INTRODUCTION
- - - Japanese Ongaku - - -
Japanese
music can be called “ongaku”. It is combined by the kanji words “on” which
means sound and “gaku” which means fun or comfort.
Japanese
music has both traditional and folk which consists of Biwa hōshi, Heike biwa, mōsō, and goze ; Taiko ; Min'yō folk music ; and Okinawan folk music. It also has different kinds of
musical instruments like string which has both plucked and bowed; wind which
has flutes, reeded instruments, free reed mouth organs
and Horns; and percussion which has drums and
other types of percussion instruments.
Japanese ongaku also has its own style
and it consists of a variety of performers but it was influenced by some
countries. China and other Western countries were a few of them.
After it was influenced by Western
music it already had art music which comprise of western classical and jazz ;
popular music which is made up of Japanese Rock music ; Folk music ; Japanese Hip-Hop ; Roots music ; Latin, reggae and ska music ; Noise music ; Theme music ; and Game music.
EVENT
A lot of cultural influences entered Japan when regular
trade routes in mainland Asia opened up. This trade routes opened during the
Kofun period. This lead to the spread of Buddhism and it also contributed a lot
for the Chinese to influence Japan’s culture. It really influenced its music
and instruments.
MODES
OF INFLUENCE
Chinese music besides Western music
also influenced Japanese music. It contributed in both it’s traditional music
and it’s instruments.
-
- - Japan’s Traditional Music - - -
Japan has three types of traditional
music. One is instrumental Nagauta, Shakuhachi music and Sōkyoku. Second is theatrical. It is made up
of Kabuki and Noh. Third is court music. It comprises of Gagaku, Shomyo
and Jōruri.
Some of these traditional music are
influenced by Chinese music. These are:
1.
Gagaku
-
Gagaku is a court music. It is made up of songs, dances and other mixtures of
Asian music. It has instrumental and vocal music.
Instrumental:
* Kangen
– this is basically a Chinese form of music.
* Bugaku –
this is influenced by Chinese and Korean music.
2.
Sōkyoku
- this
instrumental traditional music uses the Chinese koto( or guzheng ).This
is different from Japanese koto.
-
- - Japan’s Musical Instruments - - -
Traditional
Japanese music is influenced by Chinese music
because some of the musical instruments
used in it came from China.
These
are some list of the instruments:
1.
Biwa
* It is a close variant of the
Chinese pipa.
* It is the chosen instrument of Benten,
goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and
education in Japanese Shinto.
History:
This instrument reached Japan from China during the Nara
Period (710-759 AD), and five instruments from
that time are kept in the Shōsōin,
the national treasure house of Japan. One of them, a rare, five-stringed gogenbiwa
decorated with Central Asian
themes, including a camel.
2. Fue
Infos: * It is Japanese for flute.
* It is
generally high-pitched.
History: The
earliest fue may have developed from pitch pipes
called paixiao
in Chinese. The gabachi instruments eventually made its way over
to Japan from China in the fifth century, becoming prevalent during the Nara
Period.
3. Hichiriki
Infos: * It is a double
reed Japanese fue
(flute).
* It used as one of two main melodic
instruments in Japanese gagaku
music.
* It is one of the
"sacred" instruments and is often heard being played at Shinto
weddings in Japan.
4. Kakko
Infos: * It is a Japanese double-headed drum.
* They are
usually laid on their sides on stands so that it can be played with sticks
called
bachi on both heads.
* It is used
in taiko ensembles, but they are also used in older Japanese court music called
History: It is derived from the Chinese
jiegu, a drum popular in China during
the Tang Dynasty, as
is the Korean galgo.
5. Kokyū
Infos: * It is a traditional Japanese string
instrument.
* It is played with a bow.
6. Sanshin
Infos: * It is an Okinawan musical instrument and precursor of the Japanese shamisen.
* It consists of a snakeskin-covered body, neck and three strings.
History: Its
close resemblance in both appearance and name to the Chinese sanxian
suggests its Chinese origins, the old Ryūkyū Kingdom
(pre-Japanese Okinawa) having very close ties with China. In the 16th
century, the sanshin reached the Japanese trading port at Sakai in Osaka, Japan. In
mainland Japan, it evolved into the larger shamisen.
7. Shakahuchi
* It is traditionally made of bamboo
* They are often made in the minor pentatonic
scale.
History: The bamboo flute first came to
Japan from China. The
shakuhachi proper, however, is quite distinct from its Chinese counterpart[1]
– the result of centuries of isolated evolution in Japan.
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