Yatsuhashi Kengyo
Encyclopedia
Yatsuhashi Kengyō was a Japanese musician and composer from Kyoto
. The name Kengyō is an honorary title given to highly skilled blind musicians.
Yatsuhashi, who was born and died in Japan, was originally a player of the shamisen
, but later learned the koto
from a musician of the Japanese court. Originally restricted to the court, Yatsuhashi is credited as the first musician to introduce and teach the koto to general audiences. He is thus known as the "Father of Modern Koto."
He changed the limited selection of six pieces to a brand new style of koto music which he called kumi uta. Yatsuhashi changed the Tsukushi goto tunings, which were based on tunings used in gagaku
, and with this change a new style of koto was born. He adapted the Hirajoshi scale and the Insen scale
for the koto, from the shamisen repertoire.
Yatsuhashi is also credited as the composer of the important koto solo piece Rokudan-no-shirabe
(六段の調, Music of Six Steps), although he may not actually have composed it himself.http://books.google.com/books?id=Yn3VQbqywCsC&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=blind+yatsuhashi&source=bl&ots=8SI8okZvR8&sig=dyZWakpzAZVqnHCxHeZKQFLD2NI&hl=en&ei=j4cJS9-xPIbRlAeYmZ3zCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=blind%20yatsuhashi&f=false
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
. The name Kengyō is an honorary title given to highly skilled blind musicians.
Yatsuhashi, who was born and died in Japan, was originally a player of the shamisen
Shamisen
The , also called is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix . -Construction:The shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument...
, but later learned the koto
Koto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
from a musician of the Japanese court. Originally restricted to the court, Yatsuhashi is credited as the first musician to introduce and teach the koto to general audiences. He is thus known as the "Father of Modern Koto."
He changed the limited selection of six pieces to a brand new style of koto music which he called kumi uta. Yatsuhashi changed the Tsukushi goto tunings, which were based on tunings used in gagaku
Gagaku
Gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto for several centuries. It consists of three primary repertoires:#Native Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance, called kuniburi no utamai...
, and with this change a new style of koto was born. He adapted the Hirajoshi scale and the Insen scale
Insen scale
Insen is a tuning scale adapted from shamisen music by Yatsuhashi Kengyō for tuning of the koto. It only differs from the hirajoshi scale by one note....
for the koto, from the shamisen repertoire.
Yatsuhashi is also credited as the composer of the important koto solo piece Rokudan-no-shirabe
Rokudan
Rokudan no Shirabe is one of Yatsuhashi Kengyo's famous pieces. It was originally a soukyoku, a kind of chamber music with the koto playing the leading part, but nowadays the part of the koto is more widely known than the original...
(六段の調, Music of Six Steps), although he may not actually have composed it himself.http://books.google.com/books?id=Yn3VQbqywCsC&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=blind+yatsuhashi&source=bl&ots=8SI8okZvR8&sig=dyZWakpzAZVqnHCxHeZKQFLD2NI&hl=en&ei=j4cJS9-xPIbRlAeYmZ3zCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=blind%20yatsuhashi&f=false