This is because the audience can derive full enjoyment from the wonderful spectacle of the superb color scheme unfolded dazzlingly before their eyes, even when they are not convinced of the plot of the story. Hence, the whole body of music associated with kabuki has been referred to as shamisen music. In a historical or domestic play, as the curtain opens upon a scene, the music starts, stirring to life the otherwise inanimate atmosphere of the stage. The musicians are hidden from view in the left corner of the stage. In the case of a dance-drama, the musicians are in full view of the audience, and the music assumes a much more dominant part.
Kabuki music is classified into about a dozen categories, according to different schools.
Among these, the most frequently used today are nagauta, tokiwazu, kiyomoto, and gidayu, the latter always being used in a drama adapted from the puppet theater. Besides music proper, there are numerous kind of audio-effects employed in a kabuki performance. The most unique among them is the sounding of wooden clappers signaling the opening and the closing of a kabuki play. It is repeated in rhythmical, staccato measures. The wooden clappers are also used as one of the musical percussion instruments in the course of the performance.