Catalog of Shōdan: Entrance and Exit Music
Hayafue
Lively music for the entrance of a dragon, spirit, or deity, as it is the case in Kokaji. It is a nohkan congruent solo accompanied by the three percussion instruments. The eight-beat introduction melody called kakari opens with the strident hishigi tone and leads to a seven-honji melody with one segment per honji, identified in the video with letters a to g, respectively. It is repeated three times before leading to the one-honji cadence called tome.
The performance in this video is based on Kokaji's hayafue and includes the three-honji bridge from the preceding shōdan, a noriji. The taiko performs a complete cycle of patterns over the melody’s first iteration, and a second one over the rest of the hayafue. The two-hand percussion instruments contribute to the complex rhythmic texture by performing rhythmic ostinati of different durations. To help appreciate the complexity between the four parts, the hayafue is presented at three different speeds: the original, at 75%, and at 50% of the original speed.