Karaoke Jargon: HAMORU ハモる

April 29th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized

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【HAMORU  ハモる】

 

Does everyone like karaoke?

 

Today’s phrase is “hamoru.” “Hamoru” means, “to harmonize with the main melody.” This phrase saw common use after karaoke became popular in the later part of the 1980s in Japan. The Japanese sound, “ru,” is attached to the first half of the English word, “harmony,” to makt it a verb, and it becomes Katakana style Japanese.

 

The technical Japanese term is “wasei,” which means, “harmony,” but only a few outside of those who have studied music as a speciality will understand this term.

 

Incidentally, the high point of a song, otherwise known as the “chorus,” is known as “sabi” in Japanese. This is a phrase that, like “hamoru,” is now a commonly used music term.

 

例:カラオケボックスで

彼女:サビのところ、ハモって!

彼氏:無理無理。そんな技術、俺にはないよ。

彼女:つまんないの。

彼氏:普通、できないでしょ。

 

Rei: Karaoke box de

Kanojyo: Sabi no tokorom hamotte!

Kareshi: Murimuri.  Sonna gijyutsu, oreniwa naiyo.

Kanojyo: Tsuman’naino.

Kareshi: Futsuu dekinai desho.

 

Example: In the karaoke box

Girl: Sing the chorus in harmony!

Boy: That’s impossible! I don’t have such technique.

Girl: That’s no fun.

Boy: It’s normal not to be able to do that…

 

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Author of this article

Iidabashi Japanese Language School

The Iidabashi Japanese Language School motto is "Be Unique, Have fun Globally!" We teach classes focused on conversation skills to foreigners living in Japan.

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