Acoustic Musical Instruments » Koto http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com Piano, Guitar, Bass, Strings, Songs, Chords, and Harmony Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:47:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 History of the Koto http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/history-of-the-koto/ http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/history-of-the-koto/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 21:00:07 +0000 keira http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/?p=839 kotoThe Koto is a stringed instrument that came to Japan from China during the 7th and the 8th centuries. It is a large instrument that is about six feet in length and it has a hollow wooden body and 13 strings. The strings are ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyu, ju, to, i and kin respectively. These strings are tied over the top of bridges that are on each end of the instrument's body and they are all the same size as well as the same tension. The ji is a movable bridge on the instrument that is placed somewhere along each string's length. When the strings are lifted away from the body of the instrument by this bridge, it allows them to resonate when the player strikes them using plectrums on the thumb and two fingers.

Because of the fact that Koto music has a long history, this type of music has seen a great many changes through the years. During the Japanese Heian period, for example, which ran between 794 and 1185, the Koto appeared to be played in the form of a solo instrument for the court. However, as court life began to disappear during subsequent periods of time, the Koto music still remained to be played in the world of noblemen and priests. For a long period of time, Koto music was regarded as an official occupation for men that were blind, and this form of music seems to have been confined to them.

Adding vocal accompaniment to meditive forms of music finally began to appear near to the 16th century, but the performance of this style of music was largely limited only to use in temples. Koto music began to be played outside of its once restricted audience in the 1600s by Yatsuhashi Kengyo. He invented brand new tuning styles for the Koto, and began to compose a variety of new pieces for the instrument as well. In fact, it has been said that Yatsuhashi Kengyo is one of the greatest Koto music composers that ever lived. After the death of Yatsuhashi Kengyo, the Koto was not only opened to blind professional male musicians, but rather it also became an interesting musical instrument among female members belonging to well to do families across Japan.

Ikuta Kengyo, who lived from 1666 to 1716 worked on merging Koto music with traditions associated with the much more popular, much more widespread and much livelier instrument known as the shamisen, which is an instrument that is similar in nature to the lute and that was quite popular during this time period especially in the many entertainment districts within Japan. Today, the Ikuta school, or Ikuta ryu puts emphasis on ensemble music between the Shamisen and the Koto instruments.

Photo Credits: buyalex

Originally posted 2009-10-08 03:38:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Online Stores ]]> http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/history-of-the-koto/feed/ 0 Introduction to the Koto http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/introduction-to-the-koto/ http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/introduction-to-the-koto/#comments Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:54:41 +0000 keira http://www.acousticmusicalinstruments.com/?p=830 kotoA Koto is a stringed instrument that originally came from China and then moved into Japan during the 7th and 8th centuries. The Japanese Koto appears as a large instrument that is approximately 6 feet in length, and it consists of a hollow body that is made from kiri, or Paulownia wood. Beneath the body there are two different sound holes, with one on each end of the body. There are 13 different strings and they are tied over the top of bridges that are on each end of the instrument's body. The strings are all the same size as well as the same tension. There is a movable bridge on this instrument, known as a ji, which is placed somewhere along each string's length. The ji is responsible for lifting the strings away from the body so that the strings will resonate when they have been plucked. Each string is tuned by way of sliding these movable bridges along the length of the instrument.

How do you play the Koto?

The player of the Koto will sit at the instrument's top end, plucking the strings in the area that is just to the left of the topmost bridge. The strings are generally plucked with the use of three different picks, known as plectrums, which are attached to three different fingers, one of which is the thumb. The player can make use of their left hand to bend each string in the area just to the left of the ji. When the strings are pressed toward the Koto body, they go sharp, and pulling them in the direction of the ji will cause them to go just slightly flat.

Music and Scores with the Koto

Koto music has been evolving for many centuries now, and even to this day it continues to change. Originally, scores for Koto playing were never committed to paper. Many of the people that played the Koto were actually blind, and for a period of time, Koto playing was an occupation that was reserved for people that were blind. For this reason, writing down the scores simply did not make any sense. As with a number of other types of crafts, the repertoire was maintained through memory, and it was passed down through programs of apprenticeship.

Although the music was not committed to paper, the strings were still named. The string names for the original ten strings are simply the Japanese numbers for one through ten, but the last three strings have unique names.

The first string is ichi. The second string is ni. The third string is san. The fourth string is shi. The fifth string is go. The sixth string is roku. The seventh string is shichi or nana. The eighth string is hachi. The ninth string is kyu. The tenth string is ju. The eleventh string is to. The twelfth string is i. The thirteenth and final string is kin.

Photo Credits: buyalex

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Originally posted 2009-10-07 03:29:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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