Japanese musical scales
Scales used in Japanese traditional music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A variety of musical scales are used in traditional Japanese music. While the Chinese Shí-èr-lǜ has influenced Japanese music since the Heian period, in practice Japanese traditional music is often based on pentatonic (five tone) or heptatonic (seven tone) scales.[1] In some instances, harmonic minor is used, while the melodic minor is virtually unused.
Pentatonic scales
- Japanese mode: a pentatonic musical scale with the intervals of the scale a major second, minor third, perfect fifth and minor sixth.
- Akebono scale
- Hirajōshi scale
- In scale
- Insen scale
- Iwato scale
- Ritsu and ryo scales
- Yo scale
Further reading
- Koizumi Fumio. Musical Scales in Japanese Music. Heibonsha, Tokyo, 1977
- Sir Francis Taylor Piggott, Thomas Lea Southgate. The Music and Musical Instruments of Japan. B.T. Batsford, 1893
- William P. Malm. Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Kodansha International, 2000. ISBN 4770023952, 9784770023957
- Cargill Gilston Knott. Remarks on Japanese musical scales. Asiatic Society of Japan, 1891
