Language/Japanese/Vocabulary/Music
GENERALITIES
Music is considered as the universal language that everybody can speak and understand.
Culture, influences, location bring differences but there are not a barrel to share. The emotion can be feel the same no matter who you are, let's your sensibility guides you.
Constitutive elements
Depending where you are on the planet Earth, the manner to note the music is not the same everywhere. Althought japanese use european system, there is also a "local" system.
The following table will show some kinds of notation.
| France | DO | RE | MI | FA | SOL | LA | SI |
| England | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| Germany | A | H | C | D | E | F | H |
| Japan (kana) | ハ | 二 | ホ | へ | ト | ヒ | ロ |
| Japan (romaji) | HA | NI | HO | HE | TO | HI | RO |
This is the base. But there are some other elements, like mods.
In France, England and Germany each squale as at least 2 mods by note.
C note :
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C (major)
The ratio is : tone, tone, half-tone, tone, tone, tone, half-tone
C - D - Eb - F - G - A - Bb - C (minor)
The ration is : tone, half-tone, tone, tone, half-tone, tone, tone.
As you can, see there is note is these mods.
But japanese music has 5-notes mods.
The most famous are the following.
Hirajashi
tone, half-tone, major third, half-tone, major third.
C - Db - F - Gb - Bb - C
Kumoe
half-tone, major third, tone, half-tone, major-third
C - D - Eb - G - Ab - C
The most famous traditional song (Sakura Sakura) is written in this last mod.
WARNING : This is a a transcription in C squale, but the mods can be moved in each other squale.
Instruments
The main instruments in japanese traditional music are :
Koto : a kind of horizontal harp
Shamisen : looks like a 3 strings banjo.
Shakuhachi : Long reed-pipe.
Sakura Sakura is played by Koto.