Japanese Geisha Music

Japanese Geisha Music

Geisha are Japanese women who entertain through performing the ancient traditions of art, dance and singing, and are distinctively characterized by their wearing of kimono and oshiroi makeup. Geisha begin their study of music and dance when they are very young and continue it throughout their lives. The dance of the geisha has evolved from the dance performed on the noh and kabuki stages. The “wild and outrageous” dances transformed into a more subtle, stylized, and controlled form of dance. It is extremely disciplined, similar to t’ai chi. Every dance uses gestures to tell a story and only a connoisseur can understand the subdued symbolism.

The dances are accompanied by traditional Japanese music. The primary instrument is the shamisen. This shamisen, originating in Okinawa, is a banjo-like three-stringed instrument that is played with a plectrum. It has a very distinct, melancholy sound that is often accompanied by flute. All geisha must learn shamisen-playing, though it takes years to master. Along with the shamisen and the flute, geisha also learned to play a ko-tsuzumi, a small, hourglass-shaped shoulder drum, and a large floor taiko (drum). Some geisha would not only dance and play music, but would write beautiful, melancholy poems. Others painted pictures or composed music.

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Music is an expression of human creativity. UNESCO reports that among all the performing arts, music is the most universal and is found in every society, most often as an integral part of other performing art forms and other domains of intangible cultural heritage.

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