March 26, 1885] 



NA TURE 



489 



degrees, and the figures after it the number of cents in 

 the interval from the lowest note, while the terms "very" 

 flat and sharp are those used by Rajah S. M. Tagore, 

 President of the Bengal Academy of" Music): — I C o, 

 2 1 1 very flat 49, 3 D flat 99, 4 not used, 5 D 204, 6 E very 

 flat 259, 7 E flat 316, 8 E 374, 9 E sharp 435, 10 F 49S, 

 11 not used, 12 F sharp 5S9, 13 F very sharp 637, 14 G 

 685, 15 A very flat 736, 16 A flat 737, 17 not used, 18 A 

 896, 19 B very flat 952, 20 B flat ion, 21 B 1070, 22 B 

 sharp 1 135, and then followed the Octave of the first 

 degree. Mr. Ellis then showed that 4 scales played to 

 him by Rajah Ram Pal Singh corresponded with some 

 of the 32 scales of 7 notes formed by selections from the 

 above 19 (3 of the 22 degrees not being used). There are 

 also 112 scales of 6 notes, and 160 of 5 notes, or 304 scales 

 in all enumerated by Rajah S. M. Tagore. In addition 

 to this the peculiarities of the 6 modes (rdgas) and their 

 numerous " wives " or modelets {rdginis) had to be taken 

 into consideration. 



This Indian system, based on stringed instruments, is, 

 however, quite different from that (if any) of the unculti- 

 vated tribes. For instance, a wood harmonicon from 

 Patna gave the scale o, 187, 356, 526, 673, 856, 985, 

 1222 cents, where the intervals of the Fourth, Fifth, and 

 Octave were mistimed ; but the neutral Third and Sixth, 

 356 and 856, were introduced. 



After dealing with some more instruments of the same 

 kind from Singapore, Burmah, Siam, and West Africa, 

 Mr. Ellis proceeded to the scales which are mainly penta- 

 tonic, the most perfect of which are those of Java, which 

 he had acquired from the band at the Aquarium in 1S82, 

 checked by the observations of Prof. Land and others on 

 similar instruments in Holland. These scales are of two 

 totally different kinds, called Salendro and Pelog. The 

 ideal of the first seems to be the division of the Octave 

 into five equal parts, giving the scale o, 240,480, 720, 960, 

 1200 cents., so that there is aflat Fourth, sharp Fifth, and 

 almost perfect natural Seventh (960 for 969 cents). By 

 playing pentatonic Scotch airs on a concertina thus 

 tuned, Mr. Ellis showed that the scale gave perfectly 

 recognisable results, and he then played some Javese 

 airs reported by Raffles. In this scale no interval 

 between successive notes was so small as a whole Tone, 

 or so large as a minor Third, but approached a neutral 

 250 cents, which is constantly accepted as one or the 

 other almost indifferently. 



The second or Pelog scales have also five notes, but 

 they are selected from a fund of 7, which (being numbered 

 I. to VII.) have the following intervals from the lowest 

 in cents:— I o, II 137, III 446, IV 575, V 687, VI 820, 

 VII 1098, I 1200. From these the annexed scales were 

 formed : — 



Pelog o, 446, 575, 687, 1098, 1200 cents. 



Dangsoe o, 137, 687, 820, 1098, 1200 ,, 



Bern o, 137, 575, 687, 1098, 1200 ,, 



Barang o, 137, 575, 687, 820, 1200 ,, 



Miring o, 446, 575, 820, 1098, 1200 ,, 



Menjoera o, 137, 446, 575, 1098, 1200 ,, 



These numbers represent the intervals as determined 

 from the pitches actually observed, and it is very improb- 

 able that they properly represent the ideal of the intervals, 

 but they were actually used, and hence satisfied Javese 

 ears. It is noticeable, in contradistinction to the Salendro 

 scales, that the Fourth is sharp and the Fifth flat, that 

 there arc five intervals approximating to a Semitone (one 

 being exactly a diatonic and another an equal Semitone), 

 and that two intervals are nearly a minor Third, while 

 the Tone proper does not occur. In the individual scales 

 intervals between adjoining notes occur of over a Fourth, 

 or at least a major Third. These two descriptions of 

 pentatonic scales, therefore, quite refute the usual theories, 

 and show that other feelings than those of successions of 

 Fourths and Fifths must have been at work. Mr. Ellis 



played short strains (not native) to show the effect of 

 these scales on airs. 



The presence of Chinese musicians at the Health 

 Exhibition enabled Air. Ellis, with the aid of Mr. Hipkins, 

 and the cooperation of the Commissioners of the Chinese 

 Court, to take down the pitches of the notes played by 

 natives on (1) the Ti-tsu, or transverse flute; (2) the 

 So-na, or oboe ; (3) the Sheng, or mouth organ ; (4) the 

 Yiin-lo, or set of 10 small gongs on a frame ; (5) the 

 Yang-chin, or dulcimer ; (6) the Tien-tsu, or tamboura ; 

 (7) the P'ifi'a, or balloon guitar. These scales were very 

 diverse. Probably by different blowing and half covering 

 the holes, 1 and 2 were much altered and could play 

 together, but the scales noted were incompatible. Nos. 1, 

 2, 3, 4, 5 had all scales of 7 notes, though it was more 

 usual to leave out two notes and play only 5. On 6 and 7 

 pentatonic scales only were played to them. Nos. 5 and 6 

 were tuned in their presence. No. 5 was supposed to 

 follow what is given as the scale in Williams's Middle 

 Kingdom, but must have been badly tuned. The follow- 

 ing gives the transcription of the Chinese names followed 

 by the cents in the interval from the lowest note ; the 

 notes marked * were omitted when only five notes were 

 used : — Ho o,sz' 169, */274, chang 491, chd 661, kung S78, 

 *fan 996, liu 1200, which may possibly represent the scale 

 of B flat major, begun on its second note, thus Co, D 182, 

 *E flat 294, F 498, G 6S0, A 884, *B flat 996, C 1200. 

 Also the scale played on No. 6, if begun on its Fifth, 

 seemed to be the same. This is the only instance Mr. 

 Ellis met with where two scales were approximately the 

 same. No. 6 has no frets, and hence any intervals were 

 practicable upon it. None of the instruments used equal 

 temperament. 



The principal scales of Japan are pentatonic, but they 

 have a means of sharpening notes on the Koto by 

 pressure on the strings, thus producing more notes. The 

 "classical" music came from China. The "popular" 

 seems to be indigenous. In this case, in the hiradio-shi 

 tuning of the Koto (the principal national instrument), 

 both Mr. Ellis's authorities (Mr. S. Isawa, Director of the 

 Institute of Music at Tokio, Japan, and a Japanese at 

 present studying physics in Europe) agree that the inten- 

 tion is, given the note of the 1st and 5th strings in unison, 

 to tune the 2nd a Fifth below it, and the 3rd a Fourth 

 below it. As to the 4th they disagree. Mr. Isawa thinks 

 it was tuned a major Third below, the other thinks his 

 countrymen do not know a major Third, but only tune 

 the 4th string by "a sort of instinct" as "a sort of" 

 Semitone above the 3rd, in which case the interval 

 between the 3rd and 4th will also be "a sort of" major 

 Third, and the Fourth, from the 3rd to the 5th string, 

 will be approximative])* divided into a Semitone and a 

 major Third, which is, singularly enough, the oldest Greek 

 tetrachord of Olympos, possibly tuned by a similar 

 "instinct." Then the Fourth, from the 5th to the 7th 

 string, would be similarly divided by the 6th string. Hence, 

 taking the 1st and 5th strings as E, we have 1 E, 2 A, 

 3 B, 4 C, 5 E, 6 F, 7 a, appro.ximatively. Mr. Buhicrosan, 

 of the "Japanese Village," Knightsbridge, kindly allowed 

 Mr. Hipkins and Mr. Ellis to take the method of tuning 

 hiradio-shi from one of his female musicians and her 

 music-master. Writing the number of cents in the 

 intervals between the strings, the following was the 

 result : — 



Theory... II204 III 112 IV3S6 V112 VI 386 VII 

 Female ... 193 164 362 82 399 



Master ... 1S5 152 346 107 410 



The differences seem to bear out the other's views, 

 and are an instructive lesson in the inaccuracies of most 

 Asiatic tuning. Mr. Isawa identifies the intentional 

 Japanese twelve pitch-notes with the twelve notes of our 

 equally tempered scale, and the other says that if 

 Japanese music is played on a piano no Japanese ear will 

 be offended. Practically, however, the scale is more like 



