Asian Music Japanese Traditional Music Contents Shakuhachi Hyshigi

Asian Music

Japanese Traditional Music

Contents • Shakuhachi • Hyōshigi • Taiko • Koto • Shamisen

Shakuhachi Honkyoku, the "original music" of the shakuhachi, represents one of the major group of traditional Japanese music. The shakuhachi is an end-blown bamboo flute measured about 55 centimeters in length. There are four holes in front and one in the back. The pitch is controlled by placing one's fingers completely or partly on the holes. The origins of the shakuhachi are uncertain, but historians say a prototype existed in Japan around the fourteenth century. According to one theory, origin of the family of end blown flutes of which shakuhachi is a part, has been traced back as far as ancient Egypt and is presumed to have migrated through India and China before entering Japan in the later half of the Seventh Century.

Hyōshigi The hyōshigi is a simple Japanese musical instrument, consisting of two pieces of hardwood or bamboo that are connected by a thin fancy rope. The clappers are played together or on the floor to create a cracking sound. Sometimes they are smacked slowly at first, then faster and faster. Hyoshigi are used in traditional Japanese theaters. It can be used to attract the attention of the audience by director for theater.

Taiko( big drum) Taiko is an ancient Japanese form of percussion using large drums. The drums range in size from roughly a snare drum to drums as large as a car. The most common drum size in taiko is the "chu-daiko" which is the size of a wine barrel. During the 1900's, Taiko drumming became a musical art form that involved a music ensemble and tightly choreographed (dance) movements. The taiko existed and was used in the ancient Japan over 2000 years ago. According to researches, ancient people in the Jyomon era already used drums as a communication tool or an instrument for religious ceremony. By the fact that taiko they use today look like those in China and Korea, the ancient taiko was probably introduced to Japan from the Asian Continent as far as India. Chu-daiko Taiko

Koto The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument. Another traditional instrument is the zither-like koto, developed from an instrument that came from China during the Nara period (710 -794). The koto has 13 strings on a long, rectangular body made of paulownia wood. Below the strings are movable bridges to adjust the scale. The koto is played with small picks on the right hand. The first known version had five strings, which eventually increased to seven strings. (It had twelve strings when it was introduced to Japan in the early Nara Period (710– 784) and increased to thirteen strings). This particular instrument is known throughout Asia but in different forms: in Japanese koto, which is a relative to the Chinese zheng, the Korean gayageum, and the Vietnamese dan tranh.

Shamisen The shamisen is a lute-like stringed instrument that was adapted in the middle of the sixteenth century from a similar instrument used in the tropical Ryukyu islands. The shamisen has a long fingerboard of about 1 meter attached to a box-like body and has three strings. The player plucks on these strings using a plectrum shaped like a ginkgo leaf it called “bachi”. The player adjusts the pitch using pegs on the head. The Japanese shamisen originated from the Chinese instrument sanxian. The sanxian was introduced through the Ryūkyū Kingdom (Okinawa) in the 16 th century, where it developed into the Okinawan, instrument Sanxian. Shamisen Plectrum

Traditional Chinese music Instrument

The Plucked String Instruments Contents Pipa Sanxian Ruan

Pipa Four-stringed lute with 30 frets and pear-shaped body. The artist holds the pipa upright and play with five small plectra attached to each finger of the right hand. The pipa history can be dated back at least 2000 years and developed from pentatonic (musical scale or mode with five notes per octave ) to full scales. This instrument has extremely wide dynamic range and remarkable significant power. The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for almost two thousand years in China. Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the pipa; in Japanese is biwa, is Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà, and in Korean is bipa

Sanxian The sanxian has a dry, somewhat percussive tone and loud volume similar to the banjo. A long necked lute with three strings without frets. In Chinese, "san" and "xian" stands for " "three" and "strings", respectively. The sound-body is made of round wooden box covered with snake skin. Traditionally the instrument is plucked with a thin, hard plectrum made from animal horn but today most players use a plastic plectrum (similar to a guitar pick) or, alternatively, their fingernails. This instrument is often used for to be connect with folk songs and local opera. A closely related musical instrument is the Japanese shamisen, which come from the Chinese sanxian. The northern sanxian is generally larger, at about 122 cm in length, while southern versions of the instrument are usually about 95 cm in length. The sanxian is most popular in the north, it used for music drama performances.

Ruan commonly referred to as "Chinese guitar", is an ancient fourstringed moon-shaped lute with long and straight neck is a Chinese fretted instrument dating back to 140 -87 B. C and various number of frets. Its four strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20 th century they have been made of steel. The modern Ruan has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string. The frets are commonly made of ivory, in recent times metal frets mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone compared to the ivory frets. Ivory Ruan

Indonesian Gamelan is traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, made up mostly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments are metallophones played by mallets as well as a set of hand played drums called kendhang which register the beat. Other instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, bowed instrument called rebab, and even vocalists called sindhen.

The Bonang Some people call the bonang "gong chimes. " The bonang are in fact related to gongs. Each kettle on the rack is basically a small tuned gong set on it so that the button is on top. These kettle gongs are suspended on cords and do not have any resonators. Bonang are played with both hands using cord wrapped beaters. The Javanese gamelan has two pairs of bonang instruments: the bonang barung and the bonang panerus. There are two of each bonang to play in the two gamelan scales. Bonang Barung: The bonang barung is the lower of the two instruments. Melodically, it is one of the more important instruments in a Javanese gamelan ensemble. In many loud pieces, it is the melodic leader playing an elaborate version of the basic melody. Bonang Panerus: The bonang panerus plays an octave higher than the bonang barung. It usually plays a fast melodic strain based on that played by the bonang barung. cord wrapped beaters Gong Bonang

Important Musical Considerations in non-Western Music Rhythm Most types of Non-Western music are founded on concepts quite different from those of the Western tradition. Non-Western music (especially African) can make greater and more creative use of rhythm than Western idioms. Dynamics: Non-Western music rarely uses dynamics as an independent concept. Changes in loudness/quietness occur by increasing/decreasing the number of performers. Harmony: In general, harmony is not as important in non-Western idioms as it is in the West. Non-Western music may have no harmony at all, or it may base its harmonies on completely different scale systems than Western music. Tone colour: Though non-Western music is primarily vocal in nature, some cultures have also developed unique independent families of instruments. Colourful percussion sounds, and unique string and wind instruments are most commonly employed. Texture: Since harmony is not an important consideration, non-Western music is often either monophonic (a single note or melody sounding alone) or heterophonic (two slightly different versions of the same melody being performed at the same time). Form: Non-Western music is more freely-structured than Western music, and most types are heavily reliant on improvisation (on-the-spot creativity). Such music is transmitted orally; thus, it is rarely—if ever-performed the same way twice.

GENERAL BACKGROUND TO WORLD MUSIC The Western world has a huge musical heritage that has evolved over many centuries; however, some Asian, Polynesian, African and Near-Eastern musical traditions have succeed for thousand of years. Whilst Japan, China, India and Indonesia have long-standing art-music traditions (in which music is performed by a select few well-trained artists), the majority of non-Western societies do not have art music ("formal concert") traditions—instead, they find music-making as a functional part of everyday life in which the society as a whole participates.

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