An Analysis of Form : The Concept of kata in Japanese Traditional Music

• In this article I attempt a partly new way of analysing the clusters of sound that constitute the building blocks – kata – of the fundamental repertoire of the Japanese bamboo flute shakuhachi. These kata can be perceived as structural entities of the music, but some Japanese scholars regard them as intangible prescriptive entities that are implicit in any of the traditional art forms that exist (or have existed) in Japan. I challenge the notion that these kata should be seen as motifs, and suggest a new terminology that I find appropriate for describing the musical events that occur in the sound clusters.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Musikvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Musicology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Japanese music

shakuhachi

honkyoku

form

kata

phrase

Musicology

musikvetenskap

Japanology

japanologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)