Nōkan (Nō Flute) and Oral Transmission: Cohesion and Musicality through Mnemonics

The nōkan (nō flute) is traditionally taught in a mode of oral transmission that involves memonzation of shōga (mnemonics). Shōga help bring a nō play to fruition by keeping the timing and allowing improvisation. This case study discusses the teaching of Issō Yukihiro, an Issō school performer, arguing that nōkan transmission is changing in contemporary practice by certain masters. Manko Annois a PhD candidate in Musicology at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku), and earned her DMA in Flute Performance and Literature with a minor in Ethnomusicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her reseanh focuses on the musical aspects of nō, with an emphasis on the role of the nōkan in traditional and Japanese contemporary nō and English nō. She is a certified Alexander Technique teacher. Her research was supported by the Murata Science Foundation.