When addressing the subject of Japanese traditional music theory the first thing we find is that in its early stages musicians would focus on individual songs as well as playing styles paying almost no attention to theoretical aspects. Hence that Japanese music did not have a theoretical system until the influence of Western music arrived during the Meiji times.
When it comes to how a Japanese musician sees music we have to keep in mind that they think in a different way than a musician from the West. For instance, the ideal for Japanese music is to get the most out of the minimum. This means that a performer always tries to extract many details and ways of producing sound from his or her instrument. Instead of trying to make really full sounds they prefer to concentrate on suppressing from playing everything at once and getting the subtle details of every single sound or way of playing.
We also have the Japanese approach of what we consider in the West “Chamber Music”. In Western music when we have ensembles playing music, many times the instruments merge creating a group sound. On the other hand in Japan no matter how many instruments the ensemble has they are set up in a way that the sound color or timbre of each can be recognized and kept. A clear example of this can be found in the large court music ensemble called Gagaku or the trios we found formed by Koto (zither), Shamisen (lute) and Shakuhachi (flute) where you can clearly recognize what instrument is being played.
Part of this approach to creating music for ensembles comes from the melodic orientation of music in the Japanese tradition as opposed to the harmonic approach in the West.
When it comes to the structure of the music often times we find a three part division kind of thinking. This can be either applied to a melody, section or the whole musical work. This is known as Jo-Ha.Kyū; introduction, spreading, and running towards the end.
Again we should remember that this three part concept is applied to melodies, sections and full compositions. We should never think of this approach as something we apply only to the composition like it would be more commonly understood in the West.
To the way of thinking about structure in this type of music we could add the artistic ideal of Japanese composers, which is what we might call word-oriented. This can happen by singing an actual text or using pictorial titles in instrumental works. Here we can find some exceptions in compositions based in variations like the ancient Danmono style found in Koto music. Where a composition is build in several levels or dan with its variations and developments.
To put it in simple words, in Japanese music as well as Chinese and Korean much of the material is drawn from dance pieces, vocal, instrumental versions of these last ones, and descriptive instrumental music.
Another interesting point to keep always in mind is that in traditional Japanese music there is not such a thing as chord or harmonic progressions. The concept of Tonic or Dominant functions are not understood by way of chords but by recognition of melodic and rhythmic patterns.
JAPANESE MUSIC ON GUITAR
Here is a little taste of Japanese Traditional music played on guitar. The following piece is based in the koto tradition.
This article comes from the book “JAPANESE MUSIC FOR GUITAR by Fernando Perez”.