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The character for koto is 箏, although 琴 is often used. However, 琴 (koto) is the general term for all string instruments in the Japanese language, [2] [3] including instruments such as the kin no koto, sō no koto, yamato-goto, wagon, nanagen-kin, and so on. [3] When read as kin, it indicates the Chinese instrument guqin. [4]
In min'yō, three-stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums, and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi typically accompany the singers. [10] Other instruments that could accompany include a transverse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and/or a 13-stringed zither known as the koto.
Shamisen are classified according to size and genre. There are three basic sizes: hosozao, chuzao and futozao. Examples of shamisen genres include nagauta, jiuta, min'yo, kouta, hauta, shinnai, tokiwazu, kiyomoto, gidayu and tsugaru. Shamisen used for traditional genres of Japanese music, such as jiuta, kouta, and nagauta, adhere to very strict ...
Traditionally, the sanshin was covered with the skin of the Burmese python, but today, due to CITES regulations, the skin of the reticulated python is also used. Python skin is used for the skin of the body of the instrument, in contrast to the cat or dogskin used traditionally on the shamisen.
The heike shamisen is usually tuned in ni agari," which means "raised two" or "raised second," which is a reference to the fact that the pitch of the second string is raised from a base tuning called honchoshi." Normally, the shamisen is tuned so that the first and third strings are tuned to an octave, and the second string is tuned to a fourth ...
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It is often tuned the same as a shamisen but an octave higher. In central Japan, the kokyū was formerly used as an integral part of the sankyoku ensemble, along with the koto and shamisen , but beginning in the 20th century the shakuhachi began to play the role previously filled by the kokyū .
In the 20th century, a number of composers have integrated Western elements into nagauta styles, including playing the shamisen at a faster tempo, in violin cadenza style, or by using larger ensembles to increase the volume. [1] Nagauta is the basis of the Nagauta Symphony, a symphony in one movement composed in 1934 by composer Kosaku Yamada.