In the Kamakura period, they formed two groups: one was moso-biwa (which literally means "a blind priest's biwa"), who mainly chanted the Buddhist scriptures, and the other one was Heike-biwa, who chanted the Heike Monogatari.
鎌倉時代、主として経文を唱える盲僧琵琶と、平家物語を語る平家琵琶とに分かれた。