JAPANESE THEATER

• NOH - most important Japanese contribution to world theater
• Sakura

  • is one of the popular traditional songs of Japan.-
  • Translated as Cherry Blossoms in English, it is a traditional song that produces distinct characteristics used in the Asian style of making melodies also known as the pentatonic scale.
  • The pattern is mainly developed by using the pentatonic style adopted mainly from China. This style is mostly used in the performance of noh and kabuki.
• GAGAKU - Traditional court music of Japan, consisting chiefly of instrumental pieces played on various wind instruments and stringed instruments such as the biwa (a long lute) and the sho (a mouth organ); originally associated with Shinto ceremonials but now heard only occasionally.
• KABUKI - A form of Japanese drama characterized by elaborate costumes, makeup, and stylized acting; often performed at night.
• type of technique in japanese singing

  • vocal technique
• Ipponchoshi ( The continuous pattern - is used in speeches building up to an explosive climax in the aragoto (oversize, supernatural, rough hero) style, it requires an extraordinary breath control that only few experts succeed in achieving
• Nori - Another technique adapted from the chanting or joruri . It implies a very sensitive capacity of riding the rhythms of the shamisen (string instrument), declaiming each accompaniment.
• Yakuharai - another technique in the same way describes the subtle delivery of poetical text written in the Japanese metrical form of alternating seven and five syllables.
• Kagura - performed in Shinto shrines
• Nõ - chant derives from shomyo, the sophisticated and rich tradition of Buddhist chanting), down to the folk songs and fashionable songs of the day.
• Nagauta ( Long song) -The most popular shamisen music which reached a golden age in the first half of the 19" century as dance music for the henge mono or quick change pieces. Naugata music is very flexible