Piano Guidance
Piano Guidance
Photo: sl wong
1 – 和琴 (wagon), also called 大和琴 (yamatogoto) or 東琴 (azumagoto) is a stringed instrument and believed to be one of the oldest in Japan. It even has a role inside Japan's mythology. It is used for court music called gagaku.
A diamond shape around a number indicates that the chord should be held out or allowed to ring as a whole note. Conversely, the marcato symbol ^...
Read More »
The Curved or Wave-Shaped Keyboard These are angled keyboards that immediately reduce the repetitive stress on the carpal tunnel. The layout of the...
Read More »As a musician and general music lover, I’ve been wanting to learn more about Japanese traditional instruments and music. As it turns out, there are plenty of traditional instruments in Japan with a lot of variety in all classifications, from strings, to winds, to drums…. These instruments are called Wagakki (和楽器, literally Japanese instruments) and were used during the Antiquity. They’re pretty different from western instruments and it’s really interesting. These wagakki (which is also the name of a J-Rock band using traditional instruments) are traditional Japanese instruments which were used during the Antiquity. Although some instruments like the wagon (和琴), the kagurabue (神楽笛) or the shakubyoushi (笏拍子) originated from Japan, most of the traditional instruments we know today were brought from the from the Asian contient to Japan and then continued to evolve inside the country into the instruments that we’ll talk about just a bit later on. Now, formerly, in Japan, classification-wise, they followed the Chinese principle of dividing instruments into 8 categories based on the materials out of which they were made: metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, clay, hide and wood. However, they derived from that and usually often divided instruments into percussion, strings and winds, the same way we do in the West.
Sufi whirling is a form of religious dance in which the performer wears traditional dress and spins in circles. Sufis are practitioners of Sufism,...
Read More »
The Best Way to Learn Blues Guitar Learn a basic blues shuffle. Practice playing the shuffle along with a drum machine or backing track. Learn some...
Read More »2 – トンコリ (tonkori) is another Ainu instrument, this one is a 5 stringed instrument (although some with 3 or 6 strings also exist) and each of the strings, contrary to modern instruments, are not fretted or anything but are played open. Now, lots of traditional Japanese instruments actually came from the Asian continent West of Japan and were imported into the country, then evolved and were fully completed in Japan. Here are a few : 1 – 三味線 (shamisen) is one of the most famous wagakki. It is a plucked 3 stringed instrument played with a “huge guitar pick”, which is called 撥 (bachi). It dates back to the 15th and 16th century, so compared to other traditional Japanese instruments it is quite “young”. The instrument itself is derived from the Chinese instrument 三弦 (sānxiàn). 3 – 尺八 (shakuhachi) is a Japanese type of woodwind instrument. It was originally created in and then imported from China, but saw its true completion in Japan from the Kamakura period (1185 – 1333 CE) going to the Edo period (1603 – 1868 CE). It was originally made out of bamboo and sounds pretty cool. There are also instruments that are specific to certain areas of Japan like Okinawa’s 三線 (sanshin). This instrument is similar to the shamisen we talked about earlier, as in being a plucked, 3 stringed instrument, but rather than being played with a “huge pick”, the strings are plucked using a “huge claw”, literally called 爪 (tsume) in Japanese, which means claw (or nail). It can also be referred to as bachi, same as the shamisen. The sanshin also descends from the Chinese instrument sānxiàn. There is another instrument, called ゴッタン (gottan), which is specific to the southern region of the Kyūshū island. It’s also a 3 stringed instrument, but has a very different look. I think it’s really interesting to see how different instruments and music are depending on the time, place and culture by which they were affected. I know I’d love to try one of these instruments one day (although I can’t really play any wind instrument but, you know).
How often should piano lessons be? Piano lessons are typically done once a week. This is the universal standard for most piano teachers. Having a...
Read More »
So with all this new innovation, do our keys also include GPS tracking functions? The answer is yes in newer vehicles, but that doesn't mean that...
Read More »
Learning to play the piano can increase your child's confidence and their ability to concentrate and maintain focus. It allows them to practice...
Read More »
Top Career Choices for Women & Choose the Best Jobs for Girls Teacher/ Education Expert. Teaching is considered one of the best-paying jobs for...
Read More »
Promotion
Promotion
Promotion