Music Grade 8

Lesson 1:Japanese Music

Japanese vocal music is quite differentfrom the Western vocal music, and isbased on the intervals of human breathingrather than mathematical timing, and howJapanese musicians show their spiritualself-mastery in mastering his or herinstrument more than simply perfecting atechnique of some sort and how they givevalue to their performance and composure.

Instrumental music of JapanTraditional Japanese music is basicallymeditative in character. Its performanceis highly ritualized, as much in the musicitself, as in the composure of themusicians when performing it. Japanesechamber and solo music have a slowmeditative pace.

The performance of Japanesemusic has traditionally been of aspiritual character, similarly tomartial arts and other forms of artsuch as the tea ceremony andcalligraphy. It is usually aboutreligious festivals, work, dance,love, and regional songs.

Audiences are looking for this self-masteryin musicians. This is the reason why musichas become highly ritualized. Musiciansmust show this spiritual self-mastery intheir performance and composure. Theywork on an inner strength in mastering hisor her instrument, more than simplyperfecting a technique of some sort andproviding entertainment.

Percussion Instruments(Membranophone):1. Odaiko- (big drum). The physicalenergy and sheerexcitement of an Odaikoperformance is an integralpart of many Japanesematsuri (festivals).

2. Tsuzumi (hourglass-shape) – There aretwo varieties, the smaller kotsuzumi andthe larger otsuzumi. They are used in bothnoh and kabuki performances. Thekotsuzumi is held on the right shoulder andthe player alters the tone by squeezing thelaces. The otsuzumi is placed on the leftthigh. Like all other traditional arts in Japan,there are severalschools of tsuzumimatsuri (festivals).



3.Tsuridaiko – a largehangingbarrel drum

4. Taiko - is a Japanese drum thatcomes in various sizes and is used toplay a variety of musical genres. It hasbecome particularly popular in recentyears as the central instrument ofpercussion ensembles whose repertoryis based on a variety of folk and festivalmusic of the past.



String Instruments (Chordophone)1. Koto - is a 13-string zither, about twometers long and made of Paulowniawood. It is plucked using picks on thethumb and first two fingers of the righthand, while the left hand can be used tomodify pitch and tone. Koto is used inan ensemble in gagaku or as a soloinstrument.







2. Shamisen- is a plucked stringedinstrument. Its construction followsa model similar to that of a guitar ora banjo, employing a neck, andstrings stretched across aresonating body. The neck of theshamisen is fretless, and is slimmerthan that of a guitar or a banjo.



3. Biwa - is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used innarrative storytelling. The biwa isthe chosen instrument of Benten,the goddess of music, eloquence,poetry, and education in JapaneseShinto.







Wind Instruments (Aerophone)1. Shakuhachi- the mostfamous flute made frombamboo. It has 4 or 5 fingerholes on the front face and athumbhole on the rear face.As with other instrumentsabove, it was imported from China forgagaku.









2. Nokan - a parallel, bamboo flute(fue) is the only melodic instrumentused in noh. The melody of the flutehas no specific pitch relationshipwith the melody of the chanting.





3. Hichiriki - is a double reedJapanese fue (flute) used as one oftwo main melodic instruments inJapanese gagaku music, the otherbeing the ryūteki.





4. Sho - is a Japanese free reedmusical instrument that wasintroduced from China duringthe Nara period.







5. Shinobue – alsocalled takebue in the context ofJapanese traditional arts) is aJapanese transverse flute or fuethat has a high-pitched sound.





6. Ryūteki - literally \"dragonflute\" is a Japanesetransverse fue made ofbamboo. It is used ingagaku.



Lesson 2: Chinese MusicFor several thousand years Chineseculture was dominated by the teachingsof the philosopher Confucius, heconceived music in the highest sense asa means of calming the passion ofdispelling of unrest and lust, rather thanas a form of amusement.

Traditionally the Chinese have believed thatsound influences the harmony of theuniverse. Significantly, one of the mostimportant duties of the first emperor of eachnew dynasty was to search out andestablish that dynasty’s through standard ofpitch. A result of this philosophicalorientation was that the Chinesetheoretically opposed music performedsolely for entertainment.

Chinese Musical Instruments1. Yueqin - Moon-shaped lute with shorterneck and four strings,played with a spectrum,used for accompanyinglocal operas.

2. Pipa - Four-stringedlute with 30 frets and apear-shaped body.This instrumenthas an extremely widedynamic range andremarkableexpressivepower.

3. Erhu - Two-stringed fiddleand one of the most popularChinese instruments. It isused as a solo instrument aswell as in small ensembles orlarge orchestra, and byvarious ethnic groups.

4. Yunluo - Literally \"cloudgongs\" or \"cloud of gongs\",the yunluo is a set of tensmall tuned gongs mountedin a wooden frame.The yunluo's gongs aregenerally of equal diameterbut different Thicknesses.The thicker gongs produce ahigher pitch.

5. Sheng - Sheng, or Chinese mouth organ,looks like a set of panpipes, with 12 to 36bamboo pipes. Each pipe is of differentlength with a brass reed at the bottomand a hole that must be blocked inorder for the note to sound. Thismakes it possible to sound severalnotes simultaneously, so chords andmelody can be performed at thesame time. Sheng is one of theoldest Chinese musical instruments.

6. Dizi - Dizi is the traditional Chineseflute. It can have a membrane over anextra hole to give the characteristicrattle effect. The player plays the Diziby blowing across the mouthpiece andproduces the different notes by stoppingthe six holes found in the rod.

7. Zheng - An ancient Chineseinstrument that has an archedsurface and an elongated-trapezoid with13 to 21 strings stretched over individualbridges. Its playingrange spans three tofour octaves.