津軽三味線 新田昌弘 MASAHIRO NITTA

Traditional music is an umbrella term used in the mid–20th century by folklorists and ethnomusicologists to denote community-rooted, orally transmitted repertoires tied to social ritual, work, celebration, and storytelling. Unlike commercial pop or art-music traditions, traditional music is typically learned by ear, varies regionally, and evolves slowly through communal participation. It often features modal melodies, cyclic rhythms, heterophony or unison singing, and indigenous instruments whose timbres are integral to local identity. Lyrics tend to preserve language, history, and collective memory. While the musical practices themselves can be ancient, the phrase “traditional music” emerged to replace earlier, narrower or colonial framings like “folk” or “ethnic” music, foregrounding continuity, locality, and living practice rather than exoticism.

Shamisen is a Japanese musical genre centered on the three‑string, long‑necked lute called the shamisen, plucked with a large plectrum (bachi). The instrument’s characteristic sawari (intentional string buzz) and percussive right‑hand articulation give the music a bright, cutting timbre capable of both delicate lyricism and driving rhythmic power. The genre encompasses multiple traditions and repertoires: art‑music styles such as nagauta (linked to Kabuki theatre), jiuta and kouta (chamber and salon repertories), narrative jōruri accompaniment, and regional folk song (min’yō). A virtuosic modern stream, Tsugaru‑jamisen, features rapid tremolo, dramatic dynamic contrasts, and improvisatory development. Typical tunings (hon‑chōshi, ni‑agari, san‑sagari), use of Japanese pentatonic pitch collections (In and Yo scales), and an aesthetic of ma (expressive space) shape its melodic and formal language.