GEOGRAPHICAL BACKROUND

Japan is an island nation in East Asia and it is located in the pacific ocean.
It is a stratovolcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands.
Approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) through the western North Pacific
Ocean. The national capital, Tokyo (Tky), in east-central Honshu, is
one of the worlds most populous cities.

Music Of Japan

Japanese music was influenced by the court music of China

Based on five tone scale or ( Pentatonic scale)
Other country like, india and indonesia contributed to the development of
Japanese music style.

2 ANCIENT FOUNDATION OF JAPANESE MUSIC

1.Buddhist Chant

2. Japanese Music Modes

a. Yosen(Hard Mode)
b. Insen (Soft Mode)

BUDHIST CHANT

1.Buddhist Chant
Chanting a mantra in Buddhism is at the very core of ones daily
practice. In Japan, many people recite okyo (sacred texts) or repeat
mantras everyday in front of the butsudan (Buddhist altar).

JAPANESE MUSIC MODES

2. Japanese Music Modes

A.Yosen ( Hard Mode)

The Yosen scale does not contain neither a Major or Minor third, . This
scale be very useful when playing suspended chord or any chord that does
not have a third. It can be great for improvising ethnic or modal music.in C
Yosen uses seven notes per octave. Because of this same reason it is a
member of the so called Heptatonic -scales that have Seven-note (or
Seven-tone). On the piano keyboard, it is made up of one black keys: Bb and
five white keys: C, D, F, G, and A.
B.Insen( Soft Mode)
Insen (or In Sen) is a tuning scale adapted from shamisen music by
Yatsuhashi Kengy for tuning of the koto. It only differs from the hirajoshi
scale by one note.

In D mode it consists of: D-E-G-A-C so it has the same notes as the

Phrygian chord .

Other scales related to koto instrument include the Hirajoshi, Iwato and
Kumoi-choshi scales.

Gagaku (Court Orchestra Music)

Two Types of GAGAKU :

A.Kangen
B.Bugako

GAGAKU
Gagaku, ancient court music of Japan. The name is a Japanese pronunciation
of the Chinese characters for elegant music (yayue). Most gagaku music is of
foreign origin, imported largely from China and Korea as early as the 6th
century and established as a court tradition by the 8th century.

Literally means: ( Elegant and refined music)

Ga :( Refined) gaku: ( Music)

Gagaku Wind Instruments

Gagaku String Instruments
Gagaku Percussion Instruments
 KANGEN

An instrumental music consisting of an ensamble including the hichiriki, ryuteki, sho,

gakusou, gakubiwa, and various percussion instrument.

INSTRUMENTS IN KANGEN

One of the sacred instrument, and it is often played at shinto weddings in Japan( Sound
Often as haunting)

HICHIRIKI

Used in emperial courtmusic,

and in dance ( Gagaku) it was introduced from china and ancient time.

RYUTEKI
Short necked fratted lute,often used in narrative story telling.

GAKUBIWA

Consist of 17 slender bamboo pipes,

the instrument is said to imitate the call of
(PHOENIX)

SHO

BUGAKU

Bugaku, repertoire of dances of the Japanese Imperial court, derived from traditional
dance forms imported from China, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia. The dances
comprise two basic forms: sah no mai (dances of the left), accompanied by tgaku
(music derived mainly from Chinese forms); and uh samai no mai (dances of the
right), accompanied primarily by komagaku (music introduced from Korea). The two
forms are also differentiated by the colour of the dancers richly embroidered costumes;
sah no mai costumes tend to be red, and uh no mai costumes tend to be blue or
green.

Bugaku are of four genres: civil dances (also called even, or level, dances), warrior
dances, running dances, and dances for children. All bugaku consist of highly
conventionalized movements cued by the beat of a drum. Positions of arms, hands, and
feet are highly stylized, and overall choreography consists of simple geometric patterns.
An important element is the masks worn by the dancers . Bugaku masks sometimes
have movable parts and have attenuated features intended to convey the characters of
the fictional persons whom they represent. The masks called the Twelve Deities
Carved by Buddhist sculptors, are among the oldest and best-known

2 Categories of Gagaku

1.Komagaku
is a form of Gagaku (traditional Japanese court music) form arranged in the Heian
period mainly based on Balhae. Komagaku uses no plucked string instruments, only
winds and percussion. (Komagaku included Manchurian, Korean and many of the
Japanese pieces).

2.Togaku
is the Japanese pronunciation of an early style of music and dance from the Tang
Dynasty in China. (Togaku consisted of pieces of Chinese and Indian origin

2 Basic Scales in Japanese music

Ritsu and Ryo scales

Ryo is only transposable to D and G and Ritsu is only transposable to E and B, the mixed
scale on A.

Hanryo hanritsu
is a scale created from combining the ritsu and ryo scales.

Ryo and Ritsu Scales