Source:
www.artsanddesignsjapan.com/cat18/38.html
Title
Looking cool - A geisha in the
5th or 6th year of Meiji (1872 or 73)
Signed
Yoshitoshi ga
Date
May 4, 1888
In 1868 Japan adopted a policy of westernization in that they consciously decided to adopt American and European science, culture and music. Out of all of the fine arts music was particularly highlighted as cultural item to be imported. During this period, through consultation with Americans, Japanese schoolbooks were changed so that they contained western music and Japanese lyrics. The incorporation of western notation influenced the Japanese perception of music and inevitably their performance practices. Originally these performance practices evolved out of a philosophy of connectedness with nature and a unique perception of time and of sound. This unique perception evolved alongside Zen Buddhism as their priests became influential shakuhachi performers. The changes in notation not only influenced their perception of music, and thereby their philosophical orientation towards performance practices, but also the structure of their pedagogical system.
Japanese music history can be divided into five periods. These periods are the ancient, Asuka, the Nara, the Heian, the Kamakura, the Muromachi, the Momoyama, the Edo and the Meiji (Kishibe, pg. 1). The period of interest for the sake of this paper is the Meiji period, which began in 1868. Starting in 1868 Japanese music making took a sharp turn and proceeded due west to begin assimilating the values, techniques and perceptions of the music-makers of the West. The Meiji period (often-called Meiji Restoration) was a period of modernization.
One of the music making technologies that was adopted during this period was the use of songbooks. The use of Western songbooks during the Meiji Restoration period influenced Japanese perception of music and through this their music making. It was during the Meiji period that the Japanese first adopted Western methods of teaching music, including the use of songbooks. Their primary motivations for this adaptation were improvement of the elementary school system and the development of the military discipline and morale. (Eppstein, ii) These songbooks were written specifically for the purpose of planting western musical practices into Japanese culture. A special committee called the "Music Investigation Committee" was initiated for this purpose. Isawa Shuji, who had traveled to Boston to study music with Luther Whiting Mason (1828-1896), led this committee. Mason traveled to Japan, as an expert in Western musical pedagogy for the sole purpose of the facilitation of the transition. (Eppstein, 27-28, 45-53) Mason's mission was to import musical training methods, mainly in the form of songbooks.
The mission of the Music Investigation Committee was motivated by feelings that Japanese music could not offer much to its children and youth. The Japanese seemed to revere the music of the west while at the same time seemed to despise their own as unworthy as a serious endeavor. Isawa, the director of the Committee wrote:
"In Japan, Classical Music, which is more than two thousand years old, remains much as it was at the time of its introduction: in fact, it has rather retrograded than otherwise, and is looked upon as unfit for further cultivation and as valuable only as a relic of antiquity." (Eppstein, 69)
Isawa dismisses Japanese music, it seems, because he felt that it is ancient and has not evolved, developed or changed (perhaps even retrograded or devolved). He could not have understood how music is embedded within Japanese, or any, culture. He cannot realize that forcing another cultures notation system into Japanese music education will have disastrous affects. It may have been useful for this Musical Committee to understand how the cognitive processes of a culture are expressed through its art. A unity exists between the cultural results (i.e. notation) of a civilization and the culture itself.
The psychological, biological and cultural products of a civilization exist as a synthesized whole. Human musicality resides inside of the individuals of any culture. Pirkko Moisala wrote a paper on cognitive ethnomusicology. She relates that the ethnomusicologist should strive to integrate the idea of music as culture with the idea of music as generic processes. In this paper she suggests that, "whether the concern is human cognition or musical cognition, both these dimensions are found: the universal (stable, genetic-biological) and the cultural (changing, sociohistorical) dimension." (Moisala, 1995) The stable aspects of a musical genre reside inside individuals as a biological code. If the exterior musical technology is tampered with, then the interior yearnings and musical instincts will not just disappear and behave according to the policies of a Musical Committee. As a striking example of this I refer to the mid-life crisis of a Japanese composer (below).
Music is not merely a sound object to be used to influence people for some political or psychological purpose. It is embedded in the cultural context where it had its (beginnings) genesis. The way people think within their culture influences their music making and their listening. Blacking saw that "cognitive systems underlying different styles of music will be better understood if music is not detached from its context and regarded as sonic objects but treated as humanly organized sound whose patterns are related to the social and cognitive processes of a particular society and culture." (Blacking, 1971, p.92) Western notation is the cognitive result of over 2000 years of music research and development (Apel, 1972). It evolved in a symbiotic relationship through affecting and being affected by the music that gave it its existence. Taking this cognitive structure (i.e. notation) and embedding it in another culture as different as Japan had serious consequences.
Source: www.artsanddesignsjapan.com/cat18/images/17.jpg
Title
Actor as Yomoshichi's wife
Series
Tosei Jihitsu Kagami Contemporary Portraits of Actors with Their Own Handwriting
Signed
Oju Toyokuni ga
Date
9/1861
As an example of several of the consequences I would point to some comments from a contemporary Japanese composer struggling to develop his identity. Following is an excerpt from a lecture given by Masao Honma, a Japanese composer born in 1930 and trained in western music. He started studying counterpoint at age 21 (1951), and in 1954 his String Quartet No. 1 won first prize at the 23rd Japanese Music Competition. In 1994 he retired from his position of Professor of Music at Miyagi University of Education.
Please forgive me for speaking slowly in Japanese. My English is very poor.
I began using 12-tone technique around 1955 and continued using it until around 1964. During this time, I also began to develop interest in "Japanese sensitivity to music." From here on, I would like to call this "Japanese musicality."
Starting around 1965, some distinct characteristics gradually began to appear in my compositions. I believe these characteristics developed as a result of the following ideas:
1) Starting from "Japanese musicality" which is within myself.
2) Composing as a result of my awareness of the stimulation of sounds and music surrounding myself.
Music exists having distinct social functions and styles, according to different periods or peoples.
.... ever since I was a small child, I was taught that fine music came from the West. I myself believed this and studied Western music and began to compose in Western style. Gradually I realized that there was musicality within myself which was different from Western music. This different musicality was the "Japanese musicality" that I have been talking about. It was after 1965, when I started to not use the 12-tone technique, that this "Japanese musicality began to relate deeply to the purpose of my composing." (Honma, 1994)
The ancestors of Isawa and the work of the Japanese Musical Committee had influenced Honma. He grew up in a system that did not reflect his inner state of being. Tragically he had to wait until a time (perhaps a middle age crisis) where he gradually felt a yearning that something was not right. He had the clarity of mind to intuitively grasp, on a personal level, what Lee, Blacking, Moisala and other interdisciplinary culturalists are explaining on an academic level.
Vygotsky was one such researcher. Pirkko Moisala suggests that cognitive ethnomusicology should proceed along the lines of Vygotsky and attempt to examine music as cognition in real-life situations. Music means something culturally. Out of context, removed from the fabric of its place of origin, there is loss of meaning and of worth. There can be no authenticity to a musical experience that takes place devoid of the cultural elements that once surrounded it.
The traditional cultural context of shakuhachi music is within a ryu. Shakuhachi music was traditionally taught, nurtured and lived much of its existence inside a ryu. A ryu is a system of teaching music that is usually associated with a lineage of teachers. Some Japanese musicians can trace their lineage as far back as the eighth century (Cambell, 118). The two largest shakuhachi ryu today are the Tozan Ryu and the Kinko Ryu.
The Kinko sect is now one of the two largest schools of Shakuhachi playing in Japan. (Lee, 1988). The Kinko sect was established by Kurosawa Kinko (1710-1771) a retired Samurai. The repertoire of the Kinko was based upon the older repertoire of the Fuke Shakuhachi. Zen Buddhism was primary in the cultural influence and development of the Fuke repertoire. The Fuke Shakuhachi declined in usage around 1871 when the Meiji government abolished the Fuke sect. (Kishibe, 52). This date coincides with the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
Kishibe and Eppstein both state that the Meiji Restoration period was an important transition period for Japanese music. The transition in Japanese school music teaching practices influenced what was happening in the classical systems including the Shakuhachi Ryu. In a paper on the influence of western notation on shakuhachi performance practice and teaching, Riley Kelly Lee discusses the transition.
"Many of the changes in the shakuhachi tradition which have taken place since the Meiji Restoration are related to the technological differences between notation systems specific to the shakuhachi and staff notation. These changes are not only limited to the performance practices of the honkyoku. They are evident in symbology and aesthetics, in playing techniques, in instrumental construction and repertoire, and in social context and pedagogy." (Lee, 1988)
For the purposes of this paper I would like to focus on only a few of Riley's hypothesized outcomes of this technological change. Particularly, the repertoire, pedagogy, and social system.
First, notation systems were exclusive to both the ryu and to the instrument for which the music was written. The reduction of this exclusivity through the increased usage of staff notation had several repercussions. Using a notation system that could be read my members of any ryu, composers did not need to belong to a ryu to write for it. This togetherness was traditionally an important aspect of the system. Another implication is that a musician can learn to play music not written specifically for the shakuhachi.
Secondly, since a shakuhachi player could learn music of any ryu through notation, there is less dependence upon the ryu system. Lee suggests that "the social importance of the ryu is diminishing in proportion to the increased use of staff notation." (Lee, 1988)
Thirdly, the pedagogical system changed dramatically due to a diminishing need for the teacher to be present. A student could learn through reading the score and internal listening through memory. The score reduces the need for the traditionally intense and time consuming nature of the Japanese pedagogical support system. In some systems "beginners are never taught how to use them [notation] and are criticized for being arrogant if they ask". (Cambell, 124)
As we have seen, shakuhachi music making practices and teaching was influenced during the Meiji Restoration through the adoption of foreign notation technology. Shakuhachi music making has itself gone through several periods of transformation. Originally used by itinerant Buddhist priests the Shakuhachi became an instrument of solo art music during the Edo period. During the Edo period the Shakuhachi was very much in favor, as a secular instrument. (Kishibe, 7) Yet, even so, it has always been closely associated with Zen.
I am surprised that I did not find any discussion in the shakuhachi literature regarding the place of the voice in music education. In many cultures, a great deal of musical training begins with the voice. South Indian solkattu and western solfege pedagogy are examples of two traditions that use the voice as a training tool. The Japanese also have what is called Fu Hu U, an equivalent to Do Re Mi. What we can sing can have a great deal of developmental influence on and is a standard indication of how competent we are as musicians. Our singing abilities and training influences how we perceive music, this is why we use it in our teaching systems. Therefore, the use of pedagogical tools in any tradition, such as songbooks, influences the music-making outcomes of that tradition. It seems that the children who grew up singing from the songbooks created by Mason influenced the future notational practices of the classical musicians of Japan. (Lee, 1988) The composer mentioned earlier is just one example. This was taken from an Internet site that is devoted to tradition and innovation in the Japanese music of today.
Another Japanese musician's experience was described on this Internet site. He was one year older than Honma and had similar training in the western classical system. He wrote:
In "Cosmos Haptic," my cosmos is an inner sense; it is not scientific, or a cosmos that we can analyze logically. In this music, I tried to express a sort of religious impression caused by what I felt to be the most primitive and yet vitalistic aspects of the unity of man and the universe. (Yuasa, 1995)
He seems to be reacting against a traditionally structured or analytic approach to music making. He says that he wants to increase his usage of "non-European" structures and sequences and make music "like a traditional Japanese picture scroll. For these musicians Japanese philosophical concepts are an important element used to inspire and think about music in important ways.
Philosophical and psychological concepts and disciplines such as emptiness, constant awareness of time passage and breathing mediation became translated into musical values such as awareness of timbral qualities, free rhythm and non-tonal breath sounds. Elda Tate discusses the significance of Buddhism to the characteristics of Japanese shakuhachi music:
the most striking characteristics of the honkyoku, the original Buddhist shakuhachi pieces. ... include the connection with nature, the extremely slow pace, the economy of material, the significance of Ma (silence), and the artistic ideal of concentration, stillness, and sensitivity for both those who play and those who listen.
In traditional shakuhachi music, temporal and spatial qualities depend heavily upon tone, color, intensity of breath, duration, and the use of 'non-tonal' breath sounds and finger trills. (Tate, 1992)
Zen Buddhism was particularly influential on the Japanese perception of music and thereby their music making. These elements (excepting perhaps duration and silence) cannot be accurately notated in staff notation. Staff notation, as it has evolved in the West, emphasizes structure, time and pitch. There is no way of communicating these musical ideas through staff notation. The primary element in Japanese music is function as opposed to structure.
Western music notation puts an emphasis upon the idea of music existing as a chain of events. Each note is written as a discrete and abstract event. There is no direct correlation between the notated element and the actual performance or sound of the musical event. One could compare staff notation and fingering notation using the concepts introduced by Seeger in his essay on prescriptive and descriptive music writing. Here Seeger makes the vital distinction between conceiving of music as a stream as opposed to conceiving music as a chain of events. Both of these conceptual paradigms give birth to different notational systems. (Seeger, 1957)
Music in the west is perceived very structurally and hierarchically. Many of our most revered compositions are based on form. For instance many pieces are called Sonata in D, Sonata in Eb minor. This music was written with a very specific structure in mind.
Music in Japan is perceived as a stream. There is much emphasis on what comes between the notes. Their physical notation emphasizes the physical movements. With a notation of the physical movement the mind is still focused upon the moment to moment movement in the music.
The superimposition of western ideology using the musical technology of notation influenced the Japanese people's bodily experience of music. During the last Technologies of Performance class it was clear how this shakuhachi music influences our bodily experience. I felt that, at the end of this class people were very soothed and uplifted by this experience. Some of the comments, for example, "Why didn't we do this sooner", "That was so nice" and the relaxed looks on peoples faces, illustrated the unique physical effects that this music engenders. I have reproduced this experiment for people and there seems to be a consensus that this is true.
A person's physical state, which can be cognitively induced through a particular form of notation, can deeply influence a person's experience of the sound vibrations in the environment. Our social habits and behaviors change how we react to many environmental stimuli. Moisala feels that musical cognitions are influenced by our bodily experiences:
"Musical performance as an encapsulation of culture may provide a sufficient subject of study...mental models of music arise from individual bodily experience and from internalized and meaningful social action. Musical cognition is a meaningful, internalized, and situated social-cognitive process of an enculturated individual." (Moisala, 1995)
I am becoming increasingly convinced of the integral nature of music and culture through experiences with my students and through personal experiences with the philosophies and lifestyles of other cultures. I have intellectualized and felt how cultural behaviors such as religious practices contribute to ones overall experience of music. It is becoming increasingly clear that understanding the multi-dimensionality of a culture will aide in the understanding and experience of its music.
The notation of a culture influences the participant’s physical response to its music. In other words, our cognitive processes during music performance have an influence over how we respond physically to the act of music-making. Halsband's experimental work suggests that a performer’s perception of the metrical structure of a piece influences motor performance. He found that "there was a marked change in motor performance when subjects were instructed to perceive the notation in a particular mode of metered pulse-beat grouping." Thus, it is possible that using a particular notation has an impact on how a person responds physically during the performance of a piece of music. A notation that is physical to begin with would start by emphasizing the physical sensations during music performance. With the mind focused upon what I am doing physically I can maintain a moment to moment focus. Lee says that, "the Zen-inspired honkyoku repertoire...was, and ideally is, a process-orientated exercise in spirituality, in which the sound product is not as important as the physical and mental state of the performer." (Lee, 1988)
This process orientation, where sound takes a secondary role, is very different to a western approach. It is an example of Seeger's conception of music "as a stream, function and movement itself" (Seeger, 1957). Conceiving in this way, music is a process that has neither beginning nor end. In the West we have grown into a culture which emphasizes structure and events. What have we given up since the flowing beautiful Gregorian Chants of the Middle Ages? What types of psychological states, perhaps vital for our happiness, are we missing because of the loss of these musical traditions? What has Japan lost with its insistence on adopting a foreign music and a therefore foreign state of mind?
Several of my own experiences seem to bear out these concepts in real life. I grew up in a Catholic family, but in my twenties and thirties have exclusively practiced both Buddhism and Hindu (yoga) disciplines. At this point in my life I would say that I have practiced both Catholicism and Buddhism in about the same quantities. I lived in a catholic home until I was about 17 years old. I have also lived in a Buddhist temple for 5 years of my life and worked in another temple for 5 years.
My involvement in Catholicism was fairly typical. Going to church regularly each Sunday. Attending services on the major holy days throughout the year. With my conversion to eastern philosophies and ways of life the involvement was a little more intense, typical of most converts.
Zen Buddhist practices themselves are very "stream-like", whereas those practices within Catholicism are typically structured like a chain. The typical Zen meditation session involves 25 minutes of sitting mediation followed by 10 minutes of walking meditation. This would be done twice. Effort is exerted towards keeping a mental focus on the object of meditation. An example of an object of meditation would be using a word riding upon the exhalation and inhalation. During this time the student is encouraged (sometimes forcibly) by the teacher to be aware of the wandering mind … to be ever present. At times the student is confronted on an individual basis. The main objective is to be able to create a sense that the entire event is one continuous experience.
I have been on both long (2 months) and short (5 days) retreats within eastern disciplines. During short retreats there can be more intensity. During one 5-day retreat we meditated for 6 hours each day. This is a typical Zen retreat. For more serious students, practice could be up to 11 hours each day. The monks usually do this themselves. I have practiced with monks who meditate for 24 hours. When they sleep they are sitting in mediation posture. They may sleep a little bit but the sleeping takes place while sitting, thus they are said to be practicing for 24 hours.
I think that this information is necessary to understand what type of context this music was written in. This type of retreat behavior will undoubtedly modify the character and typical behavior patterns of any person who engages in it. These retreats literally force the mind to focus and to meditate. The experience cannot be written about. The nervous system goes into a very interesting state where there is a heightened sensing of what is around and inside one. It is very invigorating.
I think that for the music this means compositions that are very long. Several albums that I own have shakuhachi compositions that span one entire side. It also means music in which the main focus or purpose is to enhance the same state of mind that is developed during a Zen meditation session. The emphasis on timbre is related to the heightened awareness of each part of ones consciousness: physical, emotional and psychological. This timbral awareness is different from pitch awareness. To be aware of the timbre of an instrument is much more of a physical sensation. The personal must take in the entire envelope of sound. They must be cognizant of the attack, the steady state and the decay. Conversely, the pitch can generally be determined at any point along the envelope of sound. The mind can take a little rest between each note during pitch analysis. During timbral awareness the mind is encouraged to maintain continuous contact with the sound. Moreover, timbre is an "emergent property" created both by the actual sound and by the culturally developed modes of perceiving that sound. (Handel, 1995, Houtsma, 1997)
The longest catholic retreat I have enjoyed is a 3-day retreat at a Trappist monastery. My experience of Catholic mass and other practices has been a very different experience. There are a series of events during each mass. These events are the same each week. The mind learns to expect each event and they flow along like a chain of events. The main event is the blessing of the sacraments in order to make them sacred. Then everyone sings joyfully and receives communion together.
A lot of western music originated within the church and was structured around the mass. Music was written to accompany a specific series of events and to enhance the religious feelings surrounding this important single event in the lives of Christians. Staff notation was used frequently in churches and it developed along with the music of the church. Staff lines were slowly adopted (1, 2, 3 then 4) through the 11th century. The Roman Catholic Church still uses the square shaped neumes that evolved in the liturgical books surrounding its structured mass.
This system is an adequate and useful expression of western music. However, using western notation with shakuhachi music one literally strips away what is extremely vital: the concept of flow and the element of timbre. Breath as a vital concept in this music began when Japanese music grew out of the Zen experience during meditation. Zen has traditionally been the main source of inspiration for religious music associated with the shakuhachi. One of the main attributes of this music is this process orientation. Western notation tends to emphasize structure at the price of process.
This loss of process orientation was accompanied by an ever-increasing emphasis on pitch. Lee suggests that as the shakuhachi players became more concerned with pitch they became less concerned with fingerings. This shift in orientation changed the essential role of the shakuhachi from a religious tool (hoki in Japanese) to more of a secular device (gakki in Japanese) (Lee, 1988). The shakuhachi has been played in secular environments since the Edo period and for these people the shakuhachi was considered a gakki. Yet, for those who consider the shakuhachi to be a religious tool, the widespread adoption of staff notation has altered their conception of the honkyoku (religious music used in the practice of Zen). (Lee, 1988)
Since it is my belief that the cognitive state of the individual influences ones musical perception I would like to hypothesize one other cognitive phenomenon which may influence performance through the technology of notation. This cognitive phenomenon deals with the relationship between the nature of the structure in the environment and the cognitive style of the individual. This theory states that: a person with an analytical cognitive style (emphasizes the intellectual aspects of awareness) who performs in a highly structured environment will perform poorly. This is because these people naturally create structure. They are self-structuring. Contrarily, a person with a global cognitive style (emphasizes the emotional aspects of awareness) who performs in a non-structured environment will perform poorly. They cannot create structure for themselves and their performance suffers as a result. (Marchese, 1997) (Please see the chart) For the sake of argument, lets assume that there are cultural means (x) for cognitive style. This being so, if the Japanese brain emphasized an analytical style then this would give rise to a notation technology which de-emphasized structure. This notation system would improve their performance and traditions would evolve around the successful systems. The Japanese fingering notations would seem to support this idea. They are not highly structured.
Source: http://www.artsanddesignsjapan.com/images/45.jpg
Title
Kaimanji - Woman reading a book and envisioning a ghost, ghostly crabs and a serpent
Series
Toki Chuya Kagami
Artist
CHIKANOBU (1838-1912)
Date
April 1, 1876
Another paper, by Gen'ichi Tsuge, seems to add fire to this already steaming idea. In this paper Tsuge relates that Japanese researchers (Tsunoda, T.) have noted a difference in the way the Japanese brain receives and processes different information, including music. Apparently the Japanese left brain seems to process emotion and music whereas a westerner's right brain seems to serve this function. Tsuge concludes, "the Japanese brain does not differentiate emotional sounds from logical ones as clearly as the Western brain does." (see table 1.1) (Tsuge, 110)
I must warn that, in this type of research there are no absolutes, only bell curves. However, if there is a general tendency in the Japanese brain to process music in ways which are inherently analytical then according to the global/analytical styles theory, previously mentioned, they would likely develop a notation system which does not emphasize structure. Any attempt to enforce such a structure upon a culture with biological tendencies contrary to the system would likely produce results such as these aforementioned music makers going through identity crisis in mid-life.
|
Right Brain |
Left Brain |
|
|
Western |
Human emotional expression/music, humming |
logic, verbal, |
|
Japanese |
western musical instruments, noises, machinery |
speech, expression of emotion, sound of traditional musical instruments |
Table 1.1
One lesson to be learned from this is that there are cultural elements inextricably intertwined within the music of a culture. If music is deconstructed and reconstructed for some ulterior motivation without regard for or awareness of the cultural factors that are tied to the music the circumstances can be costly. This research puts up cautionary flags and warnings to any government who would interfere with the music making activities of its own people for some form of short-term gain.
It comforts me to know that there are systems such as Charlie Keil's where the whole culture is self-created. The inherent cognitive structures within the cultural mini-systems are nurtured but left to evolve in their own self-supportive way. The language systems are self-created and "beautifully attuned to the local environment." Like Japan’s early efforts (the Musical Investigation Committee) whose objectives were increased morality in education, Keil maintains an emphasis upon "the three Ms"---namely, music, motion and morality. It seems that his efforts may bring back something of a children’s version of a ryu where culture comes first and there is a reliance on "an aural-oral-physical ethos in the school". (Keil, 1996)
Annotated Bibliography
Apel, W. (1972). "Notation." Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition. Harvard University Press: Cambridge. 578- 581
This article is a survey of the history and development of notation in the world. It defines music notation as a "method used for writing down music." A marked weakness of this article is Apel’s insistence that a notation system is competent as long as it successfully notates pitch and duration. The article includes three pages on Western systems and one 3-sentence paragraph on all of the systems of the East (including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Tibetan). The historical facts regarding the evolution of western notation were useful.
Berger, K.W. (1966). "Some factors in the recognition of timbre." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 36, 1888-1891.
I thought this article would be useful for my section on timbre and pitch considerations. Unfortunatlely the factors refered to in the title did not include any in a cognitive medium such as notation. The article is about how removing or modifying the attack, decay and modulation of an instrument influences a listeners recognition of it. This was useful for my discussion of timbre.
Berger, P.B. (1969). "The Shakuhachi and the Kinko Ryu Notation." Asian Music. Autumn 1969.
This article led me to the great shakuhachi player, Mr. Goro Yamaguchi. There are several of his recordings in the library. Mentions the diversified systems of notation in the shakuhachi traditions. Gives several important reasons for this diversity: economics, less part relations than in the west, notation cannot indicate timbre, pitch accuracy is not a priority, and transmission in Buddhism has stressed secrecy.
Bethe, M., Brazell, K. (1990). "The practice of noh theatre," in R. Schechner & W. Appel, eds. By means of performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
This article was useful for understanding Japanese attitudes towards musical pedagogy. There is a good description of the way an art form is transmitted from generation to generation. There is a section on practice of noh as a way of life.
Blacking, J. (1971) as quoted in Moisala, P. (see below)
This quote was important because it guided my understanding of music as more than sound.
Burns, E.M. & Sampat, K.S. (1980). "A note on possible culture-bound effects in frequency discrimination." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 68, 1886-1888.
Initially I thought that this paper confirmed by hypothesis that perception of pitch can be related to culture of origin. However, upon closer reading, the article is discussion of an experiment which itself is a response to another experiment that found culture-bound effects in frequency discrimination. This paper concluded that they found no evidence of culture determined frequency perception.
Butler, D. (1986). Book Review: The Musical Mind: The Cognitive Psychology of Music. by John A. Sloboda. Music Perception. Summer 1986, Vol.3, No. 4, 427-429.
This was a good pointer to a classic book in the field. It mentions a chapter in the book that is "a provocative essay on the impact that music notation may have had, both in terms of gains and losses, on our musical culture."
Campbell, P.S. (1991). Lessons from the World: A cross-cultural guide to music teaching and learning. Schirmer: New York.
This book contains three parts. A section on music learning in the West, a section on music learning in the rest of the world and a final section discussing applications of what the author learned through comparing how music lessons are given in the west compared with those music lessons given throughout the world. Though this book takes a tourist approach, never stopping in one place to absorb the essence of the culture, Campbell nevertheless seems to have supplied much useful information for any music teacher intent on creating a good pedagogical system based upon the best of many worlds. Some basic domains and skills such as kinesthetic, aural, improvisation, imitation, retention, and notation are suggested as basic to any system.
Catan, L. (1989). "Musical literacy and the development of rhythm representation: cognitive change and material media." In Cognition and Social Worlds. Gellatly, A., Rogers, D., and Sloboda, J.A. (eds.) 144-167.
Raised a very important issue regarding cognitive changes. It discusses music notations as an integral part of cultures historical and societal needs. It suggests that cognitive development depends upon media.
Clark, S.D., Gilber, B. (1984). "An eighteeth-century notation of Indian music." Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology. 1984: Volume 1, 86-87.
This paper describes how the modern performance practice of Koto notations in present day Japan may be quite different to what the twelfth-century composer intentions were originally. The differences were mainly in terms of tuning and the left-hand technique on the Koto.
Condit, J. (1976). "Differing transcriptions from the twelfth-century Japanese Koto manuscript Jinchi Yoroku." Ethnomusicology. January 1976, 87-95.
Discusses how modern Japanese musical performance practice is not accurately following notations set down in the 12
Eppstein, U. (1994). The Beginnings of Western Music in Meiji Era Japan. Studies in the History and Interpretation of Music Series: Volume 44. Edwin Mellen: Lewiston.
Primary document in regards to the research. This book discusses the use of songbooks during the Meiji restoration period. It connects music education development and political motivations. It describes music notation in the relationship between America and Japan during the Meiji Restoration.
Gelman, R. and Brenneman, K. (1994). "First principles can support both universal and culture-specific learning about number and music." In Mapping the Mind. Hirschfeld L.A. (ed.) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
This text advises that the auditory memories of a child may influence music-making as a adult. It suggests that even infants perceive number in music.
Graham, Don (1963). Zen Catholicism. Harvest: New York.
Urges a synthesis of cultures. Discusses spiritual problems of both Japan and the West. Considers the phenomenon that both cultures are moving to adopt each other.
Halsband, U., Binkofski, F., Camp, M. (1994). The role of the perception of rhythmic grouping in musical performance: Evidence from Motor-Skill Development in Piano Playing. Music Perception. Volume: 11, No. 3, 265-288.
This is an experimental paper on the relationship between perception of notation and motor skills. It is concerned with how perception of rhythmic grouping influences the acquisition of motor skills.
Handel, S. (1995). "Timbre perception and auditory object identification." In B.C.J. Moore (ed.), Hearing (pp. 425-461). Academic Press: New York.
Interesting article that ponders how we identify objects through the timbre that these objects make through sound. It defines timbre as "an emergent property that is partly a function of the acoustical properties and partly a function of the perceptual processes."
Haydon, G. (1957). Book review: The Notation of Medieval Music. By Carl Parrish. The Musical Quarterly, 388-390.
This review examines the use of notation in medieval music. The article mentions the necessity for the performer to get beyond written notation.
Salient quote: "Adequate performance implies a knowledge of musical style-features that transcends the literal musical notation"
Honma, M. (1992) "My thoughts on composition." Music of Japan Today II: Tradition & Innovation. Retrieved November 26, 1997 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.hamilton.edu/academic/Music/erichards/honmabio.htm
This article describes one composers experience as a Japanese musician raised and trained in a foreign system of music. One important idea is his concept of an internal Japanese musicality.
Houtsma, A.J.M. (1997). Pitch and Timbre: Definition, Meaning and Use. Journal of New Music Research. Vol. 26, pp. 104-115.
Contemplates the subjective nature of pitch and timbre. Attempts to clear up some confusion in music perception literature over the relationship between pitch and timbre.
Ishida, T. (1983). Japanese Political Culture: Change and Continuity. Transaction Books: New Brunswick (USA).
The book examines the Japanese political culture, especially in its relation to adopting and frolicking with concepts such as introducing Social Darwinism and Christianity as a basis for wealth and power. It sees Japan as a people who are culturally flexible and ready to adopt foreign policies and practices if they are perceived as beneficial.
Keil, C. (1984) "Music mediated and live in Japan." Ethnomusicology, January 1984.
This article raises a lot of questions about the use of recorded music during live performances. Charles Keil shares field notes (4 situations) of Japanese musicians using recordings in conjunction with their own live sounds. He relates that, in these situations, the electronic boxes are humanized. He suggests that "effort" in Japanese karaoke shares commonalties with the qualities of effort in Zen.
Keil, C. (c. 1985). "Musicians United for Superior Education: Paideia Con Salsa." in Becoming Human through Music (Ed. David McAllister 1985), Retrieved October 10, 1997 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.musekids.org/consalsa.html
This is an article on music education that serves as a mission statement for "Musicians United for Superior Education". The mission recommends self-determination for local culture, "the three Ms" (music, motion and morality) and an emphasis on aural, oral and physical education. The organization is self-proclaimed as Utopian and foresees a new-world order evolving where a world government will "maintain peace and guarantee justice to all".
Kessler, E.J., Hansen, C., Shepard, R. (1984). Tonal schemata in the perception of music in Bali and in the West. Music Perception. Volume: 2, No. 2, 131-165.
Another article stressing the internal or psychological origins of music perception. Researchers tested groups of Western listeners and Balinese listeners. It was found that tonal schemata, or previous internalization’s of musical experiences, influenced perception of listening examples.
Kishibe, S. (1966). The Traditional Music of Japan. Series on Japanese Life and Culture: Volume 12. The Society for International Cultural Relations: Tokyo.
This book outlines the five major periods in Japanese music. It describes each of the eight major genres of Japanese music. The section on shakuhachi places the instrument in its historical, religious and cultural context It describes the construction of the instrument also.
Lee, R. K. (1988). "Fu Ho U vs. Do Re Mi: The technology of notation systems and implications of change in the shakuhachi tradition of Japan." Asian Music, 1988 Vol. 19-20. 71-81.
This is a primary article for the current research. It was while reading this article that this thesis first occurred to me. The article examines the problems, innovations and changes experienced in the shakuhachi traditions that are related to the incorporation of Western notation technology. The changes discussed are as follows: Zen orientation, pitch perception, intonation, interval relationships, instrument construction, composition, repertoire and social structure. These changes are based upon a shift from fingering notation to staff notation and from exclusivity to universality.
Lee, R. K. (1990). Book review: The Shakuhachi: A Manual for Learning. By Christopher Yohmei Blasdel and Yuko Kamisango. Ethnomusicology, Winter 1990.
Lee describes the difficulties in creating a manual for learning the shakuhachi. He suggests that a major weakness is lack of a recording for listening to the lessons. Something that was personally relevant was a cautionary note regarding non-Japanese doing research on Japanese subjects.
Lewin, D. (1986). "Music theory, phenomenology, and modes of perception." Music Perception. Volume: 3, No. 4, 327-392.
Although I shortly found that this article had little relevance for the current project the article did ask a very thought-provoking question: "How do we, then, succeed in being reflectively aware at any given moment of the continuity, or the passage, of our mental acts?" A very relevant question for listening musicians and meditation students too.
Loosen, F. (1995). "The effect of musical experience on the conception of accurate tuning." Music Perception. Volume: 12, No. 3, 291-306.
An experimental article contemplating how musical training is related to the perception of different intonation systems. Violinists preferred Pythagorean intonation and equal temperament was fancied by pianists.
Malm, W.P. (1965). Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Charles E. Tuttle Company: Rutland, Vermont.
Great section on Japanese Buddhist music. Contrasts Western music as being based upon ancient Greece and Catholic religious music and Japanese music being based upon ancient China and Buddhist religious music.
Marchese, F. (1997) Dan Sargeant’s Lecture Notes from Personality Psychology Lecture. Professor Frank Marchese. Dan Sargeant’s private collection: Toronto. August 7, 1997
This lecture explained the concept of cognitive styles (global and analytical) and the relationship of this style to environmental structure and the consequent performance outcome (high or low) that this relationship engenders.
Marett, A. (1985). "Togaku: where have the Tang melodies gone, and where have the new melodies come from?." Ethnomusicology. Fall 1985
This article contained some information on the relationship between oral transmission vs. notated transmission and the "formulaic organization of melody." It also contains discussion about horizontal vs. vertical relationships in Japanese music. Apparently there was a greater reliance on scores in the Heian period. This changed to greater reliance on oral transmission during the late Heian period and beyond.
Moisala, P. (1995). "Cognitive Study of Music as Culture – Basic Premises for ‘Cognitive Ethnomusicology’."
This article was a primary paper. Moisala examines the role of cognitive systems and culture upon musical activities. Stresses the need to separate music as culture and music as a human skill and sensory activity. Discusses several of the implications of musicians as human beings (biological entities).
Morrongiello, B.A., Roes, C.L., Donnelly, F. (1989). "Children’s perception of musical patterns: Effects of music instruction." Music Perception. Volume: 6, No. 4, 447-462.
Experimental paper revealing that musical training facilitates musical perception (melodic contour changes) in children (as young as 4 and 6) and in adults.
Richards, E.M. (1995). Music of Japan Today: Examining hidden orders of tradition. Asia-Pacific Exchange (electronic) Journal. Vol.2 No.2 Retrieved December 14, 1997 from the World Wide Web:
http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/pub/apexj/
This article is a synopsis of lecture recitals from six Japanese musicians. There are a lot of personal reflections regarding the condition of music in Japan. These reflections often touch upon how Western music has influenced their musicality.
Seeger, C. (1957 ). "Prescriptive and descriptive music writing." The Musical Quarterly. 184-195.
An important article describing the issue of notation emphasizing structure as opposed to notation emphasizing function in music. A synthesis of these two paradigms is recommended.
Swain J.P. (1994). "Music perception and musical communities." Music Perception. Volume: 11, No. 3, 307-320.
A fascinating article about musical communities as self-contained subjective perceivers. Salient quote: "…the community that can distinguish between trills and mordents is competent in a waythat is different, but neither more nor less advanced, than one that can discern ‘swing’."
Tate, E. (1992). Tradition-Innovation in Japanese Flute Music: Lecture-Recital. Music of Japan Today: Tradition and Innovation: SYMPOSIUM I - March 28-9, 1992, Sponsored by the Hamilton College Department of Music. Retrieved November 10
, 1997 from the World Wide Web:http://www.hamilton.edu/academic/Music/erichards/etate1.htm
A great article describing Japanese specific musical elements such as space (Ma), timbral effects, breathing sounds and concentration.
Tsuge, Gen’ichi (1981). Symbolic Techniques in Japanese Koto-Kumiuta. Asian Music. 1981.
Describes tests performed on Japanese and Western brains. It was found that Japanese process traditional instruments on the left side of the brain. This was useful for resolving the issue of structure vs. free flow in the two music styles discussed in the current work. This article was also a good addition to both the Moisala and the Marchese lecture notes.