Japanese scales
Japanese scales are different types of pentatonic scales ( 音階 onkai , German 'scale' or 調子 chōshi / jōshi , German 'mood [in the musical sense]' ) that are used in traditional Japanese music .
On the one hand, scales are used that consist of whole tones and occur in two modes (with reference to Yin and Yang ), especially in Gagaku music:
Name in legend | Kanji | formula | example | |
---|---|---|---|---|
"Male" mode | ryosen | 呂 旋 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | cdegac ′ |
"Female" mode | ritsusen | 律 旋 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 | cdfgac ′ |
On the other hand, z. B. for the koto , scales with semitones used ( hemitonic pentatonic ), which in turn occur in three modes of the same pentatonic scale:
Name in legend | Kanji | formula | example |
---|---|---|---|
hira-jōshi | 平 調子 | 1, 2, b3, 5, b6 | cd es g as c ′ |
iwato-jōshi | 岩 戸 調子 | 1, b2, 4, b5, b7 | c des f ges bc ′ |
kumoi-jōshi | 雲 井 調子 | 1, b2, 4, 5, b6 | c des fg as c ′ |
Hira-jōshi was developed in the 17th century by the blind koto master Yatsuhashi Kengyō ( 八 橋 検 校 ) and includes two jumps around a major third ; iwato-jōshi and kumoi-jōshi correspond to the mode on their second and fourth level.
Another important hemitonic-pentatonic scale derived from the koto tuning is kokin-jōshi (1, 2, 4, 5, b6; e.g. cdfg as c ′); its third mode is akebono (1, 2, b3, 5, 6; cd es gac ′), the fourth is han'iwato (1, b2, 4, 5, b7; c of fgbc ′).
There are other scales in traditional folk music , e.g. B .:
Name in legend | Kanji | formula | example | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yin mode | insen | 陰 旋 | 1, b2, 4, 5, b7 / b6 | c des fgbc ′ / c ′ as gf des c |
Yang mode | yōsen | 陽 旋 | 1, 2 (b3), 4, 5, b7 / 6 | cd (es) fgbc ′ / c ′ agf 2 (b3) c |
the ascending forms of which differ from the descending forms, as in the melodic minor of Western music.
In Ryūkyū ( Okinawa ) folk music uses a hemitonic mode with the formula 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 (e.g. cefghc ′) ( ryukuan ), which has a sound that is unique in the world due to the missing second and sixth.
The musical genre Enka nowadays mainly uses the scale Yonanuki tan'onkai ( ヨ ナ 抜 き 短 音階 ; minor key without the levels 4 and 7 or without re and sol ), which is a modification of the Yonanuki chōonkai ( ヨ ナ 抜 き 長 音階 ; major key without the Levels 4 and 7 or without fa and si ). This in turn goes back to the Ryo Onkai ( 呂 音階 ; see above ryosen 呂 旋 ).
Web links
- Japanese scales ( Memento of August 24, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Pentatonic scales (Japanese)
- The Yonanuki Onkai scale (Japanese)
literature
- Michael Hewitt: Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree, London 2013, ISBN 978-0-9575470-0-1 .