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    The Koto

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    Kamila Najlaa
    The koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument that originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th-8th centuries. It was originally played by blind court musicians but became a solo instrument in the 17th century. The koto is roughly two meters long with 13 silk strings that are plucked with picks attached to the fingers. There are two main schools of koto playing technique - Yamada and Ikuta - that differ in hand and body positioning. The koto is considered a dragon-shaped instrument in Japanese tradition.

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    The Koto

    Uploaded by

    Kamila Najlaa
    259 views2 pages
    The koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument that originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th-8th centuries. It was originally played by blind court musicians but became a solo instrument in the 17th century. The koto is roughly two meters long with 13 silk strings that are plucked with picks attached to the fingers. There are two main schools of koto playing technique - Yamada and Ikuta - that differ in hand and body positioning. The koto is considered a dragon-shaped instrument in Japanese tradition.

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    koto muzik tradisional jepun permainan alat cara bermain koto tradisi

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    THE KOTO

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    The koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument that originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th-8th centuries. It was originally played by blind court musicians but became a solo instrument in the 17th century. The koto is roughly two meters long with 13 silk strings that are plucked with picks attached to the fingers. There are two main schools of koto playing technique - Yamada and Ikuta - that differ in hand and body positioning. The koto is considered a dragon-shaped instrument in Japanese tradition.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    259 views2 pages

    The Koto

    Uploaded by

    Kamila Najlaa
    The koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument that originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th-8th centuries. It was originally played by blind court musicians but became a solo instrument in the 17th century. The koto is roughly two meters long with 13 silk strings that are plucked with picks attached to the fingers. There are two main schools of koto playing technique - Yamada and Ikuta - that differ in hand and body positioning. The koto is considered a dragon-shaped instrument in Japanese tradition.

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    THE KOTO

    The koto is one of the oldest Japanese instruments, brought to Japan from
    China in the 7th or 8th century. Originally, the koto was played by blind
    court musicians as part of a chamber ensemble. In the Edo period (17th
    century), Yatsuhashi Kengyo(1614-1685), one of the blind koto masters,
    succeeded in transforming the koto into a solo instrument. In 20th century,
    Michio Miyagi (1894-1956), also a blind koto player, introduced styles of
    western music into koto composition. Around 1920, he introduced the 17-
    string bass koto. This instrument was originally used for accompaniment,
    but today there are many solo pieces for the 17-string koto particularly in
    the Sawai school which is an offshoot of the Miyagi School.
    There are two main schools of koto music, Yamada, originally popular in the Kanto
    plain around Tokyo, and Ikuta, more popular in Kansai, the area around Osaka,
    Kyoto, and Nagoya. Although originally, there was differnces in the length of the
    koto, now both schools use the same kind of instrument. The main differnences today
    are in the shape of pick, and thus the technique. In the Yamada style, the tips of the
    picks are used, the player's knees rest evenly against the koto. In the Ikuta style, the
    left edge of the thumb's pick and the right edges of the finger picks are used, so the
    optimum sound can be achieved by sitting at a 45 degree angle to the left. The Sawai
    school belongs to the Ikuta tradition and often uses a stand for the instrument rather
    than kneeling.There are also differences in notation and repertoire between the
    Yamada and Ikuta schools, but in both cases, string numbers are used rather than
    pitches. The Yamada is said to be the more classical tradition.
    The koto is roughtly two meters long and usually has 13 strings arched over
    independently movable bridges which sit on a hollow body of paulownia wood. These
    days, synthetic fibre such as tetron is used for strings, as silk strings are expensive,
    and cannot be stretched as tightly. The strings are struck with ivory or plastic picks
    attached to the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the right hand with leather
    bands. The thickness of all the strings is the same.
    The koto, as its ancestors in China and Korea, is said to resemble a dragon and even
    today, the koto's body parts are still referred to as dragon-head, dragon-back, dragon-
    legs, etc. Two sounding holes are cut out of the backboard.
    Traditionally, Japanese music is pentatonic (five notes excluding the octave), and the
    most popular traditional Japanese koto tuning is called "hirajoshi," literally "tranquil
    tuning," D Eb G A Bb D. Some other common traditional tunings are gakujoshi,
    honkumoijoshi, and kokinjoshi.
    Some Books on koto music
    1) Willem Adriaansz. 1973. "The Kumiuta and Danmono Traditons of Japanese Koto."
    University of California Press. 2) William P. Malm. 1959. "Japanese Music-and musical
    instruments" Chales E. Tuttle Company. 3) Peter Ackermann. 1986. "Studieren zur Koto-Musik
    von Edo" Robert Gunther, Band Barenreiter Kassel. 4) Bonnie C. Wade. 1976. "Tegotomono."
    Greenwood Press, Inc.
    Materials on this page taken from: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2592/koto.html;
    http://www.bangaloreonline.com/blr/music/mshino.htm; Wade, Bonnie C. "Tegotomono",1976 Greenwood Press,
    Inc.; http://www.asahi-net.or.jp./~np5y-hruc/kt-play1.html; http://home.san.rr.com/koto/instru.htm

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