Kuchi shōga
Kuchi shōga (口唱歌), also known as kuchi showa or kuchi shoka, is an educational musical notation for traditional Japanese drums, particularly the taiko and the tsuzumi.
Kuchi shōga phoneticizes (that is,
Kuchi shōga notation is written in
Common phoneticizations
Although kuchi shōga does not have a fixed vocabulary, some phoneticizations are ubiquitous. Don typically means a deep, sustained sound from the center of the taiko. Do sometimes represents a short beat that is not allowed to
Taiko players commonly phoneticize a right-handed bachi stroke with don, do, tsu, or ka, respectively; and a reserve kon, ko, ku, and ra for left-handed strokes.
Two syllables are reserved for strokes on the tsuzumi, a drum that is much smaller than the taiko: Ta describes a tap on the side of the drum; pon refers to a stroke on the center of the drumhead.
Rests
This is called "kakegoe." If the rest is not sung, the space is often filled with unscripted sounds called kiais. Explicitly assigning words to represent the periods of silence in a song is likely linked to the Japanese concept of ma, where the space between notes is as important as the notes themselves in a performance.
Sample notation
The following is an example of kuchi shōga notation transliterated in rōmaji:
Don (tsu) doko don, don (tsu) don kon, doko don (tsu) don
When played in
See also
- Bol (music), syllables used similarly in Indian music
- Canntaireachd, a similar system for traditional Scottish Highland piping (pibrochs)
- Music of Japan
- Onomatopoeia
- Percussion notation
- Shakuhachi musical notation
- Solmization
- Transcription (linguistics)
- Taiko