It is apparent that by the 8th century the documented history of Japanese music had begun. Although that predates an equal state of Western music history by some 100 years, certain interesting parallels between the two traditions can be made. Both seem more clearly established in the same general 200-year period, a short time when compared with Chinese music studies. Both developed a musicalnomenclature heavily influenced by the music of religious organizations: the Roman Catholic Church in the West, Buddhism in Japan. Both traditions were equally influenced by the theories of a foreign culture from over the nearest sea: Greece for Italy and China for Japan. Herein many differences arise, one of the most significant being that, in the Japanese case, the foreign tradition of China at the time of its first major influence was alive and strong and could apply practical musical information and instrumentations as well as theories, whereas the Greek tradition was long dead by the same period, when European monks turned to it for guidance. Nevertheless, one can see that the general length and beginning of each history are comparable. Before discussing Japanese music in chronological detail, one should make an attempt to envision general characteristics, realizing that in doing so the tendency is to apply aphorisms to music that stretches over a series of styles as old and varied as the music of Europe from Gregorian chant through Claude Debussy. Keeping in mind that caveat, one can put forth general guidelines for the appreciation of Japanese traditional music.
Aesthetic and formal ideals
The guidelines fall under three general concepts: (1) the sound ideal, (2) the structural ideal, and (3) the artistic ideal; but those three things are not clearly separate in any musical event.
Sound ideals
In general one can say that the most common sound ideal of Japanese music is to produce the maximum effect with a minimum amount of material. For example, the taiko drum of the Noh drama consists of a barrel-shaped body over which are lashed two cowhide heads some 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter stretched over iron rings. Wooden sticks are used to hit one head. Obviously, the sound potentials of the drum are many, but they are deliberately suppressed. For example, the sticks are made of very soft wood, and the strokes are applied only to a small circle of soft deerskin in the centre of the head. The taiko, like Japanese ink paintings, accomplishes a great deal by concentrating on very carefully chosen limitations of the medium.
Another feature of much Japanese traditional music could be called the chamber music sound ideal. No matter how large an ensemble may be, one finds that the various instruments are set in such a way that the timbre, or tone colour, of each can be heard. That can be understood in relation to Western chamber music and contrasts with the Western orchestral sound ideal, in which the primary intention is to merge all the instrumental sounds into one glorious colour. The colour separation of Japanese music is quite evident in the large court ensemble (gagaku) as well as in drama music and actual chamber ensembles such as the sankyoku, for koto (zither), samisen (plucked lute), and the end-blown shakuhachi flute. Such textures support the strong multilinear (as opposed to harmonic) orientation of East Asian music.
Structural ideals
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The structural intents of Japanese music are as varied as those of the West, but one of special interest is the frequent application of a three-part division of a melody, a section of a piece, or an entire composition. This is in contrast to the more typical two-part division of Western music. Of course, examples of both ideals can be found in the music of both cultures; the concern here is with broad generalities. The fundamental terminology of the Japanese tripartite form is jo-ha-kyū—the introduction, the scatterings, and the rushing toward the end. A Western musician might wish to compare this with sonata form and its three parts (exposition, development, recapitulation). But the Western example relates to a complete event and involves the development of certain motives or melodic units (such as first and second themes), whereas the Japanese concept may be applied to various segments or complete pieces that are generally through-composed (i.e., with new material for each segment).
Japanese music reveals its logic and its forward motion not by themes but by a movement from one section to a different one until the final section has been reached. Forward motion in motive Western music was often derived during the classical periods from the tension created by chord progressions. In Japanese music such sonic events generally are not used. Nevertheless, the need for aurally recognizable patterns falling into a progression that the informed listener can anticipate is necessary in all music. In Japan such stereotyped patterns are melodic or rhythmic, not harmonic; they will be discussed in detail later. The recognition, whether intellectual or aural, of the existence of such recurring patterns is essential to the appreciation of any music.
Artistic ideals
One of the artistic ideals of Japanese music is equally clear in all of East Asia. It is the tendency for much of the music to be word-oriented, either through actual sung text or through pictorial titles of instrumental pieces. With the exception of variation pieces (danmono) for the Japanese koto, one can seldom find a purely instrumental piece in the spirit of, for example, the Western sonata or symphony. Japanese ensemble pieces, like those of China and Korea, are either dance pieces, instrumental versions of songs, or descriptive. That ideal in all of East Asia was not weakened until the late 19th century, when such music was forced to compete with Western idioms.
Guilds
Listen To Japanese Folk Music
By the same token, the ideal of the composer as genius, so dear to Western hearts since the 19th century, had little place in earlier Japanese music. In Japan, as in China and Korea, the names of many composers are known, but the actual setting of their music was and still is often done by a group of fairly anonymous people. One may know who was helping out at a given time and in a given place, but in any written form of the music helpers’ names, or even the name of “the” composer, may often be missing. The process might best be called communal composition. In East Asia, particularly in Japan, the performer is often the person remembered and noted. Such an ideal is understood in the West by fans of popular music. Although that ideal has given way to the Western composer “star” system in modern Japan, it does reflect an important social setting for any appreciation of the older Japanese classical traditions. In keeping with that artistic ideal, one should add that often there is not one “correct” version of a given piece. Most traditional music is organized under guild systems, and each guild may thus have its “secret” version of a well-known piece. A given guild will play its version precisely the same way in each performance, for improvisation has practically no role in any of the major genres of all East Asian music. Differences are maintained between guild versions, however, in order to identify a given group’s musical repertoire as separate from all the rest.
Japanese Folk Music Instruments
The separation of guild styles can be carried further to one more artistic ideal, which holds that it is not just what one plays on an instrument but how one plays it. For example, in the case of the taiko drum mentioned above, the manner in which players sit, pick up the sticks, strike the drum, and put the sticks away will reveal the name of the guild to which they belong and also can be used to judge their skill in performance. No Japanese instrument is merely played. One could almost say that its performance practice is choreographed. Such distinctions exist in the music of other East Asian cultures as well, although the clues to their understanding have not yet been revealed to outside listeners and viewers. This brief discussion of their existence in Japanese music will serve to enhance the appreciation of at least one Asian tradition as the discussion turns to a chronological study of its many styles.