Teaching Japanese Traditional Music Using “Shōga” in the Classroom PracticeKeywords: Japanese traditional music, Shōga, teacher trainingThis study aims to discuss the significance of Shōga in the music classroom practice when we teach Japanese traditional music in preschool and compulsory education. Shōga (also called Kuchi-Shōga) is a kind of learning method of Japanese traditional instruments by chanting or speaking the sound of the instruments which express the instrumental tone quality, melodic structure, playing technique, and physicality of musical performance. Shōga is also effective for learning the connection between language and music, which leads to improving the quality of appraising and creative music making activities in music education (Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology 2018b).Since the seventh revision (1998) to Japanese course of study for music, junior high school students must learn more than one traditional instrument throughout their three years of school days. When we look at the history of revisions to Japanese course of study for music related to traditional music, the words Jo-Ha-Kyu (originally the concept of Gagaku, regarding speed and form) and Ma (silence in music) are added to the eighth revision (2008) and Shōga is added to the ninth revision (2017), the latest course of study. Such backgrounds show the increasing importance of the original teaching and learning methods of Japanese traditional music.Although the word Shōga is not included in Japanese course of study for kindergarten, the importance to enrich children’s understanding of Japanese tradition and culture is emphasized through New Year, seasonal festivals, children’s songs, folk songs, word play, finger play songs, words in a song for rhythm, etc. (Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology 2018c).Based on the above, by using methods such as questionnaire survey, interview, participant observation, grounded theory approach, we examined the previous research, and the result of classroom practices we have done so far. For example, talking by Shōga of Kotsuzumi (hand drum), students enjoyed expressing their feelings to each other through non-verbal sounds and rhythms, so that we found the effectiveness of Shōga, which can explain the deep connection between words and music. In addition, we will introduce and examine the results of the recent classroom practice that focuses on not only Shōga but also words and music for the students at the teacher training college and the childcare worker training college where we each work.