Changes

===Musical Genres===

===Musical Genres===

Okinawan music is generally divided into three genres:

Okinawan music is generally divided into three genres:

*'''Classical''' (J: ''koten ongaku'') - This category mostly consists of songs associated with the royal court of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], including pieces played to entertain Chinese dignitaries, for certain ritual or ceremonial purposes, in conjunction with [[Okinawan dance]] or ''[[kumi udui]]'' theatre, or in other formal court contexts. Many of these songs are quite slow, and played quite precisely, according to traditional styles of playing. A very distinctive vocal style is also employed, in which the mouth is held only narrowly open, and an idea of tightness or tautness, pressing down on the ''hara'' (stomach) is central to the technique, producing a distinctive vocal sound. Classical pieces tend, for the most part, to be heterophonic, meaning that the notes sung do not line up with the notes played on the sanshin; the Japanese term ''tsukazu hanarezu'' is often applied in traditional Japanese music to describe the way that instrument and voice follow largely the same melody line, but a half-beat or more off from one another.<ref>*McQueen Tokita, Alison. "Music in kabuki: more than meets the eye." ''The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music''. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. p236.</ref>

*'''Classical''' (J: ''koten ongaku'') - This category mostly consists of songs associated with the royal court of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], including pieces played to entertain Chinese dignitaries, for certain ritual or ceremonial purposes, in conjunction with [[Okinawan dance]] or ''[[kumi udui]]'' theatre, or in other formal court contexts. Many of these songs are quite slow, and played quite precisely, according to traditional styles of playing. A very distinctive vocal style is also employed, in which the mouth is held only narrowly open, and an idea of tightness or tautness, pressing down on the ''hara'' (stomach) is central to the technique, producing a distinctive vocal sound. Classical pieces tend, for the most part, to be heterophonic, meaning that the notes sung do not line up with the notes played on the sanshin; the Japanese term ''tsukazu hanarezu'' is often applied in traditional Japanese music to describe the way that instrument and voice follow largely the same melody line, but a half-beat or more off from one another.<ref>Alison McQueen Tokita, "Music in kabuki: more than meets the eye." ''The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music''. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2008. p236.</ref>

The two most prominent schools of classical ''uta-sanshin'' are [[Nomura-ryu|Nomura-ryû]], which employs fairly strict adherence to written notation, and Afusô-ryû, which focuses more heavily on oral transmission, i.e. playing in emulation of one's teacher. A third school, [[Tansui-ryu|Tansui-ryû]], is considered the oldest, and is still active today. As one can imagine, the former tradition tends towards a high degree of consistency or similarity from place to place and teacher to teacher, while the latter tradition tends towards the development of lineages of sub-styles, as each group of students learns to play like their teacher, in a manner somewhat different perhaps from the students of another teacher.

The two most prominent schools of classical ''uta-sanshin'' are [[Nomura-ryu|Nomura-ryû]], which employs fairly strict adherence to written notation, and Afusô-ryû, which focuses more heavily on oral transmission, i.e. playing in emulation of one's teacher. A third school, [[Tansui-ryu|Tansui-ryû]], is considered the oldest, and is still active today. As one can imagine, the former tradition tends towards a high degree of consistency or similarity from place to place and teacher to teacher, while the latter tradition tends towards the development of lineages of sub-styles, as each group of students learns to play like their teacher, in a manner somewhat different perhaps from the students of another teacher.