The "Sakura Sakura" melody has been popular since the
Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. The tune uses a
pentatonic scale known as the
in scale (
miyako-bushi pentatonic scale) and is played in quadruple meter and has three parts (ABBAC) which stretch over 14 bars (2 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2). Expressed as diatonic notes in the
major scale, the
In scale is 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (1), 10 (3); or the notes E F A B c e (nominally A minor); or in solfège Mi Fa La Si Do Mi. The melodic scale can either be represented in older Western musical theory by the
Phrygian minor or the
Phrygian major mode, with the 3rd and 7th notes in the scale omitted. Because the melody spans a modest
range, it is ideally suited to instruments that have a limited pitch range, such as the
Native American flute (similar to the
shakuhachi). The melody arranged by Ongaku Torishirabe-gakari was included in
Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888, for beginning
koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music. Often, It is the first piece that koto beginners learn because they can play any phrase by picking closer strings without skipping to distant strings. There are several adjustment methods suitable for the
in scale in Koto. Among them, hira-joshi is used for "Sakura". == Lyrics ==