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IN PRIMITIVE MUSIC.
iey Cambridge.
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PSYCHOLOGY, Yol. I. Part 4, December 1905. •• ■. Y .
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the
CHARLES MYERS
LI -'RAF. Y
NATIONAL INSTITUTE Jr INDUSiTli;!l. PSYCHOLOGY
H, WEIBECK STREET. LOKOOH. IV.I.
A STUDY OF RHYTHM IN PRIMITIVE MUSIC1.
By CHARLES S. MYERS,
Gonville and Cains College, Cambridge.
/. Peculiarities of rhythm in the music of the Malays of
Sarawak. 1. Description of their orchestra. 2. The method ex¬
perimentally employed to record the rhythm. 3. Analysis of the
records.
II. Further evidence of rhythmical complications in primitive
music. 1. Analogy of the above records with the rhythm of early
Indian music and with Greek metre. 2. The use of simultaneous
contrary rhythms. 3. The use of frequently changing rhythms.
III. The place of rhythm in primitive and advanced music.
X.
1. During a visit to Borneo I had the opportunity of investigating
some exceptionally complicated methods of gong-beating which aie in
vogue among the Sarawak Malays.
Their orchestra usually consists of (1) a set of seven or eight small
gongs or kranang of different pitch, which are arranged before the player
in horizontal series upon a frame of bamboo and rattan, (2) a large gong
or chanang, (3) two small drums or gendang, and (4) a still larger gong,
the tawak or tetdwak. The kranang, chanang and gendang always keep
excellent time with one another. The gongs of the kranang are rapidly
sounded, about six per second. The chanang emits a high note and
regularly accentuates the first of every four sounds of the kranang.
The two gendang are called ‘mother’ and ‘child.’ When one of them is
silent, the other is beaten; together, their rhythm supports that of the
kranang, the accented beat coinciding with that of the chanang.
1 A paper communicated to the Psychological Society on April 1st, 1905.
398 A Study of Rhythm in Primitive Music
On the other hand, the tawcik, a large gong of about sixty centimetres
in diameter, is played in a rhythm seemingly quite independent of that
of the other instruments of the orchestra. It may be beaten in various
modes, but they are alike characterized by a complete absence of time,
so far as can be appreciated by the European ear. The accented beats
appear to recur with incomprehensible irregularity. I remember that
on one occasion the player of the tawak becoming tired, he passed on
the instrument to another Malay who proceeded to beat it just as a
European would do, keeping strict time with the orchestra. He was
laughed at by his audience and very soon retired covered with ridicule.
It was evident that only an expert could play it.
No movement of the lips or feet accompanies this curious rhythm.
It is listened to without singing or dancing. The unaccented beats of
the tawak are damped by the fingers of the player’s left hand. His right
hand at one time beats the body, at another the raised central boss of
the instrument. The tawak is also used by the Kenyahs and other
peoples of Sarawak to carry news of death, war, childbirth, etc., to neigh¬
bouring villages, each mode of beating having a recognized meaning1.
2. I endeavoured to investigate the peculiar methods of sounding
the tawak in the above orchestra by allowing a Malay to tap upon a
Morse key just as if he were beating the tawak, while the other
instruments were being played as usual. The taps thus made were
recorded upon the travelling surface of a smoked drum by means of an
electrically driven time-signal. Below the time-signal a clock recorded
intervals of a fifth of a second on the smoked surface. In this way
I was able to obtain a record of the number of tenths of seconds which
elapsed between successive beats of the tawak. I hoped that a leisured
visual study of these intervals would lead to an understanding of this
curious performance which to the European ear appeared so completely
devoid of system, defying every attempt at rhythmization.
3. The Malay who thus recorded the sounds of the tawak told me
that there were many methods of beating it. I have records of four
different methods and I present them here. Unfortunately my attention
was confined too exclusively to the recording apparatus to allow me to take
note of the position of the accented beats2 or to observe if they ever
coincided with those of the other instruments. My figures merely give
the intervals in tenths of seconds which elapsed between successive
1 There is no reason to believe that the distribution of beats and accents corresponds
with the number and position of accented and unaccented syllables of words understood.
2 The accented beats of the tawak are naturally longer, as a rule, than the unaccented
beats.
Charles S. Myers 399
tawak-beats. But I am convinced by my experience on other occasions
that the rhythm of the latter was completely independent of that of the
rest of the orchestra.
METHOD I.]
d d I
3-5, 3, I
1-5, i 2,
I 3,
\ - 3-5,
1 3, 15,
1 2, 3,
+ 55, 2, 3-5, 1-5, 3-5,
2, 2-5, 1-5, 3-5, 4, +
2-5, 2, 3, 2-5, 2, + +
2-5, 1-5, 2, 3, +
2-5,
2-5, 1-5, 2, +
2-5, 3-5, 3, +
2, 2, 2-5, 3-5, I- -
.2-5, 3*5, 4*
2 5, 1-5,
2, 3, 3, 1-5, 2,.. +
....2, 15, +
2-5, 2, +
2-5, 1-5, 1-5, +
2-5,
a b c a
r i - i i 1 r “i 1 + 1 r i 1 |
r~— i 1 - + |
#3-5, 4, 2, 3-5, 3, 4*5, 2, 2*5, 3, 1-5, 3, 2, 3, 3-5, 4,
d I
a d i i-1
1 1 r- i r ~i 1 1
| i 1 1 i f 1 + ~j 1 + 1
2, 2-5, 3-5, 3-5, 1*5, 2, 2-5, 3-5, 4, 2, 3, 2-5, 3*5, 1-5, 2, 2-5,
c 1
a or b \
d \
1- 1 - i ! i ! 1 (
1 ) 1 1 ! + 1
r i i i
3-5, 1*5, 2-5, 2, 3, 3-5, 4-5, 2, 3, 3, 2-5, 15, 2, 3,
b 1
d 1 r i • i 1
1 r i | +
3, 4-5, 2, 3, 3-5?, ... 1-5, 2, 3,# 4, 4, 2, 2, 3, 4, 2.
I was for a long time puzzled at the apparent lack of regularity
in these figures. But I succeeded at last in systematizing that section
which lies between the two asterisks. There can be no doubt that here
the beats are grouped in two alternately recurring ‘ bars ’ which are of
different lengths. The one comprises 7*5 units (i.e. tenths of seconds),
the other 5 units. The beats within the latter bar are always two in
number and always have the values 2 and 3. Those within the former
bar may be two or three in number, with the values (a) 35 and 4,
(b) 3 and 4'5, (c) 3, 1*5 and 3 or (d) 3, 3 and l15. The figures sometimes
do not tally precisely with this plan, but the absolute value of such
deviations is so small as to be negligible. In other words, then, if we
represent one unit interval by the quaver2, the various groups met with
may be written thus :
1 Each figure represents the number of tenths of seconds between successive beats.
The signs -f or - over a figure indicate that its value is very slightly higher or lower than
that recorded. A dotted line shows where the record is undecipherable. The brackets
and letters are explained later.
2 The metronome-rate thus being, I =150.
400 A Study of Rhythm in Primitive Music
(a) ® 1 1/ 1
m f
G) & • • & •
1 > 1
(<*) » 4f>‘ • t9 •
t ! >
An alternation of such measures would of course fail to be appreciated
by the European ear.
METHOD II. a JL
b r
+ r +1 t + +1 ... 3, 4, 4, 6, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 8, 5, 2, 6, 2, 2, 4,
b d a u
+ - + + r~
+ + i i i 2, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 5, 2, 3, 5, 2, 6, 3, 2, 4, 4, 8, 4, 3, 3, 2, 3,
1
c a r~
e L
6, 1 2, 4, 3, 1, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2, 2' *3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 4, 2, ..
Here again we have evidence of the grouping together of measures
of various duration so as to form longer periods (a) and (6) which are
subsequently repeated. These periods or groups may be separated by
one or more beats from one another.
Group (a) which is repeated may be represented thus:
444 2 4 4
£ vn 1 1
1 *i C111 Jin
There is a change from a two-pulse to a four-pulse period.
Group (b) which is also repeated may perhaps be represented:
3 5 2 6 3 2 1 r 1
r *n Tii 1 1
S
r 1
f 1 r Tii ^ 1 1 _
s
j
£ 11 i 1
r 1 ^ 1
1 r 1 1 1
Group (c) contains the double group 24312. It may be written:
2 4 3 1 2 2 4 3 1 2 1—1 r 1 ^ 1
r
U*> 1 1
1—1-1 riii 1
r n
* 1
1 1 1 1 1 r 1 !p 1
r ig? 1
1
11 1 r ~i f 1 ly 1
Alike in (b) and (c) we have alternating groups of two and three-
pulse periods,—a condition closely analogous to that subsequently de¬
scribed in American-Indian music (p. 404) and in Greek metre (p. 402).
Charles S. Myers 401
The sum of the intervals within group (c) is approximately twenty-
five units: this is likewise the value of each of the groups (a) and (b).
Possibly groups (d) and (e) are also equivalent.
METHOD III. a i — + + + - + r- _ 1
4, 4, 2, 2, 4, 6, 1, 4, 8, 4, 2, 8, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 2, 4,
r r- a i
2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 3, 4, 2,
b c j 1-—---;yj j-1
2, 3, *2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 5, 2, 4, 4, 2, 2,
r- c
L
1 5, 3, 4, 5, 2, 3, 4, 4, 2, 4, 3, 5, 2, 2, ...
METHOD IV.
+ i r a
i i -
6 I
a
... 4, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 2, 1, ... 2, 4, 2, 1,
d d I
ri | 1 3 3] r - + 1 + 4, 4, 4, 1, 2, 1, 4, 4, 1, 4, 4, 1, 4, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1,
e i
rri r i + i + + — 2, 4, 1, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 1, 2, 4, 1, 4, 2, 8, 4, 6, 8, 8, 6, 6
In these two methods, likewise, we find that beats, separated by
intervals of different lengths, are gathered together into distinct groups,
each group being divided by one or more beats from neighbouring
groups. The third method closes with a succession of very rapid beats,
the fourth with a succession of very slow beats.
In analysing the above records, it must be remembered that the
performer was placed at a serious disadvantage while they were being
made. There can be no doubt that he was disconcerted by the
substitution of a Morse key for his accustomed instrument. To the
consequent inaccuracies in his performance I am inclined to attribute
in great part our inability to recognize methodical grouping in certain
portions (especially at the beginning) of each record.
1—3
402 A Study of Rhythm in Primitive Music
II.
1. From a stmidy of these records it is clear that the Malays
of Sarawak are able to regard many successively different intervals
of time as a coordinated whole which they recognize when repeated
in the course of the performance. This faculty they carry to a degree
which lies so far beyond the -powers of civilized musicians, that the
latter may reasonably be sceptical as to the possibility of its -occurrence
among less advanced peoples. I have, however, been fortunate in finding
excellent corroborative evidence in ancient India. Day1 gives a table
of some forty rhythmical periods or tdlas of early Indian Music. While
their number and definition vary according to different authorities, each
tala had its own name and its mark of notation. I select four from
Day’s list:
Name Value in English notation Length of successive beats,
6=1
Triteya. J* J* 1 1,4
Simhalfla. J' Jt J5 • 2,1,1,1
Simhavikrfdita MM Ml M # J.J r 2, 2, 6, 2, 4, 6, 2, 6, 4, 6, 8
Simhanandana J J JM. JM J 4, 4, 2, 6, 2, 4, 1,1, 4, 4, 2, 6, 2, 6, 4
Day found it difficult to believe that such complex tdlas were ever
“in very common use.” But the analyses which we have just made
of the methods of beating the Bornean taivak, leave no room for doubting
that the early Indians, like the Malays, enjoyed the faculty of combining
successive dissimilar periods and of regarding them as members of a
complex unity.
The rhythms of the Ancient Greeks and of the Arabs2 were scarcely
less complex. The fourth verse of the Greek alcaic metre, for example,
ran thus: — ww ! — ^ | — w | — V-/ | .
1 Captain C. R. Day, The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the
Deccan, London, 1891, p. 26.
2 R. G. Kiesewetter, Musik der Araher, Leipzig, 1842, S. 49—57.
Charles S. Myers 403
We may compare with it our interpretation (p. 400) of part of group (6)
in the Malay method II.:
The pseonic and hemiolic rhythms of the Greeks are also remarkable1,
founded as they were on the ratio 3 : 2. Each of the five beats, ac¬
cording to some authorities, could be subdivided into five so that the
whole foot might contain the ratios 15 : 10. It will be remembered that
this is the precise ratio of the two parts (7’5 : 5) which repeatedly recur
in method I. of the tawak-be&ting.
Doubtless these poetic metres were overlain by musical rhythms,
just as in ruder form the beats of the Malay tawak accompanied the
gong and drum orchestra. According to Headlam2 many of the
complexities of Greek lyric metre may be attributed to an overlapping
of rhythms one by another. He attributes their aesthetic value to an
effect, resembling counterpoint in music.
2. The complexity of the rhythms which may be employed by
primitive peoples has been already noticed by some students of their
music. Thus, Fillmore3 wrote of the Omahas, an American Indian
people: “I know of no greater rhythmical difficulties anywhere in our
modern music than these Omahas have completely at command in their
every day music.Rhythm is by far the most elaborately developed
element of the Indian music, and in this respect civilized music has not
surpassed it, at least in the point of combining dissimilar rhythms”
(pp. 67—68). Their Hae-thu-ska dances, for example, “require the
double drum beat, a strong pulse followed by a weak one. Against
this many of the songs have three equal notes or their value” (p. 67).
Thus the Song No. 19 (p. 93) contains the following bars:
> drum p * p *
>
i i
> • #• • i i
k melody j* & r r rrr 1 A. W. Ambros, Geschichte der Musik, Leipzig, 1880, Bd. i. S. 482.
2 Journ. of Hellenic Studies, London, 1902, Yol. xxn. pp. 216, 219, 225.
3 “ A study of Omaha Indian Music,” by Alice C. Fletcher, Francis La Flesche, and
John Comfort Fillmore, Archaeological and Ethnological Papers of the Peabody Museum,
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., June, 1893,
404 A Study of Rhythm in Primitive Music
Franz Boas1 transcribes (pp. 673, 687, 703) several songs of the
Kwakiutl Indians of this type:
He remarks that “the beating is perfectly regular, five-eighths against
three [fourths] of the tune” (p. 673). In other songs of the same
collection different rhythms are opposed in a still more remarkable
fashion.
Dittrich2 observes that “the feeling for rhythm is very strongly
developed among the Japanese. The most difficult syncopations...are
performed with a precision that would astonish even a genuine musician
in Europe” (p. 387). Stumpf3 also alludes to syncopation in Siamese,
and Land4 in Javanese music.
3. Frequent change of rhythm has been likewise noted as a
characteristic of certain primitive music. Thus, according to Abraham
and von Hornbostel5, several Turkish songs contain bars of three beats
interposed between bars of four beats. In their study of the music
of India, the same observers6 write: “we find syncopation and change
of rhythm so frequent that we are often unable to detect any constant
primary rhythm at all, but are compelled to imagine a continual
modification of measure” (p. 398). For example, Song No. 14 contains
bars of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 crochets; Song No. 18 contains bars of 8, 9,
10 and 12 quavers. In Song No. 20 the drum-beats show regularly
alternating groups of two-pulse and three-pulse periods:
while the melody runs its course independently of this contrary rhythm,
which forms a “kind of rhythmical counterpoint” overlying it.
1 “ The Kwakiutl Indians,” Smithsonian Reports. U.S. National Museum Reports for
1895, Washington, 1897.
2 “Beitrage zur Kenntniss der japanischen Musik,” Mittheil. d. deutsch. Gesell. f.
Natur- und Volkerkunde Ostasiens in Tokio, Tokio, 58tes Heft, Jan. 1897.
3 “ Tonsystem und Musik der Siamesen,” Beitr. z. Akustik u. Musikwissenschaft,
Leipzig, 1901, Bd. i. Heft 3, S. 111.
4 “Die Tonkunst der Javanen,” Vierteljahrsschr. f. Musikwissenschaft, 1889, Bd. v.
5 “ Phonographirte tiirkische Melodien,” Zeitsch. f. Ethnologie, Berlin, 1904, Bd. xxxvi.
S. 203—221.
6 “Phonographirte indische Melodien,” Sammelbdnde d. internat. Musik-Gesell.,
Leipzig, 1904, Jahrg. v. S. 348—401.
Charles S. Myers 405
Similar evidence is mentioned by some earlier writers upon the
subject, who, moreover, emphasize the ability of the American Indians1
and Indians2 to perform five- and seven-pulse measures.
Describing the modern music of India, Day writes (loc. cit. p. 36),
“The different degrees of time are called Talas, of which there are seven,
each being subdivided into five ‘jatis’ or kinds; so that there are in
use no less than thirty-five distinct measures. By the annexed table
the various talas and their respective jatis will be understood at a glance,
the figures signifying the number of beats of equal duration made in a
bar.”
Name of Tala
Name of Jati
Chaturushra Tishra Mishra Cundha Sankirna
Dhruva . 4244 3233 7277 5255 9299
Matsya . 424 323 727 525 929
Rupaka . 42 32 72 52 92
Jhampa. 412 312 712 512 912
Triputa. 422 322 722 522 922
Atatala . 4422 3322 7722 5522 9922
Ekatala. 4 3 7 5 9
III.
The rhythmical characteristics of the examples of primitive music
which we have studied are three in number: a delight in change and
in opposition of rhythm, and a demand that relatively long periods filled
with measures of diverse length be apprehended as an organic whole or
‘ phrase.’ To such an extreme have we found these features occasionally
to be carried that their aesthetic effects may be neither appreciated nor
reproducible by more advanced peoples.
Indeed among ourselves the progress of music has been by the
elaboration of harmony rather than of rhythm. But just as the
complexities of European harmony have developed from a basis of simple
relation between the vibration-frequencies of simultaneously occurring
1 “ Lieder der Bellakula Indianer,” von C. Stumpf, Vierteljahrsschr. f. Musikwissen-
schaft, 1886, Bd. ii. S. 409. 2 Hindu Music from various A uthors, compiled by [Rajah Sir] Sourindro Mohun Tagoie,
Calcutta, 1875, pp. 51, 261.
406 A Study of Rhythm in Primitive Music
tones, so those of primitive rhythm have developed from a basis of
simple relation between the duration of successively occurring periods.
The development of harmony and of rhythm alike invoke the psychological
acts of analysis, synthesis and fusion.
While the later advances in choral singing in Europe required
a more regular and a more frequent accent than was necessary in
earlier stages of European culture, primitive music, unhampered by the
demands of harmony and polyphony, has evolved complications of
succession rather than of simultaneity,—complications of measure
rather than of tone.
In the early mediaeval music and among the existing folk-songs
of many parts of Europe, curious irregularities or even defects of
rhythm are met with. Within relatively modern times our composers
have successfully obtained novel and striking effects by departures from
the uniform and more conventional rhythms. Whether they will ever
adopt such complex rhythms as are in use among certain primitive
peoples, must depend on the gradual education of their audience and
on the limiting value of the strain of attention which is compatible
with aesthetic pleasure.
1
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