The in scale (also known as the Sakura pentatonic scale due to its use in the well-known folk song Sakura Sakura) is one of two pentatonic scales commonly used in Japanese folk music, excluding gagaku and Buddhist shōmyō. The in scale, which contains minor notes, is used specifically in music for the koto and shamisen and is contrasted with the yo scale, which does not contain minor notes.[1]
More recent theory[2] emphasizes that it is more useful in interpreting Japanese melody to view scales on the basis of "nuclear tones" located a fourth apart and containing notes between them, as in the miyako-bushi scale used in koto and shamisen music and whose pitches are equivalent to the in scale:[3]
In scale in the other musical traditions
editIn Indian classical music, Gunkali (Hindustani), Raga Salanganata (Indian) and Karnataka Shuddha Saveri (Carnatic) are nearly identical to the pentatonic in scale,[4][5] highlighting the shared past of their origins. Some rare examples of ancient genres of Andean music (e.g. k'antu) use a scale similar to the in scale combined with melody leading with a parallel fifths and fourths. For example, Machulas Kantu by Bolivia Manta folk group from the album Wiñayataqui.[original research?]
See also
editSources
edit- ^ Titon, Jeff Todd (1996). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples, p.372. ISBN 0-02-872612-X.
- ^ Koizumi Fumio (1974). Nihon no ongaku (Japanese music), 76. Tokyo: National Theater of Japan.
- ^ Titon (1996), 373.
- ^ "Comprehensive Scale Catalog: Five-Tone Scales in Equal Temperament". www.flutopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
- ^ "Raga Salanganata Scale for Piano | Piano Scales". pianoencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
Further reading
edit- Hewitt, Michael. 2013. Musical Scales of the World. The Note Tree. ISBN 978-0957547001.
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