Editing Enka (section)

== Musical style ==
Modern ''enka''{{'}}s mainstream scale is called {{Nihongo4||ヨナ抜き短音階|Yonanuki Tan-Onkai}} or "Minor Scale without Four and Seven (''fa'' and ''te'')", and is a modified version of {{Nihongo4||ヨナ抜き長音階|Yonanuki Chō-Onkai}} or "Major Scale without Four and Seven (''Fa'' and ''Si'')", which came from an older Japanese scale, the {{Nihongo4|"[[Ryo scale|Ryo Scale]]"|呂音階|Ryo Onkai}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/edc8/nattoku/nippon/rroin/yonanuki.html|title=Yonanuki Onkai|publisher=Japan Arts Council|access-date=2009-02-23|language=ja|archive-date=2009-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415070506/http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/edc8/nattoku/nippon/rroin/yonanuki.html|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the earliest Japanese songs that was said to have partly used it is [[Rentarō Taki]]'s "[[Kōjō no Tsuki]]", which was called {{Nihongo4||唱歌|shōka|"school song"}} in the [[Meiji period]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atkyushu.com/InfoApp?LISTID=202&SCD=m199706|script-title=ja:佐世保で生まれた日本初のワルツ｢美しき天然｣ ～その１～|publisher=[[Kyushu Railway Company]]|date=June 1997|access-date=2009-02-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020509171920/http://www.atkyushu.com/InfoApp?LISTID=202&SCD=m199706|archive-date=2002-05-09|language=ja}}</ref><ref name="hokudai">{{cite web|url=http://www.cat.hokudai.ac.jp/osawa/member/ujima/butai/song1.bak|title=Kōjō no tsuki|publisher=[[Hokkaido University]]|access-date=2009-02-23|language=ja|archive-date=2009-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416214015/http://www.cat.hokudai.ac.jp/osawa/member/ujima/butai/song1.bak|url-status=live}}</ref> The seventh- [[degree (music)|scale degree]] is not used in "Kōjō no Tsuki", a song of [[B minor]].<ref name="hokudai" />

The music, based on the [[pentatonic scale]], has some resemblance to [[blues]].<ref name="japantimes">{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081118i1.html|title=Enka still strikes nostalgic nerve|publisher=The Japan Times|date=2008-11-18|access-date=2009-02-01|archive-date=2011-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606154442/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081118i1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Enka'' lyrics are usually written similarly around the themes of love and loss, loneliness, enduring hardships, and persevering in the face of difficulties, even suicide or death. Although ''enka'' is a genre of ''[[kayōkyoku]]'', it is considered to be more expressive and emotional, though there is no clear consensus on the matter.<ref name=keio /><ref name="maekawa">{{cite web|url=http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/culture/kayou/20061213/20061213_001.shtml|script-title=ja:第６部・演歌巡礼＜２＞前川清 べたつかぬ距離感で歌う|publisher=[[Nishinippon Shimbun]]|date=2006-12-13|access-date=2009-05-05|language=ja|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206205342/http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/culture/kayou/20061213/20061213_001.shtml|archive-date=2009-02-06}}</ref>

Archetypal ''enka'' singers employ a style of [[melisma]]—where a single syllable of text is sung while moving between several different notes in succession—known as ''kobushi''.<ref name="japantimes" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isis.ne.jp/mnn/senya/senya0201.html|title=松岡正剛の千夜千冊『J－POP進化論』佐藤良明|publisher=Matsuoka Seigo no Senya Sensatsu|date=2000-12-28|access-date=2010-04-23|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707224719/http://www.isis.ne.jp/mnn/senya/senya0201.html|archive-date=2012-07-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Kobushi'' occurs when the [[pitch (music)|pitch]] of the singer's voice fluctuates irregularly within one [[degree (music)|scale degree]]: This compares with [[vibrato]], which vibrates in a regular cycle.<ref name="kobushi">{{cite web |url=http://r25.jp/b/honshi/a/link_review_details/id/1122008052308 |script-title=ja:俗にいう演歌の「こぶし」って一体ナニ？ |publisher=R25.jp |date=2008-05-23 |access-date=2009-04-11 |language=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202083429/http://r25.jp/b/honshi/a/link_review_details/id/1122008052308 |archive-date=2009-02-02 }}</ref> The ''kobushi'' technique is not limited to ''enka'', as can be heard in the Italian song "[[Santa Lucia (song)|Santa Lucia]]."<ref name="kobushi" /> In the late 1930s and early '40s, the music of composer [[Masao Koga]] began to resemble Buddhist ''[[shomyo]]''-chanting possibly because his [[record label]] asked him to produce music.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/~onodera/kanagawa.html|script-title=ja:古賀政男生誕百年「はなまつりコンサート」|publisher=Yumi Aikawa Official Website|access-date=2009-05-18|language=ja|archive-date=2010-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430134230/http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/~onodera/kanagawa.html|url-status=live|title=Kanagawa.HTML }}</ref> Although Koga became a composer whose work is considered seminal to the creation of the genre, present-day ''enka'' is different from Koga's primary music because the singing styles of many postwar singers were different from the ''kobushi'' of Koga's musical note.<ref name="koga">{{cite web|url=http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/culture/kayou/20061219/20061219_001.shtml|script-title=ja:第６部・演歌巡礼＜７＞古賀政男 日本的歌唱を熟知し作曲|publisher=Nishinippon Shimbun|date=2006-12-19|access-date=2009-02-02|language=ja|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207014451/http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/culture/kayou/20061219/20061219_001.shtml|archive-date=2009-02-07}}</ref> Modern ''enka'' singer [[Takeshi Kitayama]] himself admitted in 2006, "I was even confused because [Koga's] musical note was different from that of an old singer."<ref name="koga" /><ref group=fn>Original text: "昔の人が歌った音資料と楽譜が違って戸惑いもしました"</ref>

''Enka'' suggests a traditional, idealized, or romanticized aspect of Japanese culture and attitudes. ''Enka'' singers, predominantly women, usually perform in a [[kimono]] or in evening dress. Male ''enka'' performers tend to wear formal dress, or in some performances, traditional Japanese attire. Nods to traditional Japanese music are common in ''enka''. The melodies of ''enka'' are fundamentally Western harmonies, and electronic instruments are used, such as synthesizers and electric lead guitar with plenty of distortion, but its musical instruments also include traditional Japanese instruments such as the ''[[shakuhachi]]'' and the ''[[shamisen]].''<ref>Roberson, James E. and Suzuki, Nobue. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gF6nxvmGabAC&pg=PA78 Men and Masculinities in Contemporary Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405064952/http://books.google.com/books?id=gF6nxvmGabAC&pg=PA78 |date=2015-04-05 }}''. ''[[Google Books]]''. via Routledge. 2003. 78. {{ISBN|978-0-415-24446-6}}</ref>