MUS 185 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Shakuhachi, Suizen, Folk Music
23 Sep 2016
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Lecture Notes 6 MUS 185
• The music universals
o 7 things that every music culture in the world has or does
o Has vocal music
o Employs musical instruments in some way
o Uses music in ritual or sacred events
o Delieates usial piees or seletios
o Has some organization of tones or pitches
▪ We use scales
o Uses music as a way to experience a transcendent mood
o Uses music to reinforce social groups or boundaries
• Japan Unit
o Aesthetics in traditional music; the shakuhachi
o Japanese traditional music
▪ Contexts
• Courtly entertainment
• Theatrical genres
• Folk music
• Idiomatic instrumental genres
▪ Characteristics
• Timbre
o Variety of timbres employed
o Subtle differences appreciated
o Nature sounds; often represented by non-pitched instruments
(drums, wind chimes, other idiophones)
• Pitch
o Pitch bending
▪ Altering a pitch by lowering or raising it as it is being
sounded
o No standardized tuning system
• Rhythm
o Fleile pulse free rhth
▪ No regular beat or pulse is discernible
o Ma = space or pause in music
▪ Allows listeners to appreciate previous sound
▪ Increases drama
• Texture/harmony
o No harmony
o Heterophonic texture
• Flexibility
o Japanese prefer open-endedness or flexibility in music
o Isin densin = wordless ouiatio
o Shakuhachi
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