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east asian music

East Asian Music

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Description

East Asian music is an umbrella term for the traditional art, court, ritual, and folk musics of China, Japan, Korea, and neighboring cultures. While locally diverse, these traditions share broad aesthetic features such as pentatonic and heptatonic modal systems, heterophonic textures, flexible rhythm organized in cycles, and a refined focus on timbre, ornamentation, and silence.

Typical instruments include Chinese zithers (qin/guqin, zheng/guzheng), lutes (pipa, ruan), fiddles (erhu), flutes (dizi, xiao) and mouth organs (sheng); Japanese mouth organ (shō), double-reed (hichiriki), transverse flute (ryuteki), lutes (biwa), and koto; and Korean zither family (gayageum, geomungo), fiddle (haegeum), transverse flute (daegeum), and oboe (piri). Court forms such as gagaku (Japan), yayue (China), and aak (Korea) exemplify ceremonial grandeur, while folk and theatrical genres emphasize narrative singing, dance, and regional languages and dialects.

Across these cultures, music is deeply linked with philosophy and ritual—Confucian ideas of moral cultivation, Buddhist liturgy and chant, and indigenous concepts like Japan’s ma (meaningful silence) and jo–ha–kyū (formal pacing) shape both composition and performance.

History

How to make a track in this genre

Main artists

Influenced by

Central Asian Music

Central Asian music is a broad family of traditions shared across the Silk Road heartlands—today’s Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan, with strong ties to Uyghur, Pamiri, and other regional cultures. It blends Turkic nomadic song and epic recitation with Persianate courtly repertoire and Islamic modal theory, producing rich vocal melismas, intricate modal (maqom/maqam) systems, and cyclical rhythms (usul). Instrumentation centers on long‑necked lutes (dutar, tanbur, komuz, dombra), bowed fiddles (ghijak/kamancheh, qobyz), frame drums (doira/doyra), reed and woodwind instruments (surnay, nai), and zither or harp relatives (chang). Stylistically, it spans refined urban suites such as Shashmaqam to nomadic epic performance (akyn/jyrau/manaschi), wedding dance music driven by doira patterns, and intimate lyrical songs. Its timbral palette favors resonant plucked strings, bright double‑reed leads, and expressive, ornamented vocals.

Taoist Ritual Music

Taoist ritual music is the liturgical sound-world of Daoist (Taoist) religion, accompanying rites of invocation, purification, offering, exorcism, and thanksgiving. It combines vocal chant, intoned scripture, and heterophonic instrumental ensembles to shape sacred time and space within temples and processions. Core timbres come from the sheng (mouth organ), guanzi (double-reed), dizi (flute), and occasional suona (shawm) for outdoor or processional moments, supported by a ritual percussion battery: frame and barrel drums, hand gongs, cymbals, clappers, the wooden fish (muyu), and stone or bronze chimes (qing/zhong). Melodies draw on Chinese pentatonic and heptatonic modal practice, are transmitted in gongche (solmization) notation and oral lineage, and are organized into suites that align with the stages of the liturgy.

Mongolian Throat Singing

Mongolian throat singing (höömii) is a traditional overtone-singing art in which a vocalist produces a low, sustained fundamental drone while shaping the mouth and throat to amplify specific overtones, making two or more pitches audible at once. The result is an otherworldly, flute-like melody floating above a deep, stable tone. Rooted in the nomadic herding culture of Mongolia, höömii is closely tied to the natural soundscape of the steppe—wind, rivers, and animal calls—often imitated in timbre and phrasing. Distinct Mongolian styles include kharkhiraa (a growling undertone beneath the drone) and isgeree khöömii (a whistling-overtone style), among others categorized by the primary resonance area (throat, chest, palate, nasal cavity). Performances range from intimate solo pieces to ensemble settings with morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) and tovshuur (lute), and appear in ritual, celebratory, and concert contexts. The practice emphasizes breath control, resonance, and subtly shifting vowel shapes rather than conventional harmonic progressions.

Has influenced

Chinese Classical

Chinese classical music refers to the courtly, literati, and ritual musical traditions of China that emphasize refinement, poetic symbolism, and ethical cultivation. It privileges timbre, gesture, and modal color over harmonic progression, and is closely tied to classical poetry, calligraphy, and philosophy. Its core idioms include solo and small-ensemble repertoire for guqin, pipa, xiao, dizi, sheng, guzheng, ruan, and erhu, as well as ritual/ceremonial ensembles. Melodies typically draw on pentatonic and heptatonic modal systems (gong–shang–jue–zhi–yu), use nuanced ornamentation, and favor heterophony when played in ensemble. The tradition is historically transmitted through lineage, handbooks, and mnemonic/character notations (e.g., jianzipu and gongchepu), with performance practice emphasizing breath, space, and expressive inflection (slides, harmonics, and vibrato).

Japanese Classical

Japanese classical refers to the courtly, religious, theatrical, and chamber traditions that crystallized in Japan from the Nara and Heian periods onward. It encompasses Gagaku (imperial court music), Shinto ritual music (kagura), Buddhist chant (shōmyō), Noh and Kabuki repertories (e.g., nagauta, jōruri), and chamber music for koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi (sankyoku). The style emphasizes modal color (ryō and ritsu modes, along with later in/yo pentatonic variants), the dramatic architecture of jo–ha–kyū (slow introduction, development, swift conclusion), and the aesthetic of ma (meaningful silence/space). Textures are often heterophonic or layered, timbres are cultivated for breathy, reedy, and bell-like colors (e.g., shō, hichiriki, ryūteki), and rhythm can range from free-flowing chant to stately ceremonial cycles. The result is a contemplative yet ceremonially powerful sound world distinct from Western common-practice tonality.

Korean Classical

Korean classical (gugak jeongak) refers to the refined court, literati, and ritual traditions of the Korean peninsula, centered on the Joseon-era repertories. It encompasses Confucian ritual music (aak), suites and chamber genres (such as Yeongsanhoesang), and aristocratic vocal song forms like gagok, gasa, and sijo. The style is characterized by heterophonic textures, long-breathed melodies, and nuanced pitch inflections (sigimsae). Rhythmic organization relies on cyclic patterns (jangdan) and a carefully shaped sense of elasticity and breath. Typical instruments include gayageum and geomungo (zither-lutes), haegeum (two-string fiddle), daegeum/junggeum/sogeum (transverse bamboo flutes), piri (double-reed), ajaeng (bowed zither), and percussion such as janggu and buk. Modal language draws on systems such as ujo and gyemyeonjo, with pitch centers and ornamental idioms that privilege timbre, contour, and expressive microtonal shading over functional harmony.

East Asian Classical Music

East Asian classical music is an umbrella term for the literati, court, and religious art-music traditions of China, Japan, and Korea that crystallized during and after the Tang dynasty period. It emphasizes timbral nuance, melodic ornamentation, and modal systems over Western-style harmonic progression. Textures are typically monophonic or heterophonic, with multiple instruments rendering the same melody in subtly varied ways. Common materials include anhemitonic pentatonic scales (e.g., gong–shang–jue–zhi–yu in China), Japanese ryo/ritsu scales, and Korean pyeongjo/gyemyonjo modes. Rhythmic practice ranges from breath-based, rubato flow in solo traditions (e.g., guqin, shakuhachi) to highly codified cyclical patterns in court ensembles (e.g., gagaku, jeongak). Iconic instruments include the guqin, pipa, erhu, dizi, and sheng (China); koto, shamisen, shakuhachi, hichiriki, ryuteki, and sho (Japan); and gayageum, geomungo, haegeum, daegeum, and piri (Korea). Performance aesthetics value restraint, subtle inflection, and a balance between rigorously codified repertoire and living, orally transmitted performance practice.

Gagaku is the ancient court music of Japan, performed for imperial and Shinto ceremonial contexts. It is characterized by a stately, breath-based flow; shimmering sustained chords from the shō (mouth organ); penetrating, ornamented melodies on hichiriki (double-reed) and ryūteki (transverse flute); and delicately patterned percussion. The ensemble typically includes winds (shō, hichiriki, ryūteki/komabue/kagurabue), strings (gaku-biwa, gakusō/koto, wagon), and percussion (shōkō, kakko, taiko, dadaiko). Textures are largely heterophonic, modes derive from the ryo and ritsu systems, and pieces unfold in the jo–ha–kyū arc from introduction through development to swift close. Many works accompany bugaku (court dance), while vocal repertoires such as saibara and rōei present courtly song traditions.

Shōmyō is the liturgical chant tradition of Japanese Buddhism, most closely associated with the Tendai and Shingon schools. The term (声明) literally means “voice and name,” reflecting its devotional function of vocalizing sacred names, sutras, and mantras. Musically, shōmyō is predominantly monophonic and breath‑paced, with free rhythm, stepwise motion, and extended melismas. It draws on ancient East Asian modal thinking (e.g., ritsu and ryō pitch sets) and favors a narrow range, subtle inflection, and heterophonic unison when sung by a choir. Performances are typically a cappella, occasionally punctuated by small bells and gongs that cue entrances and sections. The chant is performed in Japanese, Sino‑Japanese (kanbun), and mantric syllables (Siddham/Shittan). Its sound is solemn, spacious, and contemplative, designed to sanctify ritual space and guide collective meditation.

Ryūkōka is an early form of Japanese popular song that blossomed from the late Taishō into the early Shōwa era. It blends Western popular idioms—such as waltz, tango, foxtrot, and jazz—with Japanese pentatonic melodies and vocal ornamentation. Characterized by crooning vocals, sentimental themes, and orchestrations that could include strings, guitar, accordion, clarinet, and sometimes shamisen, ryūkōka provided the blueprint for later Japanese popular styles. Its melodies often use the yo and in pentatonic scales, while harmonies draw from Western tonality, resulting in a distinctive fusion of local melody and imported harmony. The genre documented urban modernity, romance, wartime experience, and nostalgia, becoming the sound of a rapidly changing Japan between the 1920s and 1950s.

Min'yō refers to the diverse body of Japanese folk songs that arose from everyday life—work, festivals, travel, drinking gatherings, and lullabies—across regions of Japan. The songs are typically strophic, use local dialects, and often include onomatopoeic calls and interjections (kakegoe) such as “sore!” or “yoisho!” that energize group participation. Musically, min'yō commonly employs Japanese pentatonic scales—especially the anhemitonic yo scale and the hemitonic in-sen scale—with characteristic melismatic ornaments (kobushi), tight, bright vocal timbres, and flexible timing that respects ma (expressive space). Accompaniments are traditionally provided by shamisen, shinobue (transverse bamboo flute), shakuhachi, taiko and hand drums, and sometimes koto, with heterophonic textures rather than harmonic progressions. Stylistically, subtypes such as “-bushi” and “-ondo” reflect narrative vs. dance-oriented tendencies, respectively, with well-known regional examples like Soran-bushi (Hokkaidō), Tsugaru folk repertoire (Aomori), and Sado okesa (Niigata).

Shidaiqu (时代曲, literally “songs of the era”) is the first modern Chinese popular music style, emerging in cosmopolitan Shanghai during the late 1920s. It fuses Western dance-band idioms—especially jazz, swing, tango, and other Latin rhythms—with Chinese pentatonic melody, Mandarin lyrics, and the refined vocalism of Chinese opera and folk song. Arrangements typically feature small jazz combos or studio orchestras with strings and horns, supporting clear, lyrical vocals that favor sentimental themes about urban life, romance, and modernity. Shidaiqu flourished in 1930s–40s Shanghai film musicals and dance halls, before being suppressed as “yellow music” on the mainland after 1949; its artists and sound then migrated to Hong Kong and later Taiwan, laying the groundwork for Mandopop and subsequent Sinophone pop traditions.

Enka is a Japanese popular song style known for its sentimental ballads, expressive vocals with wide vibrato, and dramatic, narrative delivery. It evokes nostalgia for hometowns, bygone eras, and lost love, often painting scenes of coastal ports, country roads, and seasonal landscapes. Musically, enka blends Western harmonic frameworks with Japanese melodic sensibilities. Melodies often use yonanuki (four-note-omission) major or minor pentatonic variants, creating a “traditional” Japanese color over simple, diatonic progressions. Arrangements favor lush strings, reverb-laden guitars, saxophone obbligatos, and occasional traditional timbres (shamisen or shakuhachi) for color. Culturally, enka rose to mass popularity during the postwar Shōwa era and remains tied to television variety shows, karaoke bars, and live theater venues. Its performance practice foregrounds pathos, rubato phrasing, and ornamental turns called kobushi.

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