Yo scale

{{Short description|Scale used in Japanese music}} The '''''yo'' scale''' is a pentatonic scale used in much Japanese music including gagaku and shomyo.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080313144427/http://www.uwgb.edu/ogradyt/world/japan.htm ''Japanese Music'', ''Cross-Cultural Communication: World Music'', University of Wisconsin – Green Bay].</ref> It is similar to the Western dorian mode, but does not contain all notes. The ''yo'' scale is used specifically in folk songs and early popular songs and is contrasted with the ''in'' scale.<ref>Titon, Jeff Todd (1996). ''Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples'', p.372. {{ISBN|0-02-872612-X}}.</ref> The ''in'' scale is described as more 'dark' while the yo scale is described as 'bright' sounding.<ref name="New">Chris Hiscock, Marian Metcalfe (1999). ''New Music Matters 11-14'', p.49. {{ISBN|978-0-435-81091-7}}.</ref>

It is defined by ascending intervals{{clarification needed|date=June 2017}} of two, three, two, two, and three semitones. An example ''yo'' scale, expressed in western pitch names, is: D - E - G - A - B. This is illustrated below.

The Ryūkyū scale appears to be derived from the yo scale with pitches raised.<ref name="Composing"/>

400px|thumb|center|Yo scale on D with auxiliary notes (F) & (C) ({{audio|Yo scale on D.mid|Play}})

thumb|center|400px|Yo scale on D, ascending and descending<ref name="New"/>

More recent theory<ref>{{nihongo|Koizumi, Fumio|小泉文夫|Koizumi Fumio}} (1974). {{nihongo|''Nihon no Ongaku: Rekishi to Riron''|日本の音楽：歴史と理論}} (Japanese Music: History and Theory), 76. Tokyo: National Theater of Japan.</ref> emphasizes that it is more useful in interpreting Japanese melody to view scales on the basis of "nuclear tones" located a fourth apart and containing notes between them, as in the '''''min'yō'' scale''' used in folk music, and whose pitches are equivalent to the second mode of the ''yo'' scale:<ref>Titon (1996), 373.</ref>

In India's Carnatic music, this scale corresponds to Udayaravichandrika.

400px|thumb|center|''Min'yō'' scale on D,<ref>Susan Miyo Asai (1999). ''Nōmai Dance Drama'', p.126. {{ISBN|978-0-313-30698-3}}.</ref> equivalent to ''yo'' scale on C,<ref name="Composing">Minoru Miki, Marty Regan, Philip Flavin (2008). ''Composing for Japanese instruments'', p.2. {{ISBN|978-1-58046-273-0}}.</ref> with brackets on fourths ({{audio|Min'yō scale.mid|Play}})

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *Hewitt, Michael. ''Musical Scales of the World''. The Note Tree. 2013. {{ISBN|978-0957547001}}.

Category:Pentatonic scales Category:Japanese traditional music Category:Anhemitonic scales Category:Atritonic scales