Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music

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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

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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



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-



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



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



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



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



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

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



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



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

-



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



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.



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



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



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



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



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

-



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.



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



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

hana 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-



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



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.



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



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



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



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



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-



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.



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-



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.



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.

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Tokita - Japanese Shamisen Music

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