Shōmyō Explained

is a style of Japanese Buddhist chant, used mainly in the Tendai and Shingon sects.^[1] 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.^[2]

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

Notes and References

1. Book: The Cambridge history of Japan . John Whitney Hall. 1988. Cambridge University Press. 0521223520.
2. Book: Cross-Cultural Communication: World Music. Japanese Music. University of Wisconsin. Green Bay. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080313144427/http://www.uwgb.edu/ogradyt/world/japan.htm. 2008-03-13.