A Guide to Appreciating the Japanese Instrumental Koto Piece - Rokudan

Among the most renowned koto pieces is titled "Rokudan," or "Six Sections." It is distinctive of the danmono type of instrumental pieces comprising of various "steps," or sections, called dan. Each dan carries 104 beats and is iterated several times, with distinguished variation. A short intro of 4 to 8 beats (four beats in the instance of "Rokudan") sets out the piece, and each dan succeeds the last without a break. The first 4 beats are followed by 6 dan, each having 104 beats long. Listening to the piece once, nonetheless, could indicate that the danmono is anything but a mere theme-and-variation form, as the sections are hard to differentiate. Even after hearing the piece many times, one may not be able to tell apart where a new dan starts since the melody of each dan is comprised of short figures that are normally hard to distinguish. The second and third dan are probably recognizable as associated to the first, for they’re closer to the melodious content from the first dan; afterwhich the similarity in thematic material begins to be less clear. Some fundamental melodic figures can be heard once more, but in another pan of the dan, or in another range or rhythmical pattern.

Hence, instead of trying to differentiate every section, it makes better sense to listen for the repeated short melodic figures as well as greater overall patterns. Some of the short melodic-rhythmic patterns that recur have a settling dotted figure and octave jumps. As for bigger patterns, the jo-ha-kyu construction could be employed to the piece as a whole. The first two dan constitute the introductory section or the jo; the 2nd two dan determine the tempo increasing, as in a ha section; then the tempo gains its height in the final two dan, or the kyu section. The pace slows down just toward the end, in the last 22 beats or so, finishing in a long glissando. This figure is also observed in individual dan, in which one can also feel a gradual building up of tension.

In listening to this courtly piece, we hear from the start four beats of "introduction" a long note of 2 beats followed by a coming down note a 4th away, then an interval of a 5th (ex. 8-4). This figure is easily heard throughout the piece. The accompanying beat of silence makes up the first beat of the material doubled in each dan.

A deliberate listener can hear an assortment of timbres and engaging tonal effects. Occasionally the pick of one finger slithering down the string creates a pitchless sound; sometimes glissandos sweep the strings. There might be changes in pitch that sound almost like a sliding from a note to the next and then back again. This is an effect of altering the pressure maintained in the left hand on the string when the right hand plucks it. Such soft shifting of pitch and tone color afford koto music a particular beauty.

Koto: The Ancient Japanese Musical Instrument

The Koto is a 13-string Japanese musical instrument which produces a unique sound through plucking. This ancient instrument was said to have been brought to Japan from China in the 9th century. It is considered a distant relative of the ancient Chinese instrument- the qin, which dates back to the 5th century.

In the Japanese literature, the earliest mention of this instrument was written in an ancient handsroll in the Genji Monogatari or The Tale of Genji 12thC (translated in English as follows):

“Is my lord aware

Of an agitated heart

Unsteady as the rope

Slackened when our vessel halts

Charmed by the sound of a koto?” -Gosheki lady

The refined music of the koto is well known to several foreigners because it has become familiar outside Japan thanks to concerts, records, and CD’s. Whether performed as a solo instrument or in an ensemble, having a vocal part or without one, for several centuries the koto has been among the most popular traditional music instruments of Japan.

The modern-day koto is a long (nearly 1.8 meters), wooden instrument with 13 strings, traditionally silk but now, also nylon is used. Bridges (known as ji) bear the strings above the surface of the instrument, one bridge for every string. These bridges can be moved so that the player can adjust them at various places across the string, depending on the needed tuning.

Similar to the prototype of the shakuhachi, the ancestor of the koto came to Japan from China in the early centuries of cultural interchange, then the instrument was slowly adapted to its current form. After many centuries of use by an elite few, in the Tokugawa period the koto slowly spread in popularity to other segments of Japanese society. At this time, changes in learning and in the koto repertoire induced numerous men and women to learn it (Malm 1959:169). Growing numbers included merchants, the class that formally held the bottom status but which was advancing quickly in riches and influence. Near the beginning of the Meiji period in 1868, the koto could be discovered in numerous private homes and in teahouses and theaters, and skilled koto operation had become a mark of good upbringing for young women. A lot of of the sokyoku (or koto music) pieces played today were composed in the Tokugawa period, when fresh schools and styles of performing rose up. During this time the koto was involved in ensembles with the shamisen, and later, the kokyu or shakuhachi, combinations that contributed a significant form of chamber music into Japanese life.

Japanese Music: The Komuso, Shakuhachi, and Zen Buddhism

The Komuso (Japanese mendicant monastic) became organized into the Fuke religious sect of Buddhism in 1600-1868 during the Edo period in Japan. They developed a Zen style of shakuhachi playing. Zen Buddhism is a philosophy that’s propagated all-over Asia and the world in diverse forms, but it’s established on the idea that intellect is not required in the pursuit of truth. We can explore to know about matters, but we don’t actually know them. To recognize them, we must cast away our notions of scientific investigation and coherent reasoning and rather trust on heightened consciousness and intuition about life.

Several means for attaining that state of heightened awareness of enlightenment (satori in Japanese) have been suggested. These include pondering (koan) or paradoxical enigmas (the most famed is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?") and the practice of zazen, seated in silent meditation. To the Fuke sect, playing the shakuhachi was also reputed a means for attaining enlightenment. For this reason, the shakuhachi wasn’t regarded a "musical instrument" by its performers, but a hoki or "spiritual tool." The spiritual approach to the "playing" or use of the instrument is known as suizen, or "blowing Zen"

The goal of shakuhachi, according to suizen, concurs with the goal of Zen: to attain enlightenment, carrying on into limitless "knowing." How this is done isn’t developed precisely (as it cannot be from the Zen perspective), but one basal notion is called ichoon jobutsu or "enlightenment in a single note." As stated by to this theory, one may reach enlightenment all of a sudden when blowing a single tone.

Breathing is important in shakuhachi playing and its association with Zen. The exhaling of breath is listened upon in the dynamic level and tone quality of a pitch, at the same time, it bears with it the possible action of instant spiritual enlightenment. Thus, each instant of "performance," whether the intake of breath or its very slow release, whether the elusive, delicate filling in of a tone or the explosion of air via the instrument, can be translated in the context of a bigger spiritual life.

The breathing pattern is crucial in determining to play the shakuhachi. Each phrase takes one entire breath, with striking shifts in dynamic level according to how quick the air is expelled. The typical set phrase in shakuhachi honkyoku music conforms to the instinctive breathing pattern, the sound getting fainter toward the end of the phrase when the air in the lungs runs out. If this dynamic pattern is interrupted by a gradual or sharper increase in volume, it creates a marked impression on the listener.

In the zen shakuhachi playing, the concept of ma (meaning “space” or “interval”) is very much observed. Basically, ma revolves around the idea that sound is enhanced by silence and silence is enhanced by sound conforming to the concepts of emptiness and space of the Zen.

The Shakuhachi and The Samurai of Japan

The shakuhachi, a Japanese, wind blown instrument made from bamboo, looks amazingly simple in structure yet delivers an array of tones from gentle and ethereal to rough and fierce. This transverse flute is constructed from a length of bamboo taken from the bottom portion of a bamboo stalk, including pan of the root. The name shakuhachi is derived from the length of the stock instrument. Shaku means a traditional unit of measure equivalent to about 30 cm. and hachi corresponds to 8, together meaning 1.8 shaku or about 54 cm. (Players also use different lengths, occasionally to match the range of the other supporting players’ instruments.) The standard shakuhachi bears four holes in the front of the instrument and another in the back for the thumb of the left hand.

The shakuhachi’s versatility in producing pitch and tone is in fact, due to its construction. Vertically held, the flute has a mouthpiece on top which is cut obliquely on the side away from the player. By partly covering the finger holes and changing the angle of the lips to the mouthpiece, a player can bring out a wide variety of tone qualities and pitches. The shakuhachi easily produces microtones including tones ranging from "pure" with few overtones to very breathy sounding virtually like white noise. A lot of Western-influenced modern-day compositions have been composed for the shakuhachi because of its wide-ranging pitch and tone quality.

Solo shakuhachi performance was widespread throughout the Tokugawa period (1600-1867). This was considered a golden age in Japanese cultural life. It was an era of peace, wherein the shogun living in Tokyo governed over a united country, while the Kyoto emperor bore only nominal power. After centuries of violent struggles between other factions of patricians and military leaders, Japan embraced peace and flourished under it.

Masakazu Yoshizawa, Japanese flautist and musician image via Wikipedia

But long-lasting peace entailed trouble for members of the samurai class. Samurai warriors relished high status throughout the years of fighting, but afterwards, a lot of samurai of lower rank were let go from their duties, becoming ronin or "masterless samurai.’ The Tokugawa government felt it expedient to maintain the social class system constituted in earlier times: at the top were samurai, succeeded by farmers, craftsmen, and finally, merchants. By issuing orders designed to set up limits between these classes, the government tried to forbid movement between them. For this understanding, even though they were without a means of

backup, ronin weren’t granted to change their class status as samurai, though some handled to do so. Several became teachers or writers, others turned to become farmers, and still others became employed bodyguards for rich merchants. The picture of the proud, haughty, brave samurai, as envisioned in samurai movies, is predominantly established on the ronin of the Tokugawa era, who were in reality, unemployed samurai.

image via Wikipedia

Some other choice for the ronin was to take religious orders and solicit on the streets and highways of Japan. As a matter of fact, in Tokugawa society, it was regarded more honorable to beg than to "lower" one’s social status by becoming a merchant or farmer. A group of ronin who took religious orders were known as "komuso." Komuso (literally meaning "emptiness monks") were Buddhist priests who roamed the countryside, playing the shakuhachi and begging. The standard komuso get up included a huge, basket-shaped hat made of cane, wherein the wearer could see through but not be seen. It was rumored that the komuso were government undercover agents who are taking advantage of their right to travel all-over the country sporting a costume that concealed their identity.

These samarai-turned-priests created their brand on the shakuhachi repertoire. The main solo or honkyoku repertoire for the instrument, comes from the pieces performed by the komuso. All of these pieces, the most phantasmal and meditative of the present-day shakuhachi repertoire, have a spontaneous rhythm; lacking a regular beat.

For a shakuhachi player, making music is more than show of skill and the production of exquisite sounds. It is a deeper spiritual experience similar to that of meditation or prayer.