Talk:Koto (instrument)/Archive 1

A bit biased senence.
The sentence although many well-to-do young women learn the instrument to help develop an aura of "refinement" that will theoretically attract a better class of husband is a bit to value-loaded. I'm not saying it's not true, but I'm sure it's not the only reason to play the koto. --Apoc2400 15:39, 2 November 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree.

Sheet music for Koto?
Can anyone provide an example of Koto sheet music? If anyone has some that they can scan into Wikipedia, it would greatly add to the value of this article. Just looking at it is sure to knock some Western musicians/composers/conductors sideways! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.81.167.175 (talk) 23:27, 5 February 2007 (UTC).

Koto in the Modern Era
Why has this whole section (reproduced below) been excised? It was informative. MeowmeowmeowmeowBossk-Office 23:54, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Since the Japanese music scene was made over in Western pop music's image, the koto has become less prominent. However, it is still developing as an instrument; works are written for and performed on 20-stringed and bass kotos, and a new generation of players such as Sawai Kazue, Yagi Michiyo (who studied under Sawai) are finding places for the koto in today's jazz, pop music|pop and even experimental music June Kuramoto, of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima (band)|Hiroshima, was one of the first koto performers to popularize the koto in a non-traditional style. David Bowie used the koto in the instrumental piece "Moss Garden" on his album "Heroes". Paul Gilbert, a popular shred guitarist, recorded his wife, Emi playing the koto ont his song "Koto Girl" from the album "Alligator Farm". JRock / Visual Kei band Kagrra, are well known for using traditional japanese musical instruments in many of their songs, an example being Utakata (うたかた), a song where the koto has a prominent place. Other performers outside of Japan include koto master and award-winning recording artist Elizabeth Falconer, who also studied for a decade at the esteemed Sawai Koto School in Tokyo, as well as koto master Linda Kako Caplan, the sole Canadian representative of Fukuoka's Chikushi Koto School for over two decades. David Horvitz pioneered the instrument into the contemporary indie rock scene playing on Xiu Xiu's new album, The Air Force. Koto also come in larger sizes, the most popular of which is the 17-string bass koto, called jūshichi-gen. The members of the band Rin' are perhaps some of the more famous jūshichi-gen players in the modern (pop/rock) music scene. The koto used in gagaku is called gakuso.

Aqueous Transmission= No Koto
They actually used a pipa for this song. I'm deleting it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

Wood
The species of wood that is used to make the koto should be added to the article. Badagnani (talk) 19:42, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

confusion w/ incorrect reference
In the section about koto's history, the following section was taken from the page:"[Koto] was a very popular instrument in the Northeastern part of China. The first known version had five strings, which eventually progressed to seven strings. It had twelve strings when it was introduced to the China and increased to thirteen strings when it was introduced to Japan in the early Nara Period (710-784).""to the China"? From where? Also, is "the" necessary? Then, there's the issue with the reference, which has nothing to do with the sentence "It had twelve strings when it was introduced to the China and increased to thirteen strings when it was introduced to Japan in the early Nara Period (710-784)." The reference provided a link to Mori Gaki's website http://www.morigakki.com/ko1.htm, but nowhere on the entire page (or website, for that matter) does it say anything about "it had twelve strings", "it was introduced to China", "[it was] increased to thirteen strings when...introduced to Japan", or "it was introduced to Japan in early Nara Period (710-784)". Therefore, I'll remove the reference. Imnowei (talk) 05:16, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Needs a lot of work
There are some experts on the Koto in the USA. From the little I know, this article is lacking a lot. There are different kinds of tuning scales, different genres of classical Koto music, at least 2 different schools of classical koto playing, of course there are modern schools (Miyagi) as well.

The photos may be misleading as well. Traditionally it was played kneeling on the floor. The different schools have slightly different ways of sitting, for instance.

The repetoire is quite large. In modern times, there is printed music, and the notation is something else, but it needs a section on how the koto is traditionally taught (which is remarkably similar to the Suzuki violin method).

This article is very disappointing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ll1324 (talk • contribs) 17:01, 5 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Feel free to contribute the little you know, or at least point to some useful references. JUst coming and complaining about the article s pointless and useless. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 20:03, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Tuning?
To what pitches are the strings tuned? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.185.37 (talk) 06:43, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Very unsatisfactory article
This article says much about the instrument but almost nothing about the music it makes.

What is the koto's range in Western terms (show it on a piano keyboard)?

What are the minimal intervals that it can be tuned to, and what intervals are actually used in performance?

What sort of scales does it typically play -- chromatic, achromatic, pentatonic, gapped, other?

What chording is it capable of, and what chording is typically actually used?

If the answers to the above questions are complicated, the article should explain why.

If the above questions don't really apply to the koto, the article should explain why.

There are references to music being written for koto. How are these scored -- in conventional western musical notation or not? If not, are there also koto scores in conventional western notation?

And at least a dozen other things. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Littlewindow (talk • contribs) 00:36, 24 November 2013 (UTC)
 * All of these points may or may not be valid. The idea is, if YOU can fix something, FIX it.  There is no editorial staff, as such, if that is to whom your comments are addressed.  Please contribute what you can.  Rags (talk) 10:25, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Name
It has been almost two years, and the 'clarification' request tag is still evident, still needed. I have made a minimal stab, but this needs the attention of a Japanese-speaker, as well as a musician. I hope I haven't added to the problems. Please help, if you can. Rags (talk) 11:05, 29 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Hi, I looked over this section earlier, and think that it might be better removed. I'm not sure that a discussion of the esoterics of kanji provide much to an English language reader. Thoughts? - Ryk72 'c.s.n.s.' 11:18, 29 June 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm removing it. It's sad to note that this had been going on for three years without due attention. This isn't just about the esoterics of kanji. The difference is pretty drastic to a proper musician who plays one or both of the instruments mentioned. 126.149.169.120 (talk) 17:05, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

"Kin" 琴 vs. "Sou" 箏
The character「琴」 usually refers to Kin, as in kin no koto (琴のコト). The kanji 「琴」can be read as both koto and kin, but when referring to the instrument, the kanji 琴 is reserved for the Kin. The instrument often called koto is actually a Sou「箏」or 「箏のコト」. Kin and Sou are two completely different instruments, and it seems unwise to treat them otherwise or fail to mention this properly in the article. The difference is greater than that between a cello a double bass, although both may be played by a cellist or violoncellist.

Read here (scroll down to the part where the difference is decribed in 「箏(こと)」と「琴(きん)」. The site is by the 日本芸術文化振興 (Japan Arts Council, government site). Here are a few more articles, this one and a couple from professional performers like her and her that discuss at length the difference. The layperson, even Japanese, refers to the instrument as koto, which risks the reference to 琴, but musicians can be picky about this and ought to be. It's like calling an clarinet player an oboe player and vice versa with a simple, one-character misspelling.

Pictured in this article is the Sou (箏) with its hallmark Ji (柱), adjustable bridges that support the strings of the instrument and can change their interval. 126.149.169.120 (talk) 17:05, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

I'm affected by this awful editor
Got in a almost edit war I got an email automated it sounded like didn't use my name so I reverted it back after trying to cull them to discuss it by a joke they ignored me so I think it's a bit or a rude person the kojiki adds to the history of the koto well your friend sm Student of moto (talk) 11:25, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

Bit is a family joke it means bot sorry for the confusion just use it often Student of moto (talk) 11:26, 9 May 2022 (UTC)