My Note Cards 2

27/10/08
What is the difference between Thai and Japanese traditional music?

About Japanese music

- Gagaku – One of the oldest Japanese traditional classsic music which has been performed at the Imperial court since the Nara and Heian period. Gagaku is divided in to Kagen (instrumental muscic) and Bugaku (dance accompined by gagaku). This came from China and Korea

- Taiko – is a Japanese drum. Its origins are uncertain, but it is around the 6th and 7th centuries. Korean influences followed, but the instrument and its music remained uniquely Japanese. Taiko continue to be used in the religious music of Buddhism and Shinto.

- Shakuhachi - Originally played as a part of a Zen service or practice and it was the favorite instrument among wandering Buddhist priests. It looks like recorder, but it is much bigger and hard to play.

- Characteristic - Traditional Japanese music is based on a five-note scale and has primarily two- and four-beat rhythms as opposed to a three-beat time. Most traditional music consists of songs with instrumental accompaniment, and there are very few purely instrumental compositions.
The Japanese music always played with the dance.

- after the Meiji periods, the Western Culture came in and expand more Japanese music's life.