An instrumental ensemble resounding for more than a millennium

Instrumental performance in gagaku is supported by a varied range of music instruments. Some have remained unique to gagaku, while others have spread to other genres of Japanese traditional music. The instruments can be divided into three broad classes, namely winds, strings, and percussion, which are known traditionally as fukimono (‘blown things’), hikimono (‘plucked things’) and uchimono, (‘struck things’). Each of the sub-genres of gagaku uses a distinctive combination of instruments.

All of the wind instruments are made primarily of bamboo. There are three transverse flutes, of different sizes and origins. The penetrating reedpipe hichiriki is held vertically, and though of limited range, is able to produce delicate melodic inflections. The shō is a mouthorgan constructed of pipes with individual reeds inserted into a headpiece, and is thus capable of playing multiple tones at once. Its chords, known as aitake, envelop the melodies of the flute and reedpipe.

The strings participate in ensemble performance in a way that emphasizes the rhythm. The four-stringed lute biwa is held in front of the body, and played with a plectrum held in the right hand. The multi-stringed zithers sō and wagon are plucked, the former with plectrums placed on the fingers of the right hand, and the latter mainly with a pick held in the right hand.

The percussion regulate tempo and rhythm. The deep-pitched taiko (large drum) comes in two forms: a large pair used for outdoor performances of bugaku (known as dadaiko); and a smaller version used in indoor performances of kangen (also known as tsuridaiko). The kakko and san-no-tsuzumi are drums with higher pitches, and have skins attached to smaller bodies by laces. Their players are responsible for leading the ensembles in which they are played. The gong shōko is gagaku’s only metallic instrument, and is struck in a scraping motion. The clapper shakubyōshi is a simple instrument made up of two flat pieces of wood struck together.

Instruments refined over the ages

Just as the music of gagaku includes both foreign and indigenous elements, its instruments derive from both foreign and indigenous sources. One of the transverse flutes (the kagura-bue), the wagon, and the shakubyōshi all have native origins.

Instruments of foreign origin, transmitted from the Korean peninsula and Chinese mainland over a period of centuries, are more numerous, reflecting a truly broad geographical range of origins. The original body of foreign instruments, used in the performance of music and dance, was gradually reduced during the process of ‘Japanization’ of the Heian period (9th to 12th centuries). The resulting collection of a dozen or so instruments represents a reflection of the aesthetic preferences of court culture, selected and refined over a period of centuries.