Meriyasu

Meriyasu is a type of music used in kabuki theatre performances in Japan.

Originally derived from the Portuguese word meias, meaning a stretchy material (and still used today to refer to knitted garments),^[1] meriyasu came to denote a form of theatrical music which expanded and contracted in order to fit the events unfolding on stage.^[2] Played on the shamisen, meriyasu interludes are generally called for to accompany sections of dialogue. As a result, they are usually instrumental solos, rather than songs.^[3] Despite this, the genre is still classified as a subset of nagauta ("long song") music.^[4][5]