Introduction to Japanese Music - Week 8
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Transcript of Introduction to Japanese Music - Week 8
Origin of the Instrument
• From Asia, through China, through Ryukyu
• San-shin (three-strings)
• Entered Japan c.1562
The Instrument
• Three strings (silk)
• Skin-covered body
• Biwa plectrum (bachi)
• Modified to have sawari
Styles of Music
• Three major fields:
• Jiuta - singing style, or uta-mono
• Katari-mono - narrative music
• Min’yo - folk music accompaniment
Jiuta
• Songs accompanied by shamisen
• Used by koto players, merging sokyoku and jiuta
• Basis of sankyoku (trio) and tegoto-mono
Kumiuta
• Oldest style of shamisen music
• ‘Classical’ pieces used within the Tōdō guild
• Shamisen and vocal, with short texts strung together
Nagauta
• Meaning ‘long song’ (as opposed to kumiuta, ‘short song’)
• The primary musical style of kabuki theatre
• More narrative than kumiuta, sometimes adapted from No texts
Hauta and Kouta
• ‘Occasional song’ – anything outside of kumiutaand nagauta
• Popular songs, geisha songs, theatre songs, re-appropriated by Tōdō musicians
• Usually short, lyric pieces
• Kouta developed from hauta – renditions of older popular songs
Tegoto-mono
• Jiuta compositions with a focus on lengthy tegoto, or instrumental interludes
• A synthesis of koto and shamisen composition
Joruri
• A narrative genre prior to the Edo period
• Accomapnied by shamisen from late 16thC
• Became different schools, known as bushi
• Gidayu-bushi, bungo-bushi…
Performance practice
• Shamisen melodies follow vocal melodies
• Added rhythmic emphasis
• Vocal line is often slightly ahead of the shamisen
Tunings
• Three standard tunings used:
• Honchosi - the standard mood
• Niagari - brighter mood
• Sansagari - melancholic mood
• Uwajoshi, or ‘high tuning’