The Evolution of Japanese Music: History, Style, and Influence

j music

March 6, 2010

Japanese music is extremely diverse due to the manner in which the assorted cultures from different areas tend to collaborate to form a new type of culture which has an identity all its own. As a result, the Japanese enjoy a diverse genre of music that ranges from traditional Japanese music to popular songs of Japan and rock music of the United States.

In earlier times Japanese music was limited to live concerts and performances. It was not until the inception of radio and eventually the Internet that music began to influence the lives of Japanese in a greater capacity. Japanese music began as early as 793 A.D. and has continued into the diverse culture that is today. The following information contains an overview of the evolution Japanese music, the different styles, and how each style influenced the culture of its time
 

   

Ancient Japanese Music

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Ancient Japanese music is part of traditional Japanese music which consists of art music and folk music. The Japanese have maintained these two styles of music throughout history however the two styles have since been modified in modern day music.

Japanese art music consists of several different styles to correspond with the styles of music that were created during different periods of Japanese history. Japanese folk music is also considered traditional Japanese music and tends to be more popular since vocal music tends to have a more prominent role than instrumental music in Japanese music history. This is partially due to traditional Japanese music playing a significant role in drama during the following periods in history.

Heian Period: This period of Japanese music took place from 794 A.D. to 1192 A.D. and is the period of Gagaku music which was established for ancient court nobility and the upper class. Gagaku music originated in China and other countries of Asia and consists of instrumental music that is absent of the vocal part. The instruments consisted of flutes, drums, zithers, and other types of ancient instruments.

Kamakura Period: During this period in Japanese music history theatrical arts became more prominent and theatre arts evolved into what is known as Noh drama. Nohgaku music consists of both vocal and instrumental music and the music was originally used to entertain the military class and in later times the nobility and the upper class. This period lasted from the beginning of the Kamakura Period in 1192 A.D. to the Muromachi Period which ended in 1573 A.D.

Azuchi-Momoyama Period: This period in Japanese music history lasted from 1573 A.D. to 1603 A.D. and is the period of shakuhachi which marks the modification of the recorder, the koto which is the zither, and the shamisen which is a guitar with three strings used for vocal accompaniment. The development of these types of instruments was used in conjunction with narrative singing and different types of dances.


Japanese Folk Song

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Following these periods folk songs were developed for use during religious events and during labor such as farming and working in the mountains. Exactly when folk songs began to develop is unknown however they are still used in the current day and mostly by the older generations.

Although folk songs were originally used for religious and work purposes they have changed with the lifestyles of generations that followed and are currently used for recreation with the exception of the Okinawa region where they are still used for religious and daily activities.

Folk songs consist of two different styles which are free rhythm folk songs sung by one person during packhorse driving and metric rhythm folk songs which were sung while accompanied by shakuhachi.
 

Japanese Popular Music

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Japanese popular music contains an extensive genre of popular music of Japan as well as American jazz and pop, Latin music, Italian music, and American rock music. Popular music is performed live in Japan and is available by CD and Internet, and is played in many public establishments throughout Japan.

Popular music of Japan is also known as kayo kyoku which was established in the early 1900s and based on a pentatonic scale system which contains a blend of Western and Japanese scales.

The inception of the Beatles has a great influence on Japanese music history and changed the course of Japanese popular music. Following this period the compositions of the Japanese became more Westernized and remain that way to this day.

 

    

New Japanese Music

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Although the music of ancient Japanese periods and the periods that followed is still being preserved there are Japanese composers that are creating modern composition styles that are based on koto and shakuhachi music and other compositions that are built upon the traditional Japanese music concept.