Originally, there were two schools of heikyoku: the Yasaka School (those who belonged to the school were given the Chinese character of '城' (castle) for their names) and the Ichikata School (the Chinese character of '一' (one) was given to those who belonged to this school).
平曲の流派としては当初は八坂流（伝承者は「城」の字を継承）と一方流（伝承者は「一」の字を継承）の2流が存した。