Catalog of Shōdan: Entrance and Exit Music
Issei Music
Standard entrance music mainly for the shite, often followed by an Issei Chant or a Sashi. The modern standard form of Issei Music consists of four parts: Kakari (“start”), Koshi-no-dan (“to cross”), Ji-no-dan (“ground”), and Makuage-no-dan (“open the curtain”). The table below describes their content and function.
| Sections | Function | Nohkan | Percussion | Actors |
| Kakari | Introduction | Hishigi and Issei | Strict | - |
| Koshi no dan | Creating atmosphere for the characters | - | Strict using character-based patterns | - |
| Ji no dan | Introduction of the entrance | Naka no takane | Strict | - |
| Makuage no dan | Accompanying the character to the stage | Roku no ge | Strict | Entrance |
We include a concert version of Hagoromo’s Issei Music, used for the entrance of the waki and wakizure. The nohkan opens the shōdan with the hishigi pattern, then moves into naka no takane and a version of roku no ge, in which the player repeats the final three lines after the original four-line pattern. For comparison, in the short Issei Music of Hashitomi the nohkan plays only the two-line mi roku no ge, the abridged form of roku no ge pattern. It is unusually brief because the shite is already on stage, concealed within the tsukurimono, so a full entrance music is unnecessary.
In first-category plays, the Issei Music is a four-part sequence that brings the shite and shitezure to their stage positions. However, in highly ranked plays such as Takasago and Matsukaze, a longer, more solemn version called Shin no issei (“authentic” Issei) is used, which adds a finale section, shizume-gashira (“calm head strokes”). The performance of this music in Takasago is distinct; the Shite and Shitezure do not walk to the stage but stop on the bridge to face each other and sing the Issei chant. For an especially celebratory Takasago performance, the music is extended further, splitting its second part into Nagashi (“flow”) and Yatsugashira (“eight kashira strokes”). This creates a five-part sequence: Kakari, Nagashi, Yatsugashira, Makuage-no-dan, and Shizume-gashira. This is shown below in the chart that summarized the structure of Issei Music versions.
| Kakari | Koshi no dan | Ji no dan | Makuage no dan | Shizume gashira | ||
| Issei Music in Hagoromo | no | no | preceded by hishigi note | yes | no | |
| Issei Music in Hashitomi | no | no | no | 3 measures | no | |
| Shin no issei Music in high-ranked plays | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| Shin no issei Music variant in Takasago | yes | Nagashi | Yatsugashira | no | yes | yes |