Pansori ( ) is a long vocal and percussive music played by one singer and one

drummer. In this traditional art form, sometimes rather misleadingly called 'Korean
Opera',[20] a narrator may play the parts of all the characters in a story, accompanied by
a drummer. The lyrics tell one of five different stories, but is individualized by each
performer, often with updated jokes and audience participation. One of the most famous
pansori singers is Park Dongjin (hangul: ). In 2003, Pansori was designated as
intangible cultural property in UNESCO's Memory of the world. [29]
The National Theatre of Korea provides monthly opportunities to experience traditional
Korean narrative songs or Pansori.

Sanjo, literally meaning 'scattered melodies,' is a style of traditional Korean music,

involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the janggu, an hourglassshaped drum. The art of sanjo is a real crystalliization of traditional Korean melody and
rhythm which may have been handed down by rote generation after generation. The
drummer who beats the janggu also makes chuimsae (exclamations) in order to please

the audience. The audience can also express their excited feeling with chuimsae while
listening to sanjo.

The gayageum means a stringed instrument (geum) of Gaya, an ancient country

located in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. According to the History of Three
Kingdoms, King Gasil of the Gaya dynasty created the gayageum based on a Chinese
instrument. The body of the gayageum is made of a long paulownia. The instrument has
twelve strings placed on movable bridges. The right hand makes the sound and the left
hand makes the tunes. There are two kinds of gayageum; one used for classical music
and the other used for folk music.

Yanggeum means a stringed instrument of the West (yang). Theyanggeum is also

called seoyanggeum ("Western stringed instrument") or gura cheolsageum ("European
metal stringed instrument"). The origin of the yanggeum is the santur in Middle East.
The Chinese introduced it into Korea in the 18th century. Its body is flat and trapezoidal,
with seven sets of four metal strings. The right hand strikes the strings with a thin
bamboo strip.

Nagauta ( ?), literally "long song", is a kind of traditional Japanese music which
accompanies the kabuki theater. It was developed around 1740. Influences included the
vocal ykyoku style used in noh theater, and instruments included the shamisen and
various kinds of drums.
The shamisen, a plucked lute with three strings, is a very popular instrument in nagauta.
Nagauta performers generally play the shamisen and sing simultaneously.
Nagauta
is
the
basis
of
the Nagauta
Symphony,
one movement composed in 1934 by composer Kosaku Yamada.
Meriyasu is considered a subset of nagauta.

a symphony in

The shakuhachi (?, pronounced [akhati]) is a Japanese endblown flute.It was originally introduced from China into Japan in the 8th century and
underwent a resurgence in the early Edo Period. The shakuhachi is traditionally made
of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of
the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of suizen (?, blowing meditation).

The taiko, is a Japanese drum that comes in various sizes and is used to play a variety of musical
genres.[citation needed] It has become particularly popular in recent years as the central instrument of
percussion ensembles whose repertory is based on a variety of folk and festival music of the past.
Such taiko music is played by large drum ensembles called kumi-daiko. Its origins are uncertain, but
can be stretched out as far back as the 7th centuries, when a clay figure of a drummer indicates its
existence. China influences followed, but the instrument and its music remained uniquely Japanese.
[7]
Taiko drums during this period were used during battle to intimidate the enemy and to
communicate commands. Taiko continue to be used in the religious music of Buddhism and Shint.
In the past players were holy men, who played only at special occasions and in small groups, but in
time secular men (rarely women) also played the taiko in semi-religious festivals such as the bon
dance.

The biwa ( ?) is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative

storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence,
poetry, and education in Buddhism.

Qinqiang ( , pinyin: Qnqing) or Luantan ( , pinyin: Luntn) is the representative

folk Chinese opera of the northwest Province of Shaanxi, China,[1] where it was called Qin thousands
of years ago. Its melodies originated from rural areas of ancient Shaanxi and Gansu.[2] The word
itself means "the tune or sound of Qin

Chinese vocal music has traditionally been sung in a thin, non resonant voice or
in falsetto and is usually solo rather than choral. All traditional Chinese music
is melodic rather than harmonic. Chinese vocal music probably developed from sung
poems and verses with music. Instrumental pieces played on an erhu or dizi are
popular, and are often available outside of China, but the pipa and zhengmusic, which
are more traditional, are more popular in China itself. The qin is perhaps the most
revered instrument in China, even though very few people know what it is or seen and
heard one being played. The zheng, a form of zither, is most popular
in Henan, Chaozhou, Hakka and Shandong. The pipa, a kind of lute, believed to have
been introduced from the Arabian Peninsula area during the 6th century and adapted to
suit Chinese tastes, is most popular in Shanghai and surrounding areas.

Ruan ()- commonly referred to as "Chinese guitar", is an ancient four-stringed moonshaped lute with long and straight neck and various number of frets, dated back at least
to Qin Daynasty (around 200 BC).

Konghou (Kong Hou) - One of the most ancient Chinese music instruments that
appeared in written texts of the Spring and Autumn period (around 600 BC). The
structure of the Konghou looks similar to the harp, however, with its bridges spanning
the strings in the way similar to guzheng. There were the wo-konghou (horizontal
konghou), su-konghou (vertical konghou) and phoenix-head konghou.

Slopes