Shomyo
Encyclopedia
Shōmyō is a style of Japan
ese Buddhist chant
, used mainly in the Tendai
and Shingon sects. There are two styles: ryokyoku and rikkyoku, described as difficult and easy to remember, respectively.
Shomyo, like gagaku
, employs the Yo scale
, a pentatonic scale
with ascending intervals of two, three, two, two, and three semitones.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Buddhist chant
Buddhist chant
A Buddhist chant is a form of musical verse or incantation, in some ways analogous to Hindu, Christian or Jewish religious recitations. They exist in just about every part of the Buddhist world, from the Wats in Thailand to the Tibetan Buddhist temples in India and Tibet...
, used mainly in the Tendai
Tendai
is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
and Shingon sects. There are two styles: ryokyoku and rikkyoku, described as difficult and easy to remember, respectively.
Shomyo, like 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...
, employs the Yo scale
Yo scale
The yo scale, which does not contain semitones, according to a traditional theory is a pentatonic scale used in much Japanese music, excluding gagaku and Buddhist chanting...
, a pentatonic scale
Pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
with ascending intervals of two, three, two, two, and three semitones.
External links
- What Appears Through Chanting: Tendai Shomyo Ryokyoku
- http://jtrad.columbia.jp/eng/s_tendai.html
- http://www.eastvalley.or.jp/eng/kyoku.html
- http://sound.jp/tengaku/Shichseikai-e/shomyo-e4.html