Shōmyō (声明) is a style of Japanese Buddhist chant, used mainly in the Tendai and Shingon sects.[1] There are two styles: ryokyoku and rikkyoku, described as difficult and easy to remember, respectively.
Shōmyō, like gagaku, employs the Yo scale, a pentatonic scale with ascending intervals of two, three, two, two, and three semitones.[2]
References
Bibliography
- Hill, Jackson (1982). Ritual Music in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism: Shingon Shōmyō, Ethnomusicology 26 (1), 27-39