Asian Music

Music of Asia
What countries make up Asia?
What countries make up Asia?
Many countries make up Asia
including (but not limited to):
China
Japan
Korea
India
Taiwan
Philippines
Asian Music
The isolation of cultures or regions
contributes to the uniqueness of
Asian Music.
Asian instruments have a very unique
and distinctive sound.
The Music of Japan
Japan has a long history of traditional
music.
Two types of traditional music are
Buddhist Chanting and Orchestra
Court Music.
The Japanese Samurai often listened
to and performed in musical activities
in order to enrich their lives and
understanding.
Japanese Instruments
A Shakuhachi is
a Japanese endblown flute
which is held
vertically like a
recorder.
It is traditionally
made of
bamboo.
Japanese Instruments
The Koto is a traditional Japanese
stringed musical instrument derived
from Chinese Gugins (an ancient
string instrument).
Koto have 13 strings that are strung
over 13 movable bridges along the
length of the instrument. Players can
adjust the string pitches by moving
these bridges before playing
The Koto is played using three finger
picks to pluck the strings.
The Koto
The Music India
The music of India includes multiple
varieties of folk, popular, pop, and
classical music.
India’s classical music tradition has a
history spanning millennia and,
developed over several eras, remains
fundamental to the lives of Indians
today as sources of religious
inspiration, cultural expression and
pure entertainment.
Instruments of India
Sitar – a plucked
string instrument
which uses
sympathetic strings
along with a long
hollow neck and a
gourd resonating
chamber to
produce a very rich
sound with
complex harmonic
resonance.
Instruments of India
The Mridangam is
a percussion
instrument from
South India
The Mridangam is
a double-sided
drum whose body
is usually made
using a hollowed
piece of wood
about an inch thick.
The music of China
The music of China dates back to the
dawn of Chinese civilization with
documents and artifacts providing
evidence of a well-developed musical
culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty
(1122 BC - 256 BC).
The legendary founder of music in
Chinese mythology was Ling Lun,
who made bamboo pipes tuned to the
sounds of birds.
Instruments of China
The Pipa is a plucked
Chinese string instrument.
Sometimes called the
Chinese lute, the
instrument has a pearshaped wooden body. It
has been played for
nearly two thousand years
of history in China, and
belongs to the plucked
category of instruments.
Instruments of China
The Erhu is
sometimes known in
the West as the
"Chinese violin" or
"Chinese two-string
fiddle."
It is a two-stringed
bowed musical
instrument, used as a
solo instrument as
well as in small
ensembles and large
orchestras.