Instructor: Jay Keister
Class time: MW 11:00-12:15; Room: Imig N285 (Music Library Seminar Room)
Office: N124; Tel: 303-492-5496; keister@colorado.edu
Office hours: Mon. 12:30-1:30, Wed. 10:00-11:00

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introductory historical survey of Japanese musical traditions from the beginnings of Japanese civilization to the present day. Topics will include a survey of the main genres of Japanese music on traditional instruments, the relationship between music and Japanese society, and the aesthetics of Japanese music and art. Lectures and discussions will be based on a survey textbook (see below), recordings of Japanese music, and selected supplemental readings in the study of Japanese music and culture. Historically significant musical works and their various notation systems will be analyzed. Video examples of a variety of Japanese classical, theatrical and folk performing arts will also be presented. The objective of the course is for students to develop a basic knowledge of the history and aesthetics of Japanese music, including the ability to identify recorded examples of major genres.

TEXT:
Malm, William P.  Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Tokyo: Kodansha International. 2000. Includes CD of listening examples. Available at bookstore.

GRADING:
Undergraduate students
Mid-term (40%)
An exam based on lectures, discussions and listening examples from the first half of the course. Exam will consist of short essay questions and listening identification of selections from the CD.
Final exam (40%)
An exam based on lectures, discussions and listening examples from the second half of the course (non-cumulative). Exam will be similar format as Mid-term.
Concert report/CD review (15%)
A written report on a concert event or a CD recording relevant to this course. The report should be a minimum of five full pages double spaced with bibliographic references and should incorporate concepts about Japanese music and culture learned in this course.
Participation in Discussions (5%)
Graduate students
Mid-term (25%) - Same as above.
Final exam (25%) - Same as above.
Concert report/CD review (10%) - Same as above.
Oral Presentations and Participation in Discussions (10%)
Graduate students will be expected to give TWO oral presentations on selected readings/topics to be arranged with instructor (see Supplemental Readings list).
Research Paper (30%)
This paper will be a 10-page minimum, double-spaced, research project with references, on a topic of your choice relating to Japanese music. Acceptable topics are wide-ranging, but must be pre-approved by instructor. This paper may be an in-depth report or analysis of a particular musical genre or period in music history or an original research paper about any subject relating to Japanese music. Be prepared to deliver a presentation of your paper to the class during Week 16.

NOTE: Classroom attendance and appropriate behavior is mandatory for all students. Your grade may be lowered with more than three unexcused absences, repeated tardiness, or any manner of disruptive classroom behavior.
 
 

CLASS SCHEDULE: (subject to change with the exception of exam dates; readings TBA)

Week 1 – Jan. 14 & 16: Introduction
Week 2 – Jan. 21 (MLK holiday) & 23: Folk performing arts, Shinto music
Week 3 – Jan. 28 & 30: Buddhist ritual music
Week 4 – Feb. 4 & 6: Gagaku (Imperial Court Music)
Week 5 – Feb. 11 & 13: Biwa (storytelling with plucked lute)
Week 6 – Feb. 18 & 20: Noh (early music drama)
Week 7 – Feb. 25 & 27: Shakuhachi (end-blown bamboo flute)
Week 8 – March 4 & 6: Review for Mid-term/MID-TERM on March 6th.
Week 9 – March 11 & 13: Koto (long zither)
Week 10 – March 18 & 20: Shamisen (3-string plucked lute)
Week 11 – March 25 & 27: SPRING BREAK
Week 12 – April 1 & 3: Theater music (Kabuki and Bunraku)
Week 13 – April 8 & 10: Iemoto and systems of preservation of Japanese arts
Week 14 – April 15 & 17: Minyo (folk songs) and contemporary popular music
Week 15 – April 22 & 24: 20th Century innovations and composition
Week 16 – April 29 & May 1: Presentation of final papers by graduate students
May 1: ALL ASSIGNMENTS DUE/Review for Final Exam
FINAL EXAM: Saturday, May 4, 7:30 AM
 

JAPANESE TRADITIONS (MUSC 5802)
Supplemental readings

De Ferranti, Hugh. 1991. "Composition and Improvisation in Satsuma biwa." Musica Asiatica 6: 102.

Dewoskin, Kenneth J. 1992. “Chinese and Japanese Aesthetics.” In A Companion to Aesthetics, edited by David Cooper, 68-73. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

Fujie, Linda. 1989. “Popular Music.” In Handbook of Japanese Popular Culture, edited by Richard Gid Powers and Hidetoshi Kato. New York: Greenwood Press.

Garfias, Robert. 1968 "The Sacred Mi-Kagura Ritual of the Japanese Imperial Court," Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 1, (2), 150-178.

Groemer, Gerald. 1999. The Spirit of Tsugaru. Warren, MI: Harmonie Park Press.

Hare, Tom. 1996. "Try, try again: training in noh drama." In Teaching and Learning in Japan, edited by Thomas P. Rohlen and Gerald K. LeTendre, 323-344. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hughes, David. 1999-2000. "'Soran Bushi': the many lives of a Japanese folk song." CHIME Journal 14-15: 31-47.

Kamisango, Yuko. 1988. "The Fuke Sect…" and "The Kinko Style," from The Shakuhachi: History and Development (translated and adapted by Christopher Yomei Blasdel): 109-117; 128-129. Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomo Sha.

Keene, Donald. 1995. "Japanese Aesthetics." In Japanese Aesthetics and Culture: A Reader, edited by Nancy G. Hume, 27-41. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Komparu, Kunio. 1983. The Noh Theater: Principles and Perspectives. New York: Weatherhill.

Malm, William P. 1978. “Four Seasons of the Old Mountain Woman: An Example of Japanese Nagauta Text Setting.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 31(1): 81-117.

Moriya, Takeshi. 1994. “The Lesson Culture.” In The Electric Geisha: Exploring Japanese Popular Culture, 43-50. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

Ortolani, Benito. 1969. "Iemoto." Japan Quarterly 16(3): 297-306.

Takemitsu, Toru. 1987. "My Perception of Time in Traditional Japanese Music." Contemporary Music Review 1: 9-13.

Tsuge, Genichi. 1981. "Symbolic techniques in Japanese Koto Kumiuta," Asian Music 12 (2): 109.

Wade, Bonnie. 1976. Tegotomono: Music for the Japanese Koto. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.