Traditional Music and Spiritual Chanting Practices

Folk Music: Definition and Transmission

Folk music, also known as traditional music, is a cultivated art form that is often anonymous and has been orally transmitted for centuries. This means that many songs and dances are learned by ear, rather than from written scores.

The Role of Music in Traditional Societies

In traditional societies, music is almost always associated with major events of human existence, particularly the life cycle. Many events that mark each age group are accompanied by a specific type of music. For example, there are lullabies to help babies sleep, and so on.

Music is also very important in the annual festivals of certain communities. Celebrations are held on specific dates, such as New Year, and are enlivened with music.

Folk Instruments and Their Classifications

Folk instruments are often played solo or to accompany singing. On some occasions, several sets of instruments meet, and there are many types:

• Chordophones

  These highlight instruments like the harp. Harps have been known since very early times and take different forms throughout the world; their number of strings varies.

• Aerophones

  One of the most characteristic aerophones of East Asia is the sheng, a Chinese mouth organ used to accompany folk songs.

• Idiophones

  In this group are the maracas, which are round or oval instruments that produce a sound when shaken.

• Membranophones

  The darbuka is a North African drum, cup-shaped with a single membrane, which is played throughout the Arab world. (The djembe is another widespread drum).

• Specific Regional Instruments

  • Txistu: A Basque Country grouping comprising a flute with three holes and a tabor (a small drum).
  • Rondalla: A group consisting of guitars, mandolins, and lutes.

Music for Spiritual Practice

Mantras: Chanting for Peace and Meditation

In some religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, prayers are chanted. These are called mantras. Mantras are brief, short chants that are repeated over and over like a refrain, to invoke a deity or to support meditation.

A mantra is a word, a set of words, or a group of words without a specific meaning, used for its sonic vibration. The first and simplest of these is Om.

Shingon Buddhism and Shomi Chanting

• The Shingon Buddhist School

  The Shingon Buddhist school was born in Japan in the 8th century when a Japanese monk brought to his country a Chinese doctrine applying meditation to reach enlightenment.

• Shomi: Sacred Chanting Practice

  Shomi is a type of singing practiced by Buddhist monks of the Shingon school. These Buddhist texts are sung in three languages: Sanskrit, Classical Chinese, and Japanese.