is a style of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
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.
Shōmyō, like
gagaku, employs the
Yo scale, a
pentatonic scale with ascending intervals of two, three, two, two, and three semitones.
References
Bibliography
* Hill, Jackson (1982). Ritual Music in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism: Shingon Shōmyō, Ethnomusicology 26 (1), 27-39
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
Buddhist music
Japanese styles of music
Buddhist chants
Japanese traditional music
Shōmyō
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