Music of the SHAKUHACHI

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     The Shakuhachi (尺八) is the most modern of the four main Japanese flute types (the other three being Yamato-bue in Shinto dance, Nohkan in Noh, and Ryuteki in Gagaku).  It's use was popularized in the Edo period by wandering, basket-headed Komuso (ronin spies masquerading as monks/priests) who played the shakuhachi as an instrumental form of their sutra chant.  Interestingly, these instruments were designed so that they could be used as a weapon if necessary.  In any case, the original religious Zen songs (honkyoku) are considered its most important works, but its repertoire also included popular theater tunes and folk songs.  The shakuhachi was later added to Jiuta/Sankyokyo groups, joining koto, shamisen and voice.  Shakuhachi is also used often in conjunction with shigin poetry recitation and, despite its "religious" origins, is basically a secular art.

     Stylistically, the shakuhachi takes advantage of quarter-tones ("in between" notes), final grace note ornamentation, and dynamic swells, all of which are used to bring out a great variety of tonal shades.  Melodically, the “in” scale is used, and structurally the rondo form occurs most frequently (a refrain chorus reappears between different sections).

     Shakuhachi works are categorized into three types:

• Honkyoku: Original, "founding" works (roughly 36 pieces) which typically reflect nature or are ritualistic, and related to the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism.  These are part of the Kinko-Ryu shakuhachi school and include the pieces “Kyorei”, “Mukaiji”, and “Kokureibo”.  The famous work :Shika-no-tone" (Distant Deer Cries) employs two players playing approaching melodies.

 
In the famous work “Shika-no-tone” (Distant Calls of the Deers, above), two shakuhachi parts slowly approach one another as two deer might in the forest.

• Gaikyoku: Pieces adapted from/played with shamisen or koto (as in jiuta trios with shamisen and koto).  In these cases, the shakuhachi plays a heterophonic variation on the lead koto line.
• Shinkyoku: New pieces (such as from the Tozan-Ryu school) for modern shakuhachi music (from around the early 20th Century), usually with a more complex structure.
 

Japanese Music & Musical Instruments, William Malm, 1959
Shakuhachi Wiki
Britannica Entry