape) –
There are two varieties, the
smaller kotsuzumi and the larger
otsuzumi. They are used in both
noh and kabuki performances.
The kotsuzumi is held on the right
shoulder and the player alters the
tone by squeezing the laces. The
otsuzumi is placed on the left thigh.
Like all other traditional arts in
Japan, there are several
3. Tsuridaiko –
a large hanging
barrel drum
4. Taiko - is a Japanese drum
that comes in various sizes
and is used to play a variety of
musical genres. It has become
particularly popular in recent
years as the central instrument
of percussion ensembles
whose repertory is based on a
variety of folk and festival
music of the past.
String Instruments
(Chordophone)
1. Koto - is a 13-string
zither, about two meters long
and made of Paulownia
wood. It is plucked using
picks on the thumb and first
two fingers of the right hand,
while the left hand can be
used to modify pitch and
tone. Koto is used in an
ensemble in gagaku or as a
solo instrument.
2. Shamisen- is a plucked stringed
instrument. Its construction
follows a model similar to that of a
guitar or a banjo, employing a
neck, and strings stretched
across a resonating body. The
neck of the shamisen is fretless,
and is slimmer than that of a
guitar or a banjo.
3. Biwa - is a Japanese short-
necked fretted lute, often
used in narrative
storytelling. The biwa is the
chosen instrument of
Benten, the goddess of
music, eloquence, poetry,
and education in Japanese
Shinto.
Wind Instruments (Aerophone)

1. Shakuhachi- the most


famous flute made from
bamboo. It has 4 or 5 finger
holes on the front face and a
thumbhole on the rear face.
As with other instruments
above, it was imported from China
for gagaku.
2. Nokan - a parallel,
bamboo flute (fue) is
the only melodic
instrument used in noh.
The melody of the flute
has no specific pitch
relationship with the
melody of the chanting.
is a double
3. Hichiriki -
reed Japanese fue (flute)
used as one of two main
melodic instruments in
Japanese gagaku music,
the other being the
ryūteki.
4. Sho - is a
Japanese free
reed musical
instrument that
was introduced
from China during
the Nara period.
5. Shinobue – also
called takebue in the
context of Japanese
traditional arts) is a
Japanese transverse
flute or fue that has a
high-pitched sound.
6. Ryūteki - literally
"dragon flute" is a
Japanese
transverse fue
made of bamboo.
It is used in
gagaku.
Lesson 2: Chinese
Music
For several thousand years Chinese culture
was dominated by the teachings of the
philosopher Confucius, he conceived music in
the highest sense as a means of calming the
passion of dispelling of unrest and lust, rather
than as a form of amusement.
Traditionally the Chinese have believed that sound
influences the harmony of the universe. Significantly,
one of the most important duties of the first emperor
of each new dynasty was to search out and establish
that dynasty’s through standard of pitch. A result of
this philosophical orientation was that the Chinese
theoretically opposed music performed solely for
entertainment.
Chinese Musical Instruments

1. Yueqin - Moon-
shaped lute with
shorter neck and four
strings, played with a
spectrum, used for
accompanying local
operas.
2. Pipa - Four-stringed lute
with 30 frets and a pear-
shaped body. This
instrument has an
extremely wide dynamic
rangeand remarkable
expressive power.
3. Erhu - Two-stringed
fiddle and one of the most
popular Chinese
instruments. It is used as
a solo instrument as well
as in small ensembles or
large orchestra, and by
various ethnic groups.
4. Yunluo - Literally "cloud gongs"
or "cloud of gongs", the yunluo is
a set of ten small tuned gongs
mounted in a wooden frame.The
yunluo's gongs are generally of
equal diameter but different
Thicknesses. The thicker gongs
produce a higher pitch.
5. Sheng - Sheng, or Chinese mouth organ, looks
like a set of panpipes, with 12 to 36 bamboo pipes.
Each pipe is of different length with a brass reed at
the bottom and a hole that must be blocked in order
for the note to sound. This makes it possible to
sound several notes simultaneously, so chords and
melody can be performed at thesame time. Sheng is
one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments.
6. Dizi - Dizi is the traditional Chinese flute.
It can have a membrane over an extra hole
to give the characteristic rattle effect. The
player plays the Dizi by blowing across the
mouthpiece and produces the different
notes by stopping the six holes found in the
rod.
7. Zheng - An ancient Chinese instrument
that has an arched surface and an
elongated-trapezoid with 13 to 21 strings
stretched over individual bridges. Its
playing range spans three to four octaves.
8. Pengling
These are two small bells made of high-tin bronze,
without internal clappers, and hemispheric or
bottomless gourd-like in shape. The instrument has a
delicate, clarion and melodious tone. It is a coloring
rhythmic instrument, either in ensembles or in theater
music, bringing an effect of peaceful dreams.
Lesson 3: Korean
Music
Korea's folk music tradition, with its generous use
of bright rhythms and melodies, offers a more
energetic and capricious contrast to the nation's
collection of classical music works. Folk music
represents the soul and sound of traditional Korean
villages with an eclectic array of music forms
including numerous folk songs, various forms of
instrumental pieces, pansori, and shaman ritual
music.
Chong-ak means literally "right (or correct) music",
and its tradition includes both instrumental and vocal
music, which were cultivated mainly by the upper-
class literati of the Joseon society. Chong-ak also
refers to ensemble music for men of high social
status outside of the court. In this category, three
important terms are a-ak, tang-ak, and hyang-ak.
Sog-ak or minsogak is a category of Korean music
traditionally associated with the lower classes or for the
general public and are vibrant and energetic. It includes
genres such as pansori and minyo. Pansori is a kind of
music presented to audiences by skilled vocal singers and
drummers. But even the unskilled could sing these songs.
They sang when they worked in the rice paddy or fields,
sang when they went off their lover and sang when their life
was troubled and weighing them down.
Instrumental music of Korea
Korean music especially in South Korea has a rich vocal
tradition, and diverse instruments and music forms. Folk
songs, religious works, court music, and shaman rituals all
express the soul of a nation whose history is filled with
colorful and fascinating tales. Traditional Korean music
represents a world of captivating rhythms and melodies
whose sounds draw listeners in like a breath. Koreans sang
songs when they could not hold their sadness in.
1. Kayagum (gayageum) - is a traditional
Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12
strings, although more recently variants
have been constructed with 21 or more
numbers of strings. It is probably the best-
known traditional Korean musical
instrumen
2. Geomungo - Six-string plucked zither is a
traditional Korean stringed musical instrument of the
zither family of instruments with both bridges and
frets. Scholars believe that the name refers to
Goguryeo and translates to "Goguryeo zither" or that
it refers to the colour and translates to "black crane
zither".
3. Haegum (two-string vertical fiddle) – It
has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden
soundbox, two silk strings, and is held
vertically on the knee of the performer and
played with a bow.
4. Wind Instruments
Piri - used in both the folk and classical
(court) music of Korea. It is made of
bamboo. Its large reed and cylindrical bore
gives it a sound mellower than that of many
other types of oboe.
Percussion Instrument
Changgo - is the most widely used drum used
in the traditional music of Korea. It is available
in most kinds, and consists of an hourglass-
shaped body with two heads made from animal
skin. The two heads produce sounds of
different pitch and timbre, which when played
together are believed to represent the harmony
of man and woman.

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