Music of Japan

The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 (ongaku), combining the kanji 音 "on" (sound) with the kanji 楽 "gaku" (enjoy).Japan is the largest physical music market in the world, with US$2 billion in 2014 and the second largest overall music market, with a total retail value of 2.6 billion dollars in 2014 – dominated by Japanese artists, with 37 of the top 50 best selling albums and 49 of the top 50 best selling singles in 2014.

Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. Traditional Japanese music is quite different from Western music as it is often based on the intervals of human breathing rather than mathematical timing.

Traditional and folk music

There are two forms of music recognized to be the oldest forms of traditional Japanese music. They are shōmyō (声明 or 聲明), or Buddhist chanting, and gagaku (雅楽) or orchestral court music, both of which date to the Nara and Heian periods.Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period. Kagura-uta (神楽歌), Azuma-asobi(東遊) and Yamato-uta (大和歌) are indigenous repertories. Tōgaku (唐楽) and komagaku originated from the Chinese Tang dynasty via the Korean peninsula. In addition, gagaku is divided into kangen (管弦) (instrumental music) and bugaku (舞楽) (dance accompanied by gagaku).

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

Japanese

Japanese may refer to:

See also

Cherry Blossom (disambiguation)

Cherry blossom or Sakura is the blossom of cherry trees, genus Prunus.

Cherry blossom or Cherry blossoms may also refer to:

See also

Bamboo musical instruments

Bamboo's natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many musical instruments, most commonly flutes.

Overview

There are numerous types of bamboo flutes made all over the world, such as the dizi, xiao, shakuhachi, palendag and jinghu. In India, it is a very popular and highly respected musical instrument, available even to the poorest and the choice of many highly venerated maestros of classical music. It is known and revered above all as the divine flute forever associated with Lord Krishna, who is always portrayed holding a bansuri in sculptures and paintings. Four of the instruments used in Polynesia for traditional hula are made of bamboo: nose flute, rattle, stamping pipes and the jaw harp. Bamboo may be used in the construction of the Australian didgeridoo instead of the more traditional eucalyptus wood. In Indonesia and the Philippines, bamboo has been used for making various kinds of musical instruments, including the kolintang, angklung and bumbong.