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What scales does Japanese music use?

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The Japanese use two basic types of scale, both pentatonic. The first, used in sacred music and common to all of East Asia, has two modesÑ ryo, the male mode, and ritsu, the female mode. The more frequently used scale, found also in Indonesia and S India, emphasizes semitones and exists in three modes, all used freely within the same compositionÑ hirajoshi, the most important, roughly represented on the piano by the series ABCEFA; kumoijoshi, second in importance, approximated by EFABCE; and iwato, approximated by BCEFAB.

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