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 has at least 2 mods.

C squale

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 are seven notes is these mods.

But japanese music has 5-note 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.