8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 1/34
http://www.jstor.org
Mode and Scale, Modulation and Tuning in Japanese Shamisen Music: The Case of Kiyomoto
Narrative
Author(s): Alison McQueen Tokita
Source: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 40, No. 1, (Winter, 1996), pp. 1-33
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Society for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/852434
Accessed: 15/06/2008 16:38
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=illinois.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We enable the
scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 2/34
ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in
Japanese
Shamisen
Music:
The
Case of
Kiyomoto
Narrative
ALISON MCQUEEN TOKITA MONASH UNIVERSITY
here are
many
parameters
by
which melodic
structure can be
defined,
and one of the most fundamental
is
mode.
To understand the essence
of
Japanese
music,
the
concept
of senritsukei
(melodic formulas)
is one
pa-
rameter to be
considered,
but this article concentrates
on the issue
of
mode,
which
is vital to the
understanding
of this
essentially
monodic
music.1
The debate about mode
in
Japanese
music has been
going
on for cen-
turies, since the Heian period (794-1185), and still theorists are far from
complete
agreement.
No one has
yet developed
a
theory
of mode which
will
explain
all of
Japanese
music,
but
Koizumi
Fumio
seems
to
have come
the closest
(see
1958; 1977; 1979; 1982).
However,
Koizumi's
analysis
lacks
sufficient data from certain
genres,
which
puts
its
viability
in
doubt. Each
of
the
many
extant
Japanese
musical
genres
from various historical
periods
has its own scales
and
melodic
material,
and
separate
social and
artistic
organization, making
it
very
difficult
to
generalize
over
Japanese
musical
culture as a whole. Some
genres
have
explicit
traditions of theoretical dis-
course; others, such as the subject of this paper, do not. There is a need
for
many in-depth empirical
studies
such as the
present
one in order
to
fill
out
the overall
picture.
This article examines the tonal
material used in
only
one
genre
of
Japa-
nese narrative shamisen music:
kiyomoto-bushi
(or
simply
kiyomoto).
This
style
of kabuki dance music came into
being
as
a
musico-social
entity
in
1814,
but it was
part
of a
complex body
of
narrative
music used to
accom-
pany
dance
in the
kabuki
theatre for several decades
prior
to this
date,
and
issues
from a
long
tradition
of narrative music
going
back further
still. Its
components are the melodic line of the sung narrative, and the shamisen
(three
stringed
lute)
line
which
is
primarily
melodic
but also
rhythmic
in
?
1996
by
the Board of Trustees of
the
University
of Illinois
1
WINTER
1996OL.
40,
NO.
1
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 3/34
2
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
function.
Other
offstage
instruments
support
these
components
rhythmi-
cally
and
texturally
in
certain
sections of
a
piece
when
performed
as
dance
accompaniment
in the
theater,
but are not
present
in recital or concert
performance.
However,
these
different
contexts do
not affect the
mode of
the
music,
to
which
only
the
shamisen
and
voice
parts
are
relevant. This
study
is based on
an
analysis
of
sixty-three
pieces
of the
current
kiyomoto
repertoire,
and
is a
corollary
of other
research
which
establishes the nar-
rative
elements of
this
music
(Tokita
1989).
I
have
referred
both
to
the
recordings
of
fifty
kiyomoto
pieces
in
the
record collection
Kiyomoto
Shizudayi
Zenshiu:
Kiyomoto
Gojiban
Victor
SJ
3020-29,
1970
and to
privately published transcriptions
of
over
seventy kiyomoto pieces by
Asada
Sh6tetsu
(Kiyomoto
Hyojun
Fuhon).
The list of the
sixty-three
pieces
con-
sulted for
the
analysis
in
this
paper
is
included
as
an
appendix
at
the end
of
the article.
Although
this
is a case
study
of
only
one
specific style
of
music,
there
is
every
reason to
believe that
the tonal
material and
principles
of modula-
tion in
kiyomoto
narrative
can
be
generalized
to other
styles
of art
music
which
developed
contemporaneously
in
the Edo
period
(1600-1867),
par-
ticularly
the
music of
the
koto,
the
shamisen,
and
the
shakuhachi.
My
experience
in this
regard
is
confirmed
by
Otsuka
Haiko's
analysis
of
many
of
these
styles
which
indicates that
they
all
share
a
common
musical
sys-
tem
(1979).
Tokumaru
Yoshihiko
also
supports
the view that
kiyomoto
has
the same
tonal
system
as other
styles
of
shamisen
music
(1991:143-4).
Therefore,
I believe
that the
results of
my
analysis
are
viable for the
major-
ity
of
Japanese
music in the
Edo
period,
which in
practice
has a
high
de-
gree
of
consistency
where
modality
is
concerned.
None of these
styles
produced
an
explicit
formulation
of modal
theory
or indeed
any
theoreti-
cal
discourse at all:
although
many
texts and
some
examples
of notations
were published in this period, virtuallyno modal theory is apparent.
As for the
whole of
Japanese
music,
all that can
be said
without fur-
ther
study
is that the
framework
of the fourth
(or tetrachord,
to use
Koizumi's
terminology)
is
important
for
no and
early
narrative
(such
as
heike
narrative),
as is the
pentatonic
scale for
gagaku.
No
doubt some el-
ements are
shared
by
all
Japanese
musical
genres,
but
this
study
can
only
be
said
to
apply
to Edo
period
music.
Furthermore,
even
closely
related
genres
can
show
slight
differences
in
modal
practice.
The word
mode is used
in
many
different
ways,
as can
be seen in the
entry for the word in the New Grove Dictionary of Music (Powers 1980).
In
the context of
ancient Greek and
Chinese music and of medieval
church
music,
it
refers
to the
different
forms of a scale
starting
on different
pitches.
For musical
systems
such as
those of the
Middle
East,
India
and Indonesia
it
may
refer not
only
to a
particular
scale of notes but also
to
turns
of me-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 4/34
Mode
and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
3
lodic
phrase
idiomatic
to
a
particular
mode. In
contemporary
Western us-
age
it
seems to be used
mainly
to
distinguish
the
major
and minor
mode,
and is
virtually
indistinguishable
from scale. Koizumi's discussion of this
issue shows that
Japanese
musicologists
are not
consistent in
their use of
the
two
terms,
and
he himself
favors
scale in
most
cases
(1982:55-9).
In
this
paper
I
use
both
terms,
mode and
scale,
differentiated
in
that
mode is
more
general,
implying
an
all-embracing
tonal
system,
while scale
refers
to
a
specific
series of
notes
in
an
octave unit
within
the
greater
modal
system.
My
use of the
term mode
does not
include
the
concept
of
melodic
figures.
I
will
argue
that the tonal
material
of
kiyomoto
can
be abstracted as a
scale
of
tones,
which in
various
modulations
accounts for
practically
all
the
melodic
aspects
of
kiyomoto
music. I
will
also
examine the
principles by
which
modulation
occurs,
look at
shamisen
tunings
and their
relation
to
mode and
modulation,
and
finally
briefly
touch
on the
relation
between
modulation
and
melodic
formulas.
The
History
of
Modal
Theory
in
Japan
Imported
modal
theories
have at
different
times been
invoked in
the
analysis
of
Japanese
music
but have
not
always corresponded
to the
actual
tonal
structure of the
music.
While
these
outside
theories have
been im-
portant
for the
development
of a
conceptualization
of
Japanese
music,
they
have often
been
inappropriately
superimposed
on
native
forms. For ex-
ample,
the
octave
framework of
both
Chinese
and
Western
theory
may
not
always
be
appropriate
for
Japanese
music,
in
which,
as
Koizumi
argues
(see
below),
the
framework
of a
tetrachord
is
more
fundamental.
Gagaku
(the
music of
the
imperial
court)
and
shomy6
(ritual
Buddhist
chant)
were both
introduced
from
China
in
the
eighth
century
A.D.
or ear-
lier,
and
they brought
with
them
a
highly developed
Chinese
theory of
mode.
Japanese
music
theory
is
traditionally
based
on this
Chinese
theory,
in
which an
octave
scale
consists of
twelve
pitches
derived
from
the
cycle
of
fifths,
and
from these
pitches
scales of
five or
seven
pitches
in
various
modes
are
extracted.
Absolute
pitch
was
considered
important
(Koizumi
1977:247-8).
By
the tenth
century,
theoretical
writings
on
gagaku
showed
that the
Japanese
were
adapting
the
imported
modal
theory
to
suit
their
own
melodic
aesthetic,
but
terminology
and
concepts
were
still
to be
based
on
the
Chinese ones for
centuries to
come.
Because
the
scales
basic
to
Chinese and Japanese music are actually quite different from each other,
this
usage
led to
many
contradictions
between
theory
and
practice,
and
to
confusion
concerning
the
definition of
mode.
In
narrative and
theater
music,
which
developed
vigorously
from
the
medieval
period
(1185-1600)
onwards,
the
influence of
Chinese
theory
was
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 5/34
4
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
not so
strong.
The
pitch
terminology
of
n6,
for
example,
of
lower,
middle
and
upper pitches,
perfectly
captures
the framework
of
tetrachord inter-
vals on which the music is structured. In music which was transmitted orally
among
the common
people, systematic
theory
was slow
to
be
formulated;
such modal
practice
remained
implicit
until the nineteenth
century.
A
prac-
tical non-theoretical
approach
to
mode existed
in the structure
of the
shamisen,
for
example,
in which the
basic
tunings
of its
three
strings
de-
fined
the nuclear
tones
forming
the framework
of shamisen
music
(see
figure
1).
Further,
the vocal
music of the Edo
period
accompanied
by
koto
and shamisen
shows
progressively
less
dependence
on
the tonal
framework
provided
by
the
instruments;
greater
melodic freedom
than before
was
achieved
through
frequent
modulation,
producing
a constant
shifting
of
tonal
centers.
This leads
to an
increasing
complexity
of modal
structure
by
comparison
with earlier vocal
styles.
The
next
major
contact
with
an outside
musical
culture occurred
in the
Meiji period
(1868-1911),
when
a
policy
was
adopted
of
actively incorpo-
rating
Western
music
into the
Japanese
education
system
from
kindergar-
ten
upwards.
The first
person
to
discuss
Japanese
scales
in
this
period
was
Izawa
Shfiji
(1851-1917),
one of
the architects
of the
new music
education
system.
Unfortunately,
he did not
really
know either
Japanese
or Western
music
very
well and
was not able
to
recognize
adequately
the differences
between
their
two scalar
systems.
His
judgment
that
they
were
in
fact
very
close led
him to the
misguided
belief
that
to exclude
Japanese
music
from
the school
curriculum
would be
insignificant,
which had
a
lasting
detrimen-
tal
influence
on the
school music
system
(Malm
1971).
Music theorist
Uehara
Rokushiro's
analysis
of
Japanese
scales
was
pub-
lished
in
1895,
in the
atmosphere
of modern
scholarship
when
the word
onkai
was first coined
as
the
equivalent
of "scale."
This
was
the first rela-
tively
scientific
look
at the music
of various
Japanese
genres,
although
it
concentrates
on
those of
the Edo
period (Kojima
1982:30).
Uehara
distin-
guished
the scale of "urban"
music from
that of
"country"
music,
which,
influenced
by
his
knowledge
of
Western
major
and
minor
scales,
he termed
respectively
in
senpo ("yin"
or
gloomy,
minor
mode)
and
yo
senpo ("yang"
or
bright,
major
mode).
(This
traditional
dichotomous
terminology
actually
does
not
necessarily
mean
respectively
gloomy
and
cheerful,
but
is the
equivalent
of neutral
labels
such as
"type
a"
and
"type
b.")
Uehara
had
very
Figure
1:
Tunings
of the shamisen
Honchoshi
Niagari Sansagari
J
h
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 6/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
5
little
contact with
folk
or
country
music,
and was
criticized
by
later writ-
ers for
his
faulty
definition
of
the
y6
scale. He was
only
aware of the
gagaku
or ritsu scale, but not of the folksong scale. There is in fact no
yo
scale as
such;
it
consists
partly
of the
minyo
scale
and
partly
of
the
ritsu
scale
(see
below).
Uehara was
more
accurate
in
his
analysis
of
the "urban"
r
in
scale,
identifying
it as an
ascending
and
descending
form
of
the
scale used
in
shamisen and koto music
(see
figure
2).
Figure
2:
The
in scale and the
yo
scale
(Kojima
1981-83)
In
scale
Yo scale
4
~"
*
-
'
'
I'--
A
While there were
many
studies of mode
and
scale in
the
ensuing
de-
cades,
the next
epoch-making
theory
of
Japanese
scales
was
published
in
1958
by
Koizumi
Fumio.
Koizumi
approached Japanese
music from the
point of view of ethnomusicology, encouraging an emic perspective. He
was the first to
completely
shed
the
influence of
Uehara
(Kojima
1982:34).
Koizumi
conceptualized
Japanese
modes as
being
constructed of
units
of
a
fourth,
which he called
tetrachords,
adapting
the
terminology
of
ancient
Greek modal
theory.
Whereas the tetrachord
is
normally
a
succession of
four
descending
pitches (Apel
1969:840),
Koizumi uses the
framework of
a
fourth
with
only
one intermediate
tone,
not
two.
Figure
3
shows the four
varieties
of
tetrachord which he identifies
in
Japanese
music,
each
distin-
guished
by
the
position
of its
intermediate
tone:
the
miyako-bushi
("urban
music") tetrachord, the minyo ("folksong") tetrachord, the ritsu (from
gagaku
terminology)
tetrachord,
and the
ryukyiu
tetrachord.2
When two
tetrachords
of
the same kind are combined
disjunctly,
one
above
the
other,
four
pentatonic
scales within an octave
framework result:
the
miyako-bushi
scale,
the
minyo
scale,
the ritsu
scale,
and the
ryikyd
scale
(see
figure
4).
The
miyako-bushi
tetrachord and
scale
predominate
in the
art
music
of the
Edo
period:
the
music of the
koto,
the
shakuhachi,
and the
shamisen,
including
kiyomoto.
Folk music is
mainly
characterized,
however,
Figure 3: Four varieties of tetrachords (after Koizumi 1958:257)
Miyako-bushi Minyo
Ritsu
Ryukyu
tetrachord tetrachord tetrachord
tetrachord
0 1 X
nQ
1
0
|
ii0
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 7/34
6
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Figure
4: Scales derived
from the
disjunct
combination of the four
tetrachord
types
Miyako-bushi
cale
Miny6
scale
X O -
-r
? ?
'
11
~
?i
0
Ritsucale
Ryuku
scale
Ritsuscale
Ryukyfu
cale
.
t
#
.
p7
0
t
I
by
the
miny6
tetrachord and
scale.
The
ritsu tetrachord and scale are used
in
gagaku,
sh6my6,
and
in
some
folksong.
The
ryukyu
tetrachord and scale
are
characteristic of the
music
of
the Okinawan
region
(whose
old name
was
the
Ryikyf
Islands).
Koizumi's
theory
was
revolutionary
because it
rejected
the octave unit
in
favor of the
smaller,
more flexible tetrachord
unit,
which
could
be com-
bined
in
different
ways
particularly
useful
for
understanding narrow-range
melodies such as those of some children's
songs.
However,
he
retained the
concept
of octave scalar units with the
conjunction of
two
tetrachords.
Koizumi's
theory
is now
widely
accepted,
although
many
have
modified
and
extended
it.
Although
he
attempted
a
comprehensive
explanation
of all
Japa-
nese
music,
his
studies do
not
provide equally
detailed treatment of
all
genres.
His
treatment of shamisen music is
sketchy
and not
convincing.
Otsuka's
study
aimed
to
apply
Koizumi's
theory
to
the art music of the
Edo
period,
and is
a
comprehensive analysis
of
shamisen, koto,
and
shaku-
hachi music which builds
on
Koizumi's
insights,
but
takes them in unex-
pected
directions
(1979).
She demonstrates
the
wide use
of
the
miny6
tetrachord in this body of music, and provides a model to show its relation-
ship
to the
miyako-bushi
tetrachord and scale.
Building
on
Koizumi's
work,
Otsuka
argues
convincingly
that the scale of Edo
period
music consists
of
a
miyako-bushi
tetrachord
combined
with either another identical
tetrachord or with
a
minyo
tetrachord
(see
figure
5).
Koizumi had indicated
the existence of such
scales,
but
did
not show that
they
are the basis of
this music
(1977:267-8).
Otsuka's model retains a
pentatonic
scale
struc-
ture in an octave
framework,
with the
following
features:
(a)
there
is a
clearly
identified
base
note,
analogous
to a
tonic
(see
below); (b)
the
base
note supports two tetrachords; (c) the lower tetrachord is always a miyako-
bushi
type;
and
(d)
the
upper
tetrachord is variable:
it
can be
miyako-bushi
or
minyo
type.
Put in
another
way,
when E
is the base
note,
the tetrachord
with
E
as
its lower nuclear tone will
always
be a
miyako-bushi
type,
but
the tetrachord
with
E
as its
upper
nuclear tone
may
be a
miny6
type.
This
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 8/34
Mode
and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
7
Figure
5:
Composite
scale of two
disjunct
tetrachords
with
alternative
up-
per
tetrachords
(after
Otsuka
1979:38)
scale is thus
a
relatively
stable combination
of two
tetrachords,
working
within
a
unified
predictable
tonal
system,
the two alternate tetrachords
giving
rise
to two
possible
tones on the
fifth
degree
from the base note.3
Some
theorists after Koizumi have advocated
abandoning
the
octave
scale
altogether,
in
favor
of the idea
of
a
very
fluid
progression
of
tetrachords. This can be called the "non-fixed tetrachord"
position,
or "in-
dependent
tetrachord"
theory.
Tokumaru
suggests
a free "mutation" or
alternation between
tetrachords,
offering
no
notion
of a
hierarchy
of
tetrachords or of
rules
as to how
likely
it is that
any
particular
tetrachord
will be introduced
(1981:55ff.).
In his
model,
moreover,
there is no notion
of a
"base
tetrachord" or "home tetrachord"
(a
concept
which
I
shall in-
troduce
below).
Tokumaru warns
against
the
tyranny
of the
octave
scale
and proposes instead the juxtapoxition of "latent units" (ibid.: 56ff.), argu-
ing
that the
appearance
in close
proximity
of
FB
and
F#
does not necessi-
tate different scales. He calls tetrachords "latent units" because he sees them
as
having
two
possible
intermediate notes
(closer
to the Greek notion of
tetrachord),
even
though
normally only
one
is
selected. This
sidesteps
the
issue of the
alternating
fifth
degree
of the scale. His
theory implies
a
loose
picture
of almost aimless
jumping
from one tetrachord to
another,
even
though
he does state
that
they normally progress stepwise
from
neighbor-
ing
conjunct
or
disjunct
tetrachords. There is still no idea
of a
hierarchy
of
importance or priority among all the possible tetrachords, nor of which
ones
are most fundamental to the
music,
nor
is
there
any
indication
of
which nuclear tones
are
most
important.
His table shows the
disposition
of all
tetrachords
in
both
disjunct
and
conjunct
arrangements
(ibid.:
58).
If
they
were also shown in an
alternating arrangement,
the
continuous scalar
configuration
which I am
advocating
would
result,
with
three basic scales
on
E, B,
and
A.
Uehara's
terminology
and
analysis
of the in and the
yo
scales,
while
occasionally
criticized in
some
of
its
aspects,
was
developed
and refined
by Tanabe Hisao and other writers. Tanabe's influence on English writers
on
Japanese
music was
very
strong,
notably
with Malm
(1959
and
1963),
whose work is a
major
influence on the New
Grove
entry
on
"Mode" in
1981,
which
regrettably
uses
only
English
language
sources.
Malm's
analy-
sis of mode
in
shamisen music was
already
outdated
at
the time of
publica-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 9/34
8
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
tion. It
was
not until
Koizumi's brief article
appeared
in
Asian Musics in
an Asian
Perspective
(1979)
that his
theory
became accessible in
English.
Even so, although it had become the new orthodoxy in Japan, it was not
mentioned
in other
English
sources until
Maim
1986.
The
independent
tetrachord
theory
is also now
available
in
European
languages through
Tokumaru's
work
(in
French
[1981
and
1986]
and
briefly
in
English
[1991]).
This brief historical
survey
of modal
analysis
shows how
the music
theory
of a
dominant
foreign
culture can have an
adverse effect on
modal
analysis
and that this effect can
become entrenched and difficult
to
shake
off. It also shows that the
perspective
of
ethnomusicology
when held
by
an insider
(Koizumi)
was
able
to create
new
insights
into
the modal
prac-
tice of
Japanese
music.
Mode
in
Kiyomoto
For the
following
study
of modal
practice
in the
genre
of
kiyomoto
narrative,
I examined the scores and
recordings
of
sixty-three
kiyomoto
pieces,
which
average
twenty-five
minutes each in
performance, applying
the
Koizumi
theory
of scale as
modified
byOtsuka
to
verify
what scales are
used,
how modulation
occurs,
and
how
this
theory
relates to shamisen
tunings.
I
apply
Otsuka's model to
kiyomoto
narrative
in a
more detailed
manner than she
did,
and examine the
implications
of the results for
many
aspects
of the music.
Seven
major
theoretical
issues
emerge
from
this modal
analysis:
(1)
the
scale,
and the
question
of
whether
the
concept
of the octave
scale
or that
of the tetrachord is more
appropriate
for
understanding
kiyomoto;
(2)
the
phenomenon
of
alternative
pitches
at the fifth
degree
of
the
scale,
and their
relation to
the scale as a
whole;
(3)
the identification and role of nuclear
tones; (4) the issue of tonality with one tone functioning as a reference
point
for the
music as a
whole; (5) modulation,
or
the movement of the
music
from one base note to
another; (6)
the
relation of different versions
of
the scale to the
three
major
tunings
of
the
instrument;
and
(7)
the rela-
tion between
mode and
modulation
on the one hand and melodic
patterns
on the
other. Points
1
through
4
are
very
closely
related,
all
being
aspects
of the same
issue: the
argument
as to whether the octave structure
or
the
tetrachordal
structure
is
more
appropriate
as
a
means
of modal
analysis;
5
through
7
follow on
naturally
after the issues of
1
through
4 have been
established.
The
Scale:
Octave Versus
Tetrachord
I have
already
referred to the
controversy
over whether the
octave
scale
or
the tetrachord
is
the basis
of
melody
in shamisen music.
Coming
from
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 10/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation
and Tuning in Shamisen Music
9
Western
music,
one tends
automatically
to think in
terms of
the
octave
unit
in music with a wide melodic
range,
such as
kiyomoto
with
its two and a
half octaves. In an octave
scale,
every
note is defined in relation to the
key
or base
note,
whereas
in the tetrachordal
structure
of
Koizumi's model
notes
are defined in relation to nuclear
tones
which are the axes of the
tetrachords.
Figure
6 shows
a
tetrachordal and
modal
analysis
of
the
opening phrases
of
the
piece
Ume
no Haru. The
third staff shows abstractions of the
tetrachords
in use in each
phrase;
I
have summarized
these into
a
scale
at
the
end
of
the
figure.
It can be seen that
between
B
and
E,
that
is,
the
up-
per
tetrachord
of
the E-based
scale,
both the
miyako-bushi
and the
minyo
tetrachords are
used,
and
that both are used in
ascending
and
descending
order.
On the other
hand,
between
E
and
A,
the lower or
base
tetrachord,
only
the
miyako-bushi
tetrachord
is
used: the
note
G does
not
appear.
This
illustrates
the in scale with
E
as its base
note,
as discussed above. At the
very
end of the
example
F#
appears,
indicating
the first modulation to an-
other version of
the scale.
This
analysis
indicates that
aspects
of
both
the octave
scalar
and
tetrachordal
models are relevant
to
kiyomoto
narrative,
since the
tetrachordal
structure reveals the nature of the scale. The
pitches
relevant
to
this model form the scale shown in
figure
5
(above),
with the
alterna-
tive fifth
degree.
This
is
the basic
kiyomoto
scale,
and
any
other
pitches
represent
transpositions
of it. This
kiyomoto
scale is
not
the
pure miyako-
bushi
as described
by
Koizumi,
but it is consistent with Otsuka's
analysis,
with
the
frequent
use of the
minyo
tetrachord.
Another reason
for
favoring
the octave
unit,
or
a
sequence
of two
tetrachords,
is that most melodic
sequences
extend over
two
or
more
tetrachords,
such as
the vocal
figure
in
bar 21
of
Ume no Haru. There
is
no sense
in which tetrachords
contain
the
melody.
Even
simple
melodic
motifs often
sit
astride
the
joining point
of two
tetrachords,
as in the
motif
DEF E.
A
possible
argument against
Otsuka is that in
reality
it
is difficult
to find
extended
passages
with
only
one
scale.
Momentary
modulations are the
norm
and are
very
common. As
Tokumaru
says,
such modulation can be
satisfactorily
conceptualized
as
tetrachordal
interchangeability.
However,
when there
is a marked
change
in the
orientation
of
the music for an
odoriji
(dance)
section
in
niagari
tuning,
the
base note of the scale
changes
from
E to B for a whole section, underscoring the concept of a fixed scalar model.
While there is some
justification
for
choosing
the more radical
tetrachord
system,
my
analysis
of
kiyomoto
invites the
application
of the
octave
scale model after
Otsuka,
most
cogently
for
reasons of
tonality
which
will be treated
in
more detail below.
Therefore,
it
seems more
appropri-
ate
to
consider
the
combination of two tetrachords as
forming
an octave
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 11/34
10
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Figure
6:
Tetrachordal and modal
analysis
of
opening phrases
of Ume no
Haru
49 ~ ~ ~ ~
t
0
f7A
A/
Yo
-
mo
ni me
-
gu
0
f"
"
gA
,
m
a- fu g
vn-
ru
-
u
o
I
_cLI
(E1LL~L
V ^
-
-
gi
-
- -
mo
- -
- e
ya
--
-
fu
-
gu
-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 12/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
11
o
J
it
'
.
o
A
o
I
j
w
''I
I
YKI
- u - - - ma n no
-
?
^
^
^
T t
i f
c : r
(tap)
(slide)
I b { r Y
r o
r -
r
Yu
-
ru
-
shi no
i
ro
mo
ki
- no
r i r
O
,.
A A
t
A
- K U )
L
A
I
I
I
^ - ^ -
rS
yo
Ko
-
ko ro
ba -
ka
1?(3H
I f
E
, ) ( L L
etc.
Summarized
cale:
A_
I
I
I
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 13/34
12
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
scalar
configuration,
as
outlined
above,
which is
often stable
over
a con-
siderable duration.
The
problem
remains as to what to call this scale. Uehara's term of in
mode
or
scale
still has wide
currency,
whereas
Koizumi's
terms,
miyako-
bushi
scale and
minyo
scale,
are inaccurate labels since the
kiyomoto
scale
is
indeed
a
composite
scale. In the absence of a more
appropriate
term,
I
shall call the
kiyomoto
scale
the in scale for the
remainder of this
paper.
Alternative Pitches
at the Fifth
Degree
of the Scale
This
phenomenon
has been
universally
acknowledged
since
Uehara,
and even earlier for some gagaku modes (Koizumi 1982:76). The issue is
how
it
is
conceptualized
and
explained.
No one has
yet
offered a satisfac-
tory explanation
as
to
why
one note
is
used rather than the other
in a
given
situation.
Within
the scale
model,
Uehara saw it as the
ascending
and de-
scending
form of the in scale.
The
above
analysis
(figure
6,
bars
1, 3-5,
and
so
on)
shows however
that
kiyomoto
does not
always
favor
D in ascent and
C in
descent.
The
examples
in
figure
7
confirm
this
point.
Koizumi called this
phenomenon
one kind
of
"modulation,"
as he
saw
this combination
of two different tetrachords
as
systematically
different
from scales which resulted from the doubling of identical tetrachords
(1977:268).
In
the
"non-fixed tetrachord"
theory
this
alternation
of
minyo
and
miyako-bushi
tetrachords
might
be termed
"mutation,"
hough
in
prac-
tice Tokumaru
is little concerned
with
this
issue,
since he treats
all
tetrachords
as
having
two intermediate
notes,
and
tends
to
disregard
the
issue of
which one
is
used
in
a
particular
case. He does not note the
rela-
tion between the
minyo
tetrachord and
the
base
note of the music.
A
Tokumaru
analysis
of
the
passage
in
figure
6
would look
much the same as
the
one
given,
except
that
he would
give
either two alternate intermedi-
ate notes for all tetrachords (as in his analysis in 1981:63-4), or would ig-
nore the intermediate notes
altogether
(as
in
his
analysis
in the
Appendix
to
the
same
work).
This
approach
therefore
does not
consider
the nature
of the tetrachords
involved.
The idea
of
modulation
is
unnecessary
if
we
accept
Otsuka's
model,
in
which
both can be seen as
part
of one scalar
system.
With the model
of an
octave scale constructed of
two tetrachords the
phenomenon
is
seen as a
choice
of a
miyako-bushi
tetrachord
or
a
miny6
tetrachord but
not neces-
sarily
related
to
ascending
or
descending
melody,
and
only
possible
in
the
upper tetrachordof the scale. Otsuka also does not give any reasons for the
use of either
tetrachord,
and
my
analysis
indicates
that
both
the descend-
ing
and
the
ascending
melodic
line can use either
a
minyo
tetrachord or a
miyako-bushi
tetrachord.
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 14/34
Mode
and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in Shamisen
Music
13
Figure
7:
Examples
of
the co-existence
of
miny6
and
tetrachords
miyako-bushi
a. From
Hokushu
Sa
ka
-
e
- -
yu
- - -
ku
1
r
r ^
^ r f
r
-
b. FromTamaya
ma
- i
-
ni- chi
-
hi
-ni
-
chi o-
te
- a-
so- bi
n
ko-do- mo- shu
t
r rI
: e
1 C f
a. From
Hokushu
L P i
r ,
I
-
ra
ta
-
n-
ma a
- - -
(
? i r
f r r i l
I F r>F
i r
. r . ,
d. From
Tamaya
e
: r
6 r
T r
r - r
-
o-i
wa
na-ga
-
ru -
ru sha - ku -
jo
wa shi
-
zu
i-
mu
^
m
n
n
nO i
ei
-
4
i~~~Eit
Another
interesting
view is that of
Kojima
Tomiko
(1981-3:374).
Ar-
guing
from a tetrachordal
basis,
she writes
that in
simple
melodies such
as
children's
songs
and some
narrative
music,
a
single strong
nuclear tone
tends to exercise a
"magnetic"
force to draw the intermediate notes of the
upper
and
lower tetrachords
to
itself,
so
that the lower
one becomes
a
minyo type
rather
than a
miyako-bushi
type.
The result
is the same
as in
Uehara's
model. For
kiyomoto
at
least,
there seem
to be no
clear
principles
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 15/34
14
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
governing
alternation of the
upper
tetrachords: none
of the
explanations
offered is
totally
convincing.
Although in
principle
the two intermediate notes cannot be used con-
secutively
(except
sometimes in
vocal
ornamentation),
it is
interesting
to
note
some cases
where
they
come
very
close
together,
with the
two
tetrachord
types co-existing
in a
single
phrase.
It
is
quite
common,
for
example,
to find a
minyo
tetrachord in
the
vocal
melody,
where the
shamisen
has a
miyako-bushi
tetrachord,
or
vice versa
(see
figure
7a).
The
classic case
identified
by
Uehara
is a
melody
which uses the
minyo
tetrachord in
ascent and the
miyako-bushi
tetrachord in
descent
(see
figure
7b).
This is
a
common
occurrence,
though
by
no means
always
the
case,
as other
examples
in
figure
7
show.
There
are cases
where the two
inter-
mediate
notes are
indeed used
consecutively,
but since
they
are
separated
by
a
rest,
it
seems true to
say
that
two
tetrachords are
involved
(see
figure
7c).
The
shamisen line
provides
the
missing
nuclear
tone which
separates
the two
tetrachords. A
notable
but rare
exception
can,
however,
be found
in
the
example
shown in
figure
7d.
The effect
of the
alternative notes
is to add
variety
to the
melody.
The
phenomenon
exists within
the
fundamental
structure of the
scale's
nuclear
tones,
which
will
be discussed in
the next
section.
Whichever of the
two
notes
is
used,
it is in a
constant
relation to
the
base note of the
scale
(to
be
discussed
below).
Rather than an
alternative
note,
it can
be seen as
the
intermediate note
of the
alternative
upper
tetrachord. Either
way,
it is
not
a
modulation,
but
part
of the
basic scale
of
kiyomoto
music.
Nuclear Tones
Koizumi
describes
a
tetrachord
as
consisting
of two
equally
important
nuclear
tones
(kakuon)
a fourth
apart,
with one
intermediate
tone
(1977:256). Nuclear tones form a stable framework for a melody, while the
intermediate
tones,
even in
one
kind of
tetrachord,
are
variable in
pitch.
The nuclear
tones
function as
finals for
sections in the
music. As a
focus
for
melodic
movement
they provide
a
sense of
stability;
they
serve
as
pil-
lars
to
support
melodic
construction.
For the
"non-fixed tetrachord"
model
all
nuclear
tones are of
equal
status,
but
Koizumi
argues
that when
two
tetrachords are
combined
disjunctly
to
make an
octave scale the
relative
importance
of the four
nuclear
tones
changes.
He had
observed that in
two-
tone
melodies
such
as
simple
children's
songs,
the
upper
tone was
always
the nuclear tone, while in three-tone melodies, the middle tone was always
the nuclear
tone.
Applying
this
principle
to
more
complex
melodies,
he
postulates
that in a
three-note
sequence
which contains
two
adjacent
nuclear tones
the
lower one will
lose
its nuclear
function.
Reasoning
from
this,
he
says
that in
the
miyako-bushi
scale
the nuclear
tone A
will be less
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 16/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
15
important
than
B,
resulting
in a
hierarchy
of
nuclear tones in this order
of
importance:
E, B,
and
A
(see
figure
8)
(Koizumi 1977:263).
Consequently
the scale consists of a pentachord and a tetrachord.
Figure
8:
Nuclear
tones in the
miyako-bushi
scale
(after
Koizumi
1958:181)
Miyomo r
t
I
A
My analysis of kiyomoto confirms this view. The pitch of the nuclear
tones
is
constant,
whereas the
pitch
of the intermediate notes can fluctuate
greatly.
The
question
of
hierarchy
of nuclear tones is linked to
tonality-
which
is
the most "final"or "central" of the
nuclear tones-and
will
be
discussed
further
below.
The
most
important
nuclear tone is that which
occurs twice
(E),
being
common to both tetrachords. The next most
im-
portant
one is the lower nuclear tone of the
upper
tetrachord
(B).
The
upper
nuclear tone of
the
lower tetrachord
(A)
tends to lose its
importance
to the
latter,
so that there are two
main
nuclear tones
in
such
an
octave
scale: Eand B. The importance of E is based on its frequent use in general,
its
frequent
use
as
a final
(especially
the final
of the whole
piece),
and its
use
in ostinato
motives
in the shamisen
(see
figure
7d).
However,
while A
is
certainly
subordinate
to E and
B,
it does not seem
to lose
completely
its
role
as
a
nuclear tone
in
terms of
frequency
of
use,
its
combination
with
E
and B
in
shamisen ostinato
patterns,
and its
occasional
use
as
a
section
final.
We should also not
forget
the use of A as an
open
string
in the
sansagari
tuning.
However,
its
use
does make
the
tonality
veer towards
modulation
to the
A-based
scale. The tones
E,
A,
and B
give
the
greatest feeling
of sta-
bility and rest in the melody, whereas dwelling on intermediate tones (C
and
F)
creates melodic
tension,
which is
resolved
by
coming
to
rest on
a
nuclear
tone.
E, A,
and
B
are also the base notes for the main modulations
of the basic
scale,
as
well
as
being
the
final tones of
sections.
The
identification
of nuclear tones is
crucial to
the
definition
of mode
and scale.
The
tetrachord is
perfectly
clear when the
melody
dwells on
nuclear tones.
Modal
ambiguity
can
result
if
instead
the
music dwells
on
intermediate
tones,
creating
pressures
or tensions
working
against
the
nuclear tones. This is
the
case
in
the melodic
pattern
nagaji
on F
(see
figure
9). A similarpattern on F# begins to show severe ambiguity(see figure 10),
which shows
how
tetrachords
are not
necessarily
fully
articulated,
and
may
be difficult
to
identify.
The
F#
cannot be seen as an intermediate
tone
re-
solving
to
E,
as
does
FP
n the
previous pattern,
unless we think of it as
a
ritsu
tetrachord
(E
F#
A)
or a
miny6
tetrachord
(C#
E
F#).
It
is more
plausible
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 17/34
16
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Figure
9:
The
pattern
nagaji
on F
(Gonpachi)
r - r
T
ir
tc
o
-
ke n
no
mi
-
zu
( I |
T r
u
v r r r
4
rr
$
r
Figure
10: The
pattern
nagaji
on
F#
(Suma)
i'"r
-
c'
o
-
memr
u r a
)u
ka
ri
-
so
-
me
ma
-
ku
ra
,
. r
t r f
r
r
, f r
- .
r
to think
of it as
the
lower nuclear
tone of
the
tetrachord
F#
G
B,
resolving
to the
nuclear
tone E of
the
tetrachord B
C E.
Accordingly,
this
simple
pattern
involves two
adjacent
nuclear
tones,
belonging
to
two
disjunct
tetrachords.
Although
the
tetrachords are not
defined
by
the
music,
it seems
likely
that
they
are
part
of the
B-based
scale B C
E
+
F#
G/A
B,
even
though
this resolution
on the
lower of
the two
nuclear
tones
goes
against
Koizumi's
theory.
An
example
of
misreading
the scale
because
of not
reading
the
nuclear
tones is
an
analysis
by
Loeb,
who
presents
the in
scale
as G A
Bb
D
Eb,
mak-
ing
G the
base note
instead of A
(1972:5).
In
the
modem
period,
new
scales
developed
in
Japanese
popular
music,
when the
influence of
Western music
forced
the
traditional
pentatonic
scales to
change
their
nuclear tone
struc-
ture to a
pentatonic
major
and a
pentatonic
minor
scale.
These
scales
are
called
the
yonanuki
onkai for the
"scale with
the
fourth and
seventh
de-
grees
missing"
(Loizumi
1982:80).
Tonality:
Base
Note
and
Home
Tetrachord
The
music of
kiyomoto
is
securely
anchored
tonally,
but
this
must not
be
confused with
the
absolute
pitch
of
Western
music.
On the other
hand,
unlike the
case of
no,
where there is
no
tuned
melody
instrument
(the
no
flute's pitch is unrelated to the chant), or unaccompanied children's songs
and much
folksong,
in
kiyomoto
the
tuning
of the
shamisen and
the struc-
ture of
pieces
are
strongly
linked to
tonality
in
this
sense. In
addition to
its
function as a
nuclear
tone,
it
is clear
that E
has a
further
character akin
to
that
of a tonic. In
all
but two
pieces
of
the
sixty-three
I
investigated,
the
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 18/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
17
final tone is the middle
string
of
the shamisen
(in
the
transcriptions
E above
middle
C).
At the ends of
sections,
the finals are B or
E,
or less
commonly
A,
reflecting
the
modality
of the section
in
question.
Machida
Kasho
showed
that the final notes of non-narrative
styles
of shamisen music such
as
nagauta
and
hauta
favored the note B for the end of whole
pieces
(1982).
Therefore
I conceive
of
tonality
here as the idea of a base note for a
par-
ticular
scale,
much like a
tonic,
and further as one tone which orients or
anchors the music as a whole. In its relation to the
tuning
of the
shamisen,
it
is
the same in
almost
all
pieces
in the
repertoire.
As the
open
second
string
in
honch6shi
tuning,
E
is
the
most
funda-
mental
pitch,
with the
greatest
sense of
finality
of the three
principal
nuclear
tones.
It
is
the final of
almost
all
pieces,
and of a
great
number
of the
sec-
tions within
a
piece.
It
is associated with the E-based
scale,
the basic
tonal-
ity
of
kiyomoto
music.
B,
the
open
first
and third
strings
in
honchoshi
tun-
ing,
is the most
frequent
final for
sections,
notably
for the normal form
of
the
cadence called
the
"lyric
cadence"
(bungo-fi san-nagasht)
(see
figure
11),
but
rarely
for a whole
piece.
It is associated with but does not neces-
sarily
lead to a
modulation to the B-based scale.
It
is less
"final"
han
E,
al-
though
this
may
be
a
subjective
assessment on
my part.
A
is
occasionally
used for section finals, and may be associated with a modulation to the A-
based
scale.
The
E-based scale is the most common in the music: E F A
+
B
C/D
E.
As we
will
see
below,
it is the scale to which all modulations
eventually
return. The tetrachord
E
F A is the home
tetrachord,
with E the most
sig-
nificant nuclear tone. This is the
justification
for the idea of an E-based
scale,
and the
tonality
of E.
Since the
main
nuclear tone E is common to the two
tetrachords which
form
the in scale based on
E,
it
can also
be
conceived
of
as the
central note
rather than the base note, as Kojimaseems to do (Kojima 1981-3); that is,
not as
an
octave unit at
all,
but as two tetrachords
focusing
on the central
tone E
(see
figure
12).
Either
way,
it
is reasonable
to
regard
E
as the most
fundamental
note,
giving
the
greatest
sense of
stability,
analogous
to
the
tonic of the
scale,
although
B
also has
a
very
important
function as a nuclear
tone. Koizumi writes that the function of the
shuon
(tonic)
is
clearly
de-
Figure
11: The
"lyric
cadence" or
Bungo-fu sannagashi (Bunya)
r
rronf
p
ri
a
-
ro- ma
-
i
-
-
i, i, i,
-
- - -
ka
-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 19/34
18
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Figure
12:
Conjunct arrangement
of
the
tetrachords,
with E as the
central
note
fined in
both
gagaku
and in
koto
music,
but that in
shamisen
music
there
may
be
two or even three
such
notes,
better
called nuclear
tones
(1977:256). However,
in the
narrative
styles
of shamisen
music at
least,
the
final pitch of a piece is very stable, and can justifiably be called the shuon
in
Koizumi's sense.
Modulation
Having
opted
for the
in scale as a
point
of
reference
in
kiyomoto
mu-
sic,
we
can move on to
discuss the issue of
modulation. Koizumi
discusses
various
types
of modulation. There
is the kind in
which the
nuclear
tones
stay
the
same,
with
only
the
intermediate note
changing,
which he
calls
"dominated
by
the nuclear tones"
(kakuon
shihai),
where
alternate
tetrachords coexist in one
scalar
configuration.
Then
there is the
kind
where the nuclear
tones
change,
but
the
type
of
tetrachord remains
the
same,
which he calls
"dominated
by
the tone
row"
(onretsu
shihai).
The
third
kind he mentions is the
type
where the
tonic can move
one
fourth
up
or
down,
and is
typical
of
shamisen
music
(1977:267-8).
This
kind,
in
which the
base
note of the
octave scale
shifts,
is the
most relevant to
this
body
of music.
Modulation means
melodic movement
from one
closely
related
tonal
system
to
another.
Figure
13
shows
the tonal material
of
kiyomoto
in
the
form of a
set of related scales. It
makes clear the
relation
between
neigh-
boring
scales which share a
miyako-bushi
tetrachord
functioning
as a
pivot
into a
tonally
related scale. The
pivot
tetrachord is
the
upper
one,
and al-
though
it can also
be
a
minyo
tetrachord,
it is
the
miyako-bushi
form which
has the
potential
of
becoming
the base tetrachord
of the
neighboring
scale.
Similarly,
the
upper
tetrachord of the
A-based
scale,
E F
A,
can
become the
base tetrachord of the
E-based scale. I
have
already
mentioned
Tokumaru's
set of
tetrachords with which he
rejects
the idea
of modulation
altogether
in
favor of the
accretion of
tetrachords. Sometimes
such
changes may
seem
to
be
simply
a
change
of
tetrachord,
but
they
can
also be seen as
move-
ment
from one scale to another.
This
perception depends
on how
long
the
music
stays
in
one
system.
Let us
look more
closely
at how
modulation
works in
specific
cases.
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 20/34
Mode
and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in Shamisen
Music
Figure
13:
Set
of scales
used
in
kiyomoto
19
Basic5~
~
Basic
tetrachord
f "I
In^lCT~I
I
4^~
~
:t
4
l ? n
^ l ? S
Modulation Between
the
E-based Scale
and the B-based Scale
Kiyomoto
music uses
primarily
the in
scale on
E,
but with
frequent
modulations to
the in scale on B. In fact it is not
easy
to find extended
passages
without modulation from the E-based
scale;
such
passages
have
an
unusually
static feel to them. The modulations
may
be
brief,
a few
notes,
or
they may
be
extensive,
lasting
for a few
pages
in
transcription,
as in
odoriji
sections,
some of
which are almost
entirely
in
the B-based
scale,
necessitating
the
transposition
of cadence
formulas.4 The
oki
of the
piece
Omatsuri
(see
figure
14)
gives
a
typical
example
of the
brief
kind of modu-
lation from the E-based
scale to the
B-based
scale. This
example
is summa-
rized
in
table
1.
Table 1: Tetrachord
analysis
of
opening
of Omatsuri.
Bars
Tetrachord Scale
1-7
(E
C)
B +
A
F E
in
onE
(miy.-b.) (miny6)
8-15
(B)
G
F#
+
E C B
in onB
(miy.-b.) (minyo)
15-24 E C B + A F E in on B or E -inonE
(miy.-b.) (miny6)
25-26
(B)
D E
+
E F A
in
on
E
(minyo) (miy.-b.)
A
E
B
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 21/34
20
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Figure
14: Modulation
E-B-E:
Omatsuri,
opening
section
< i
^
r
j
_:
f
A
Sa-ru
to
-
ri
-
-
no- -
haC
7
ramo sa- r pro a
ar
Cni MO Make n
ha- na mo sa- ka
-
ri - no a
tsu
-
sa
ni
mo
- - - -
Make
-
nu
- r l r r i l r
r I
r
I
t r
The first
phrase
of
figure
14
(shamisen
bars
1-7)
establishes
the tonal-
ity
of the E-based
scale,
stressing
the intermediate tone of the tetrachord E
F
A,
and
resolves
only
briefly
onto
E.
The shamisen leads
again
in the
sec-
ond phrase (bars 8-15), and abruptly brings about the first modulation to
the
B-based scale
by
plunging
into a new
nuclear tone which
had no
place
in
the melodic material of the first
phrase,
opening
up
a new melodic field.
This
sudden introduction of the tetrachord
FX
G B is made
possible by
the
common
tetrachord B C
E,
which
implicitly
forms the
link
between the two
incompatible
tetrachords.
The
melody
stresses the
F#,
and
yet
the
phrase
resolves to
E,
suggesting
a
veering
back to
the
E-based scale.
However,
the
B
tonality
is re-affirmed with the shamisen
progression
G down to
B
(bars
13-15).
This
example
illustrates how
the
character of nuclear
tones can
be
undermined or dissolved by the changing configuration of the notes; their
meaning changes
as the music
progresses.
In the third
phrase
(bars 16-22)
the
second modulation
commences,
but
it is much more
gradual
than the
first,
almost
imperceptible.
This is
possible
because
bars
15-18
are dominated
by
the tetrachord B C
E,
com-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 22/34
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 23/34
22
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Figure
16: Modulation
E-A-E-B:
Kisen,
hauta
section
--ta
o-
kya
ku
no a tsu
-
ka
i
wa
0
f I r
g I
i
-
na
- re
ki-
ki
ne-re
me-
ga
o
de
sa-
to
0?r1r?if
i r
rT^l CT
the
established
tonality,
is a
common
occurrence,
as
in
Sanja
Matsuri
(see
figure
17).
Bar 1 starts
a
melodic
sequence
using
the tetrachords
B
C E
+
F#
(G/A B),
or the in scale on B. The
introduction of the new scale is
clearly
felt with the
presence
in
bar
3
of
C#,
a
new nuclear tone. From the second
part
of bar
3,
the
appearance
of
C#
shows the shift to the tetrachord
C#
E
F#,
belonging
to the in scale on
F#,
a fifth
above
the
original
scale.
By
bar
6,
the tetrachord
E
C B has
already
been
restored,
returning
to the B
scale,
the dominant
tonality
of this
section.
Comparing
the different modulations discussed
above,
it can
be said
that modulation from the
E-based
to the
A-based scale is
always
brief,
at the
most two or three
bars.
Modulation to the
B-based scale is
normally
of
the
same
duration,
but it
occurs
much
more
frequently.
The most common
modulations are therefore from the
E-based
in scale to the same scale
based
on
the
tone either a fifth above
(B)
or a fifth
below
(A).
These
scales
are
closely
related
to
each other
by
virtue of their
having
several tones
(includ-
ing
nuclear
tones)
and
pivotal
tetrachords
in
common,
so that it is
easy
and
Figure
17:
Modulation
B-F#:
Sanja
Matsuri,
odoriji
section
A
i -
r
# .
1
i F
~ , ,
-
mo
-
i no
ta
-
ma
-
ku- shi
-
- -
nge
-
t '
t
I . m
.
YJ
I
-v
etc.
-
L
v
X
T1
j
10
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 24/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in Shamisen Music
23
natural to move from one to
the
other.
In
odoriji
sections,
modulation to
the B-based scale sometimes
lasts for several
pages
of the
score,
from
which
modulations
to
the
F#-based
cale can occur.
Contrary
to
expectation,
even
in
sections
in
sansagari tuning
similar
long
stretches
of
A-based
tonality
do
not
occur.
Modulation
mostly
occurs in this kind of
sequence:
E
-
A
-
E;
E
-
B
-
E,
but
almost never
directly
between the
A
and the B
scales,
which are not
so
closely
related to each other.
A
notable
exception
occurs in
Tadanobu
(see
figure
18),
where the not uncommon motive
F#
A
Bb
draws on tones
from the tetrachords
F#
A B and
A
Bb
D,
belonging
to
the B
and the
A
based
scales
respectively,
and
having
in common the tone A.
This
is
not however
a substantial
modulation,
since the
F#
s
touched on
only
once,
as a
coloris-
tic
device,
and
a
new
tonality
is
not established.
We
can
thus draw
up
a
picture
of
the
sets of tonal material
available
in
kiyomoto
music
in
terms
of four
versions of
the
in
scale,
each one fifth
apart,
which,
if used in this
order,
allow for smooth modulation from
one
to
the
other
(see
figure
13, above).
The
tetrachordal structure
reveals the
nature of
the
scale,
and
shows
how the different
versions of
the scale
in
different
registers
are related
to
each
other.
As
I
pointed
out in
the section
on tonality, the E-basedscale is the most basic to kiyomoto music; nearly
all
pieces
end with it and the
great
majority
of
pieces
begin
with it. There-
fore the note E can with some
justification
be considered
as
the
tonic,
or
base
note,
for the music as a whole. The
frequent
modulation
between the
E
and the
B
based scales
in
particular
gives
a continuous
fluctuation
of
tonal
center,
thus
providing
a
major
source
of
variety
in this
monodic
style
of
music.
Along
with
the
use
of alternative tetrachords in the
upper part
of
the
octave,
this is another means of
breaking
away
from the
limitation of
strictly pentatonic
music.
If modulation were carried out indefinitely on the principles described
above,
eventually
any
tone in the
chromatic
scale
could become
a nuclear
tone.
In
fact,
however,
the music
does
not
venture more than
one
tetrachord "below" the home
tetrachord,
and three
tetrachords
"above"
t.
The
fact
that the
music sticks
to the tones
of
mainly
two scales
shows that
Figure
18:
Compressed
modulation:
Tadanobu
@ T r
r v
a J
i ma
-
you
mi
n
no
a
u
-
ra
/ ^ T T i n
1^^
F 1
W
T
etc.
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 25/34
24
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
in the traditional
parameters
this was
sufficient,
and
that
it was
important
to
stay
close
to
the "home tetrachord" and the
"base
note,"
E.
As it
is,
the
use of the four scales identified gives access to all the notes of the chro-
matic
scale,
except
for
G#
and
D#,
but of course
only
in
the context of the
appropriate
modulation. Because absolute
pitch
is not
important,
it is not
necessary
to use
all
theoretical
pitches.
The
most
important
principle
is the
movement
in
and
out
of
neighboring
scales
and
tetrachords
for
contrasts
of tone color
or
tonality
or tonal orientation. It should be noted that
a
piece
may
end a whole tone
higher
than it
began
through
the
judicious
use
of
tuning changes,
to be described below.
Distinctive Flavor
of
Each Scale
Each of these
transpositions
of
the
in
scale has
a
distinctive
flavor in
relation to the others. Since the
E
scale
is
the constant
point
of
reference
to which
the
music
always
returns,
it is
felt
as "normal"or neutral.
In
com-
parison,
a modulation to
the
B
scale has
the
effect
of
"brightening"
or "lift-
ing"
the
music,
since the tonic is raised
by
a
fifth.
Similarly,
when
the B
scale has been
established and becomes the
norm,
a
modulation to the
F#
scale has
a similar
brightening
effect.
A
modulation
"downwards,"
on
the
other hand, such as returningfrom B to E as tonic, has a sobering effect. A
modulation
from E to A in
particular
ends to
produce
an
introspective,
dark
flavor.
(Although
I have not heard or seen
any
discussion of this
aspect
of
kiyomoto
music,
it is related to the
traditional
evaluation of music
in
dif-
ferent
tunings,
discussed
below.)
Relation to
Tuning
of
the Instrument
Problems
such
as
the
origin
of shamisen
tunings,
and
the
context
in
which
and
by
whom
they
were
used,
cannot be dealt with
properly
here.
My
discussion
will be limited to the use of
tunings
in
kiyomoto
and the
implications
for modulation.
Figure
1 showed three shamisen
tunings
used
in
kiyomoto:
honchoshi
("basic
tuning"), niagari
("raise
the
second"),
and
sansagari
("lower
the
third").
Other
tunings
exist
in
other
genres
of
shamisen
music,
but
are of
secondary importance,
and are not
widely
used.
The
only
other
tuning
encountered
in
the
sixty-three
kiyomoto pieces
I
surveyed
is
rokusagari
(B
E
F#;
also
called
sanmeri),
which is said to com-
bine the
qualities
of
both
honch6shi and
niagari.
The
only
instance of its
use
was
in
the
piece Sumidagawa.
Historical
Development
and
Usage
It
seems that honch6shi
was
the
earliest
tuning
widely
used
for the
shamisen
in
Japan
after its introduction
in
the
late
sixteenth
century,
in both
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 26/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in Shamisen Music
25
narrative
and
lyric
music.
This is the
tuning
of the earliest
extant shamisen
music,
the kumiuta
(song
cycles),
dating
from the
Kan'ei
period
(1624-
43). Niagari and sansagari tunings were not used until the 1660s. By the
1680s
all three
tunings
were
being
used
equally injiuta
chamber
music,
and
tunings
were
being changed
in
mid-piece.
No new varieties were
de-
veloped
until the
early
nineteenth
century,
and these never
gained
wide
acceptance
(Tsuda
1968).
Kabuki
dance
music used
predominantly
the
niagari
tuning
around
the
end of the seventeenth
century. By
the
1730s
and
1740s,
sansagari
came
to take
precedence,
particularly
in the
Edo
nagauta
pieces
of this
era.
Narrative
music,
which
has
always
been associated
with
only
honch6shi,
began
to be used
extensively
in kabuki from the
1740s,
and under the in-
fluence of
nagauta,
started
to
incorporate
a
dance section
in most
pieces,
for which the shamisen
was often retuned
either to
niagari
or to
sansagari.
This influence
was
reciprocal:
by
the
1780s,
nagauta
began
to use
honchoshi
for the main
part
of most
pieces,
changing
to other
tunings
for
one or more sections.
Compared
with narrative music such
as
kiyomoto,
the
so-called
lyric style
of
nagauta
uses far
more
varied
tunings,
and the use
of
honchoshi
is not so
important
for narrative sections such as the
kudoki,
which in
kiyomoto
absolutely
must be
in
honchoshi.
In
kiyomoto,
the
scores or
texts have
the
marking
naosu
("restore")
when
the
tuning
changes
back
to
honchoshi,
but this is not the case for
nagauta.
(For
a
detailed
discussion of this
development,
see Tokita
1989.)
Tuning
Patterns
Tables
2
and
3
show the
patterns
of
tuning changes
in
kiyomoto.
Table
2
is
a
summary
of table
3,
and shows
that
honchoshi is the
fundamental
Table 2: Three basic tuning patterns in kiyomoto narrative.
Type
I
No
change
(26
pieces)
Type
II
One
change
(20
pieces)
Type
III
Two changes
(14
pieces)
Total:
60
pieces
H
I
.......-...
. ..... ... ".... , ,
I
H
H
I
H H
Key-:
H
= honchoshi
[iii :i =
other
tuning
.
........:.-:f.:S:f
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 27/34
26
Etbnomusicology,
Winter
1996
Table
3:
Tuning patterns
in
sixty-three
kiyomoto
pieces.
Number
of
pieces
I|
H
I
24
H: :,:',',.
.H
I
14
Type
II
H
Isi
H
6
H
IH
H
1iiiiiHIiiliL
H
4
Type
III
H
H
H
3
H
[I=
H
[
H
1
Iiiisii
iii
l
[iiiii
iiiiiiisiSiii:iiiiiiii
K
s
ey.H , H
H
. .. .. ....
H
=
honchoshi
N
=
niagari
S
sansagari
I.
i
i
R
=
rokusagari:
H
i=iii'"ii
1
tuning for kiyomoto music. Three basic patterns of tuning change pattern
emerge:
no
change,
one
change,
and two
changes.
Reading
from left
to
right,
table
3
outlines the
tuning changes
in the
sample
of
sixty-three
pieces.
Retuning
is
almost
always
away
from
honchoshi and back to
honch6shi.
There are
only
three
exceptions,
seen in the last
two
patterns
listed
in
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 28/34
Mode
and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in Shamisen
Music
27
table
3,
which have been excluded from the
summary
in
table
2. All
pieces
end in
honchoshi,
and it is most
natural for a
piece
to
begin
in
honchoshi,
as this is
always
the
tuning
for the oki (the
opening
section of a
piece).
In
five
instances
however,
the oki
proper
is
preceded
by
another section
("pre-
oki"),
which
may
have a different
tuning.
These instances have
also been
ignored
in the
summary
in
table
2.
Twenty-six pieces
are
entirely
in
honch6shi;
in the
pieces
where
there
are
tuning
changes,
they
are
of
relatively
short duration.
Of
the retuned
sections,
niagari
is more than twice as
frequent
as
sansagari
(forty
and nine-
teen instances
respectively).
Tuning changes
are
associated
only
with
those
parts
of the music
which are
"quotations"
from other musical
styles,
and
not identifiable
as
kiyomoto
narrative. This
applies particularly
to the
rhyth-
mic dance sections
(odoriji).
It is honchoshi
which
is
always
used for
the
basic
kiyomoto
narrative
style
(see
Tokita
1989).
In the three
pieces
which use the
tuning
change
pattern
honchoshi-
niagari-sansagari-honchoshi,
the
sansagari
is
reached
by raising
the
first
string
a
tone,
creating
taka-sansagari
("high" sansagari).
This is done to
facilitate a
quick,
smooth
retuning:
only
one
string
needs
to
be
altered in-
stead of two.
An incidental effect is that the
piece
ends one whole tone
higher
than it
began; although
in
the same
honchoshi
tuning,
the
raising
of the whole
tonality
adds
a certain
brilliance to the
ending
(see
figure
19).
Tuning,
Mood,
and Modulation: Extra-musical Associations
Traditionally,
honchoshi
is said to
possess
at
different times such
quali-
ties as
being
"normal,"masculine,
grand,
or
lively.
Niagari
is
supposed
to
be
"different,"
gay,
and to
denote
a
village
mood and the season of
spring,
while
sansagari
is associated with feminine
qualities,
elegance,
pathos
and
autumn. There are as
many exceptions
to
these associations as
there
are
instances; what is more, these moods can all be expressed adequately in
honch6shi.
Sansagari
sections
in
particular
are
variable
in
mood,
although
niagari
fairly consistently
conveys
a more
cheerful mood in
kiyomoto.
The
basic
reason for
changing
the
tuning
is indeed to assist in
creating
a
change
of
mood. Because the
open
strings
of the
shamisen
naturally
re-
verberate more
strongly
than
stopped
ones,
and create a better
sawari
effect
(a
buzzing
sound caused
by
the first
string
of
the instrument
being
Figure
19:
Tuning
change pattern
with
takasansagari
in
Maboroshi
Wankya
Ho
>
>
>
o
>
#
>
>
oc
Honchoshi
Sansagari
Honchoshi
Niagari Takasansagari
Honchoshi
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 29/34
28
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
slightly
raised so as not to lie flat on the
upper
neck,
but
only
just
to
touch
it;
the other
open
strings through
sympathetic
vibration also
partake
in
the
sawari
effect
[see
Tokumaru
1981:20]),
it
is best
to
tune
the
instrument
so that the most
important
tones
(that
is,
the
nuclear
tones)
are those of
the
open
strings.
Tuning
is thus connected with modulation. In
theory,
honchoshi
(B
E
B)
is most suited to
the
in scale on
E,
whose nuclear tones are E
(A)
B,
while
niagari
(B
F#
B)
favors
the B
scale,
whose
nuclear
tones are
B
(E)
F#,
and
sansagari
(B
E
A)
the
A
scale,
whose nuclear tones are A
(D)
E. In
practice,
however,
sansagari
sections do not feature the
A
scale
significantly
more
frequently
than sections in other
tunings
do. One can even find
sansagari
sections which never modulate
to
the A scale.
Many
begin
in the A
scale,
but
soon
modulate
back
to
E.
For both honchoshi and
niagari,
this means
that the sawari tones of the
shamisen
emphasize
the
nuclear
tones
of the
mode,
but with
sansagari
this
correspondence
is not
so
neat.
In
fact,
the
B
of the first
string
is not in
the
mode,
and has
a
strange
effect on the over-
tones of notes like B6and
A,
played
on the second
string;
so the
argument
of tone color
falls
down in
the case
of
sansagari.
However,
even when B is
a
nuclear tone it will
take on
a
softer
quality
if it is
played
as
a
stopped
string
in sansagari,which could be significant for overall effect. One may imag-
ine that modulation was not
common
in
early
shamisen music:
a
whole
section in
one mode
and
its
appropriate
tuning
was
probably
the norm.
By
the late Edo
period,
this close association broke
down as
frequent
modula-
tion within musical sections became common
practice.
Despite
this lack of close
correspondence
between
tuning
and
scale,
it
is
still
possible
to call a section which features the B scale
"niagari-like,"
even if it is in honch6shi. There is no doubt that the
retuning
of the
shamisen
during
a
piece
creates
an
arresting
effect,
a clear contrast
between
sections which is vital to the structure of the music.
Mode and
Melodic Patterns:
The Relation Between
Modulation
and
Senritsukei
It is
generally
believed that
honchoshi
was the
original
shamisen tun-
ing,
and it
certainly
has remained the fundamental
one,
virtually
the
sole
tuning
for narrative music.
However,
this
does not mean that narrative
music uses
only
the
E-based
scale. As shown
above,
the music
can
move
freely
from
one
scale to another without
retuning
the
instrument.
There-
fore, it is clear that the E-based scale is not the
only
relevant mode for nar-
rative music. For
example,
one
can
look at
a
far more
heavily
narrative
genre
than
kiyomoto,
the narrative
music called
6zatsuma-bushi,
which has a
strong
preference
for the B-based
scale,
with
many
melody
patterns
immov-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 30/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in
Shamisen Music
29
able in that
tonality,
even
though
its shamisen
accompaniment
uses
only
honch6shi
tuning.
A few
fundamental
kiyomoto patterns
are
always
in the B
modality,
including some cadential formulas. Therefore a nexus between
melodic
patterns
and
modulation
is difficult to claim. Most
senritsukei
(me-
lodic
formulas)
are
firmly
situated
in a
particular
scale
and
do not
modulate.
The role of
senritsukei
in
kiyomoto,
and in
all
Japanese
music,
cannot
be discussed
here
(for
such
a
discussion see
Tokita
1989).
In
kiyomoto,
much
of the music
cannot
be
analyzed
into
pre-existing, clearly
identifiable
senritsukei,
but
of the
sixty-eight
identified
(a
conservative
estimate)
most
are
not
transposable.
The
notable
exceptions
are some
of the cadential
formulas for
sections
in the
piece,
but
normally
not the final
cadence
of a
piece.
The
pattern
called
bungo-fu san-nagashi
(lyric
cadence) (see
figure
11, above),
in
particular,
reflects
the
mode
of
the
section,
as
do
other
small
cadential motives. It
might
be
thought
that the
nagaji group
of
patterns
(see
figures
9
and
10,
above)
and
the kakari
opening
patterns
(see
figure
20)
are
also
transposed
in
the same
way,
but these should be
thought
of as versions
Figure
20:
The
kakari
group
of
patterns
from Ochiudo
A
44w
-
r - r - - r
)I
-
ro
de a
-
i
-shi
-
mo
from
Izayoi
Ku -ru
-
wa o nu
ke
-
shi
from Ochiudo
u
-
ba wa -
-
-
re -te
|: : etc.
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 31/34
30
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
of the same
pattern type
in
different vocal
registers,
an ancient
practice
of
Japanese
narrative music.
Melody
patterns
are the fossils or relics of an earlier
stage
of the de-
velopment
of narrative
music,
and in
their essence
predate
by
far
the use
of
frequent
modulation characteristic of
shamisen music.
It is
likely
that
only
a limited
number
of
patterns
could be
adapted
for
use
in
different
transpositions.
Conclusion
This
study
leads to the view that
neither
the
pentatonic
scale
of
Uehara,
with its
ascending
and
descending
versions,
nor the more radical
theory
of
independent
tetrachords advocated
by
Tokumaru
is
adequate
for
an
understanding
of tonal structures
in
kiyomoto
music.
The
most
satisfactory
way
of
viewing
the tonal structures of
kiyomoto
is the
concept
of a scale
with
a tetrachordal
structure,
applying
the
Koizumi
theory
as modified
by
Otsuka. The
basic
tonal material in
kiyomoto
takes the form of
a
scale,
which
I have called the
in
scale,
made
up
of two tetrachords
and
three
nuclear
tones.
The music modulates
freely
between
closely
related
transpositions
of
the in
scale,
providing
melodic interest and color.
The three
basic
shamisen
tunings
are
related
to
the different
transpositions
of the
scale,
but
perhaps
not
as
closely
as
they
were in the
past.
Many
points
in this
article need
further
elaboration,
particularly
the
historical
development
of
modal
practice,
although
this is
difficult
to
estab-
lish
purely
on the basis of
contemporary
performance.
The
body
of
music
under
study
represents
one
stage
of melodic
development,
when modal
fluidity
was
arising,
a
development
which
was retarded with the
importa-
tion
of
Western musical culture
in
the late nineteenth
century.
The rela-
tionship
between
a
musical freedom
brought
about
by
the
loosening
of
modal restrictions
and the conservative
pull
of fixed
melody patterns
also
requires
further research and
analysis.
My analysis
has used
only
the data
of
kiyomoto
narrative,
but
I
see it
as
applicable
also to
closely
related
mu-
sical
styles
such
as
tokiwazu, tomimoto,
and
to other descendants
of
bungo-bushi
narrative.
The
conclusions
relating
to the nature of the scale
and
modulation
are also valid for
nagauta,
and
for koto and shakuhachi
music,
in
fact
for
virtually
all
the art music of
the Edo
period.
The
only
possible
exception
is
gidayu-bushi
(the
narrative music
of the
puppet
the-
ater),
in
which
ritsu
tetrachords
commonly appear,
and the octave frame-
work is
less clear.
While
recognizing
the
urgent
need for
many
more
analytic
case stud-
ies such as this
one,
this
study
has
contributed
to
the
ongoing
debate in
ethnomusicology
on
implicit
modal
practices,
and
to the
spirited,
some-
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 32/34
Mode
and
Scale,
Modulation and
Tuning
in Shamisen
Music
31
times
acrimonious
debate
among
Japanese
musicologists
on the
issue of
tetrachordal versus octave structure of
scale in
Japanese music,
illuminat-
ing
the tension
between the views of the native
musicologists
and
those
of
foreign
ethnomusicologists.
Appendix
List of
the
sixty-three pieces
which were
used
in
the
modal
analysis:
Akegarasu
Bunya
Chasen
uri
Chosei
Dochu Sukeroku
Fumi
uri
Gonkur6
Gonpachi
II
Hanagatami
Hokushi
Inaka
Genji
Izayoi
Izumo Ume
Kairaishi
Kanda Matsuri
Kasane
Kashiwa
Karigane
Kisen
Komori
Kumosuke
Kurama
Jishi
Maboroshi
Wankyu
Michitose
Migawari
Oshun
Mutamagawa
Nayose
Ochiudo
Ohan
Omatsuri
Onnadayu
Onna kurumabiki
Osome
Ryisei
Sanja
Matsuri
Seigaiha
Send6
Shikunshi
Shiki
Sambaso
Shinkyoku
Takao
Sukeroku
Suma I
Suma II
Sumidagawa
Tabiyakko
Tadanobu
Tamausagi
Tamaya
Tanemaki
Sanba
Toba-e
Torisashi
Tsuyama
no
tsuki
U no
hana
Ukarebozu
Umegawa
Ume no
haru
Yamagaeri
Yamauba
Yasuna
Yoshiwara
Suzume
Yudachi
Yigiri
Zato
Notes
1. This
article
was
written while
I was a
guest
researcher
(raiho
kenkyiuin)
at
the
To-
kyo National Research Institute of Cultural
Properties,
Japan,
August
1991 to
January
1992;
I
am
particularly
indebted
to the
guidance
of Prof.
S. Gamo.
I
was
assisted in this
period
by
a
grant
from the
Australian
Academy
for
the
Humanities. As a
student of
kiyomoto
narrative
and
kiyomoto
shamisen under the
master
Kiyomoto
Eizaburo
since
1976,
I
have
to a certain
ex-
tent
access to
an insider's
perceptions;
but on the
whole,
this
analysis
is based on
the sound
as
perceived
by
the listener
rather than
by
the
performer.
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 33/34
32
Ethnomusicology,
Winter
1996
2. These
pitch
values are not
necessarily
the
same as in Western
tempered
tuning.
The
interval of a
minor second
in
the
miyako-bushi
tetrachord,
for
example,
can
be
very
narrow.
The pitches in the transcriptionsare chosen for convenience, but do not necessarily indicate
the
actual
pitch
of
any
performance.
There is
a
great
problem
of
nomenclature in
discussing
pitch
and
pitch
relations in shamis-
en
music,
indeed
in
all
Japanese
music. There is
no absolute
pitch, only
relative
pitch.
Pitch
in
kiyomoto
is defined
by
the
tuning
of the
shamisen,
which in turn
is determined
by
the
pitch
chosen
by
a
particular
singer
for a
particular piece.
Traditionally,
all
pitches
could
be con-
ceptualized
and
labeled
in
relation
to
the tablature of the
shamisen. Some notation
systems
for
shamisen music were
developed
in the Edo
period
but
were not in common use.
In
the
moder
period,
under
the
influence
of
Western
music,
more
notations have been
developed
and are in wide use.
However,
each
genre
of
shamisen music uses a
different
form of nota-
tion,
as do
all
genres
of
Japanese
music. For this
reason,
musicological
studies have favored
some form of Western staff notation which is understood both in Japan and elsewhere, de-
spite
the
fact
that
it
is
not the ideal
way
of
notating
Japanese
music.
Here
I have
opted
for
the usual
practice
of
Japanese
musicologists
when
writing
shamisen music in staff
notation,
taking
the
honchdshi
tuning
of
the shamisen as B-E-B
see
figure
1).
This is
close
to
actual
pitch,
although
this varies from
genre
to
genre
and from one
singer
to another. It is conve-
nient for
transcription
into Western
notation
because it
involves the
minimum
of
accidentals.
Also
following
convention,
the actual
pitch
of
both shamisen and
voice
is
about one
octave
lower than transcribed.
The shamisen itself has
a
wide
range
and
any pitch
is obtainable on
its
unfretted
fingerboard.
Reflecting
the
position
of the
nuclear
tones,
the
tuning
of the three
strings
is
normally
a fourth and a fifth
apart.
3.
Otsuka's book
(1995)
did not
come
to
hand
in
time to refer to
in
this article. It builds
on her
early
work
(1979),
and
concentrates
on
the
genres
of
gidayu-bushi
and
nagauta,
incor-
porating
the
perceptions
of
performers
in
a
substantial
way.
It
emphasizes
the
instability
of
the intermediate note of
the
tetrachord which
has
a
"range
of
possibilities,"
and
reconfirms
her earlier
hypothesis
that the
upper
tetrachord of the
scale
has the
option
of
being
either
miyako-bushi type
of
minyo type,
whereas the lower tetrachord can
only
be
the
miyako-bushi
type,
which she
presents
as her main
argument
for an
octave framework. That
is,
the
minyo
type
tetrachord
can
only appear
once in the
octave
arrangement.
Otsuka allows
a
wide
pitch
range
for the intermediate note in what she calls the "flexible
tonal
system theory,"
but there
is
more latitude in the
upper
tetrachord than in the lower one.
4. The structure of
kiyomoto
narrative
music
is
basically
that called "kabukidance
form,"
shared
by
such
genres
as
nagauta
and
tokiwazu,
which
are
also used
as
accompaniment
to
kabuki dance.
The
form consists of
a
flexible and
loosely
structured
sequence
of sections with
the following names: oki, hanamichi, (unnamed and variable sections), kudoki,
odoriji,
chirashi.
Only
in the
odoriji
or dance section is
modulation
significantly
different from other
sections.
For more
detailed discussion see
Tokita
1989.
References
Apel,
Willi,
editor.
1969.
The Harvard
Dictionary
of
Music
(2d
edition).
London:
Heinemann.
Koizumi Fumio.
1958.
Nihon Dent6
Ongaku
no
Kenkyu
I
(Research
inJapanese
Traditional
Music
I).
Tokyo:
Ongaku
no
Tomosha.
-
.
1977.
"Nihon
ongaku
no
kiso riron"
(Basic
Theories in
Japanese
Music).
In
Nihon
no
Oto: Sekai no Naka no Nihon Ongaku (The Sound ofJapan: Japanese Music in the
Context
of
World
Music,
edited
by
Koizumi
Fumio,
246-79.
Tokyo:
Seidosha.
---
.
1979.
"Scales n
Japanese
Music." In Asian Musics
in
an Asian
Perspective,
edited
by
F.
Koizumi,
Y.
Tokumaru,
and
0.
Yamaguchi,
73-9.
Tokyo:
Heibonsha.
- .
1982.
"Nihon
ongaku
no
onkai
to
senp6"
(Scale
and
mode
inJapanese
music).
In
Nihon
no Onkai:
Toyo Ongaku
Sensho
9
(apanese
Scales: Selected
Papers
in Oriental Mu-
sic
No.
9),
edited
by Toyo
Ongaku
Gakkai,
51-81.
Tokyo:
Ongaku
no
Tomosha.
8/10/2019 Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tokita-japanese-shamisen-music 34/34
Mode and
Scale,
Modulation
and
Tuning
in
Shamisen
Music
33
Kojima
Tomiko.
1981-3.
"Onkai,
Nihon"
(Scales,
Japan).
Ongaku
Daijiten
(Encyclopaedia
Musica),
1:370-4.
Tokyo:
Heibonsha.
- . 1982. "Dent6 ongaku in okeru onkairon no rekishi"(A history of the theory of scale
in traditional
Japanese
music)
and "Nihon
ongaku
no
onkai"
(The
scales of
Japanese
music).
In Nihon no Onkai:
T6oy
Ongaku
Sensho
9
(apanese
Scales: Selected
Papers
in Oriental Music No.
9),
edited
by Toyo
Ongaku
Gakkai,
27-37,
83-95.
Tokyo:
Ongaku
no Tomosha.
Loeb,
David.
1972.
Chinese and
Japanese
Musical Instruments
and Their
Notation.
New
York:
Harold Branch.
Machida Kasho.
1982.
"Shamisen
seikyoku
ni okeru senritsukei no
kenkyii"
(A
study
of me-
lodic
patterns
in
Japanese
vocal
styles accompanied
the
shamisen).
Toyo
Ongaku
Kenkyu
Oournal
of
the
Society for
Research
in Asiatic
Music)
47:2;
reprinted
from
unpublished
1955
manuscript.
Malm, William P. 1959. Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Rutland, Vermont, and
Tokyo:
Charles E.
Tuttle.
.
1963.
Nagauta:
The Heart
of
Kabuki Music.
Rutland, Vermont,
and
Tokyo:
Charles
E. Tuttle.
.1971.
"The Modernization of
Music in the
Meiji
Era."In Tradition and Moderniza-
tion
in
Japanese
Culture,
edited
by
Donald
Shively,
257-300.
Princeton,
New
Jersey:
Princeton
University
Press.
.
1986.
Six Hidden Views
ofJapanese
Music.
Berkeley: University
of California Press.
Otsuka Haiko.
1979.
"Kinsei
H6gaku
ni okeru
Tench6
(Modulation
in Edo Period
Music)."
M.A.
Thesis,
T6kyo Geijutsu
Daigaku.
.
1995.
Shamisen
Ongaku
no Onko Riron
(Pitch
Theory
in the Music of the
Shamisen).
With
English
summary.
Tokyo:
Ongaku
no Tomosha.
Powers,
Harold.
1980.
"ModeV: The
Concept
Choshi." The New Grove
Dictionary
of
Mu-
sic,
12:442-7.
London: Macmillan.
Tokita,
Alison.
1989.
"The Narrative
Tradition in
Japanese
Music:
Kiyomoto-bushi
as an Ac-
companiment
of
Kabuki Dance." Ph.D.
Thesis,
Monash
University.
Tokumaru,
Yoshihiko.
1981.
"L'AspectMelodique
de la
Musique
du
Syamisen.
Ph.D.
Thesis,
Universite Laval.
.1986.
"Lemouvement
melodique
et le
systeme
tonal
de la
musique
du
syamisen."
In
Canadien
University
Music
Review/Revue
de
Musique
des
Universites
Canadiennes
1:66-105.
-
.
1991.
"Intertextuality
n
Japanese
Traditional Music." In
The
Empire
of
Signs:
Semiotic
Essays
on
Japanese
Culture,
edited
by
Yoshihiko
Ikegami,
139-155.
Amsterdam and
Philadelphia:John Benjamins.
Tsuda Michiko.
1968.
"Jiuta
Shamisen
Tunings:
A
Study
of Its
History
and
Development"
("Shamisen
no
choshi
ni tsuite no
ikk6satsu").
With
Japanese summary. Toyo
Ongaku
Kenkya,
34-7
(combined edition):84-124.