Traditional Japanese music

[1][failed verification] Outside of ethnomusicology, however, hōgaku usually refers to Japanese music from around the 17th to the mid-19th century.

Japan has several theatrical forms of drama in which music plays a significant role.

Noh music is played by an instrumental ensemble called hayashi-kata (囃子方).

The hayashi ensemble is performed along with yōkyoku, vocal music, in Noh theater.

Kabuki (歌舞伎) is a type of Japanese theatre known for its highly stylized dancing and singing as well as the elaborate make-up worn by the predominately all-male cast.

Kabuki music can be divided into three categories: geza, shosa-ongaku, and ki and tsuke.

[3] Geza includes music and sound effects played on stage, behind a black bamboo curtain called a kuromisu.

Shosa-ongaku encompasses music that is played on the stage and accompanies acting and dancing.

Shosa-ongaku includes the takemoto, nagauta, tokiwazu and kiyomoto music styles.

The actors attempt to synchronize their lines with the rhythm of takemoto—an effect known as ito ni noru ('get onto strings').

Tokiwazu consists of reciters called tayū and shamisenkata that use chuzao (medium-neck) shamisen.

Ki and tsuke describe the distinctive sounds made by striking two square oak boards.

Shōmyō (声明) is a kind of Buddhist chanting of sutra syllabically or melismatically set to melodic phrasing, usually performed by a male chorus.

Shōmyō is a translation of the Sanskrit word sabda-vidya, which means "the (linguistic) study of language".

Tamaya Yamazaburou (玉屋山三郎) composed new ogiebushi pieces at the end of the Edo period.

Now kokyoku is Katohbushi (河東節), Icchuubushi (一中節), Miyazonobushi (宮薗節) and Ogiebushi (荻江節).

Sōkyoku (筝曲) uses the Japanese koto (琴), which differs from the Chinese guzheng.

[11][deprecated source] There are two well known families of sōkyoku, which can be distinguished by the shape of the plectra used in playing.