Practical experience course
November 6, 15, 18, 22, 29, 2024 at Tokyo Concerts Lab, Shinjuku City, Tokyo

Hands-on experience event
Biwa and So

Number of practical skill sessions per participant (including presentation/rehearsals for presentation)
5 sessions

Principal instructor
Yoshiyuki Izaki, Hitomi Nakamura, Hanako Nakamura

Event features
Gagaku instruments include wind instruments, but for this program we will be looking at the Biwa and So, string instruments which are rather difficult to learn in terms of finding lessons and places to practice, etc.
Compared to wind instruments, getting an initial sound out of these instruments is relatively easy, making them accessible for beginners.
For this program we have chosen the work “Etenraku,” which everyone is familiar with.

Session 1 Learn how to hold the instruments, make sounds, and the basic playing techniques
Session 2 Learn how to read the musical notation, play while reading the music
Session 3 Perform the chosen work on the instruments
Session 4 Learn what a good sound is and how to produce it
Session 5 Play “Etenraku” as an ensemble

Publicity methods for the recruitment of participants (collaboration, cooperation, networking, etc.)
We are considering distributing flyers to musical instrument stores and putting ads on social media.

Ways to enable participants to continue with practical skills experience (other than programs covered by this grant) after the end of the event
There are virtually no places where you can practice Gagaku Biwa and So on a daily basis, so we hope this experiential program serves as an introduction to Gagaku and encourages participants to develop an interest in learning wind instruments next. Many Gagaku musicians play one wind instrument, one string instrument, or both. There are no places to practice on a daily basis, but playing and learning about string instruments (which are easy to get a sound out of and are therefore beginner-friendly) and hearing wind instruments played up close during the ensemble performance will hopefully lead beginners to continued learning/practice, and a deeper interest in Gagaku.