- -

PROCEEDINGS OF THE

SAINT THYAGARAJA MUSIC FESTIVALS

Cleveland, Ohio, 1978 - 81

Edited by

THE GREATER CLEVELAND ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM CLEVELAND, OHIO

STRUCTURE, FREQUENCY, AND ARTIFICIALITY

I N SOUTH INDIAN MELAS

Jay Rahn

I n a prev ious a r t i c l e , I have o u t l i n e d f e a t u r e s common t o

s c a l e s around t h e w o r l d . These inc lude penta tonic , hep ta ton ic , and

equihepta tonic s c a l e s found i n t h e music of many c u l t u r e s a s w e l l as

l o g and s l end ro forms of Indones ia , t h e - i n s c a l e of Japan, Arabian

maqamat, and t h e t o n a l m a t e r i a l of North Indian rags. A no tab le omission

from t h a t account was t h e system of mT1a.s found i n South Ind ia . A s i t

t u r n s o u t , c e r t a i n Ca rna t i c mG1as appear a t f i r s t t o be excep t iona l i f

they a r e considered t o be s c a l e s i n t h e sense of t h e e a r l i e r s tudy.

However, on c l o s e r i n spec t ion , one f i n d s t h a t t h e s e "exceptional" s c a l e s

might b e s t be considered no t s c a l e s i n t h e sense of t h e previous paper

b u t r a t h e r c l o s e v a r i a n t s of such s c a l e s . I n every case , t h e s c a l e s

from which t h e s e excep t iona l con f igu ra t ions could be considered t o b e

der ived bea r a f i x e d r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e i r chromatic v a r i a n t s , and

t h e i r s p e c i a l s t a t u s i s mir rored i n t h e number of s p e c i a l forms ( o r

janya ragas) which they assume. This i n t u r n can be considered a r e f l e c t i o n

of t h e i r r e l a t i v e p o p u l a r i t y among musicians and t h e degree t o which

they a r e considered t o be " natura l" a s opposed t o " a r t i f i c i a l " .

DATA BASE

The d a t a used a s a b a s i s f o r t h i s s tudy c o n s i s t of t h e almost 2,000

j anya rzgas compiled i n Walter Kaufmannfs book on The ~ z ~ a s of South Ind ia . 2

The r&as o u t l i n e d i n Kaufmannls p u b l i c a t i o n a r e based on an oc tave of

110

twelve notes, five to seven of which are used in each rzga. Only the

pitch contents of individual rggas are dealt with here. Special phrases,

none of which have been subjected to classification, are not included,

nor is the distinction between ascending and descending forms and various

vakra (or "zig-zag") features. In short, I am concerned with what -

pitches are used in given ragas, not with how they are used.

The rzgas described in Kaufmannls treatise are grouped in

Carnatic theory into 72 mGlas, or familes of rzgas, depending on their

- - pitch content (Figure 1). These 72 melas constitute the Kanakangi-

- - system, dating at the latest from the closing years of the

eighteenth century or the beginning of the nineteenth. According to

Kaufmann, each of the 72 mTlas is a "rigid, 'impersonal' seven-tone

scale Each rLga belonging to a given mgla family represents a

subset of from five to seven tones of these seven. The question to be

dealt with here is as follows: In what sense are the 72 melas to be

considered scales?

As I mentioned above, I have described a number of features

common to scales throughout the world in an earlier study. Relevant to

the present discussion is a feature which I have termed "cyclic bisection."

In a seven-tone scale that has the feature of cyclic bisection, any

scale degree is from one-half to two-thirds an octave away from the

scale degrees that are four steps.away. This feature is shared by all

the well-documented seven-tone scales outside South India: the equi-

heptatonic, @hog, and diatonic systems, as well as the scales on which

Arabian magamat and North Indian rags are based. Cyclic bisection can

be considered, then, to define seven-tone scales around the world.

I 11 -

However, if one examines South Indian melas, one finds that some feature

cyclic bisection and others do not. This raises an important question.

Are South Indian melas scales or not? If they are scales, cyclic bi-

section cannot be a definitive feature of scales and the previous defi-

nition of scales must be withdrawn. And if they are not scales, what

are they?

In order to answer these questions, one can backtrack a bit

and compare two melas one of which features cyclic bisection and one of

which does not. First, consider mela ~anakan~i, the first mela in

Figure 1. Its tones can be arranged in a cycle such that each tone is

one-half to two-thirds an octave from its neighbours. To state this

another way, one can say that each tone is 6 to 8 semitones from ad-

jacent members of the cycle (Figure 2). - - -

For comparison, one can consider mela Ganamurti, the third

mela in Figure 1. This mela does not feature cyclic bisection. As one - can observe in Figure 3, the interval between - ebb and - b in the cycle for - - Ganamurti is 9 semitones, in other words, three-quarters of an octave,

- - which is larger than two-thirds. It would seem that melas like Kanakangi

resemble scales throughout the world, and ones like ~gnamirti are

exceptional. How can this be?

1 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ " AND "ARTIFICIALITY~~

A clue is offered by Kaufmann when he writes that "the quantity

(i.e., the number or frequency) of janyas is a comparatively good

indicator of the importance and popularity of the primary mgla. Some

of the frequently performed mela-ragas have large numbers of j anyas,

such as melas 8, 15, 20, 22, 28, and 29. These basic scales and their

subordinate forms are particularly favored by South Indian performers

112

and t h e i r audiences. Other s c a l e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y those of melas wi th a

smal l number of j anyas enjoy l i t t l e p o p u l a r i t y and a r e o f t e n descr ibed

as being too " a r t i f i c i a l . " I f one checks t h i s s ta tement i n l i g h t of

t h e f e a t u r e of c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n , one f i n d s t h e following. F i r s t , melas

8, 15, 20, 22, 28, and 29, which Kaufmann r e l a t e s a r e " p a r t i c u l a r l y

favoured by South Ind ian performers and t h e i r audiences," a l l f e a t u r e

c y c l i c b i sec t ion ' . Secondly, m i l a s t h a t do n o t f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n

are i n t h e minor i ty . Of t h e 72 mzlas, 45 f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n '

whereas 27 do not.5 Thi rd ly , t hose melas t h a t f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n

tend t o have l a r g e r numbers of janyas . On t h e average, each mzla t h a t

f e a t u r e s c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n has 32 j anyas , whereas each mgla t h a t does not

f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n has 18 janyas . Furthermore, mGlas t h a t f e a t u r e

c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n have a range of from 12 t o 132 janyas ap iece , whereas

melas t h a t do n o t f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n have from 1 3 t o 28 (F igure

4 ) . I n o t h e r words, mzlas without c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n never have a s many

j anyas a s t h e average mGla t h a t does n o t f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n . I f . . t h i s i s expressed s t a t i s t i c a l l y , one f i n d s t h a t t h e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t

melas wi thout c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n belong t o t h e same populat ion a s t hose

t h a t do i s less t h a t 1 i n 5 0 0 . ~ I n s h o r t , melas w i th c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n

tend t o be more "popular" than those l ack ing t h i s f e a t u r e and t h i s

d i f f e r e n c e is s i g n i f i c a n t a t t h e .002 l e v e l .

I f one cons iders Kaufmann's remark t h a t "mkas wi th a smal l

number of j anyas ... a r e o f t e n descr ibed a s being too a r t i f i c i a l " ,

o t h e r avenues of explana t ion emerge. F i r s t , t h e world-wide tendency

toward " c y c l i c b i sec t ion" i n seven- tone s c a l e s can be considered t o

r ep re sen t a psychologica l o r pe rcep tua l u n i v e r s a l , as I have suggested

e l ~ e w h e r e . ~ Another way of s t a t i n g t h i s is t o s ay t h a t c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n

is a "natural" way of making music. Accordingly, pieces which do not

feature cyclic bisection could be considered "artificial" in comparison

with those that do. In this sense, Kaufmann's correlation of poularity

with natural-ness appears vindicated by the figures presented above.

Within the realm of the "artificial," there is a broad spectrum

of possibilities. Which possibilities are found in South Indian &as?

This seems to be a broad, indeterminate question, for it involves

defining the range of variation within "exceptional" cases. This is not

a usual procedure in musical research, which typically isolates "regular"

features and leaves undefined the residue of "irregular" instances. In

the present situation, however, the apparently irregular cases are found

to bear a strict relationship to those that are regular. This point can

be illustrated with reference to Figure 3. There one can observe that

b if - ebb were - eb or if - b were - b , the pitch collection would feature

cyclic bisection. Indeed, the same holds for the other 26 irregular

melas. If one or two pitches were displaced a semitone, the resulting

collections would feature cyclic bisection and would be identical with

'-. 'I regular" melas. In this way, the apparently regular melas can be

considered close variants or transformations of the regular mGlas. More-

over, the relationships between regular melas and their variants is

uniform; the variant is always just a semitone away from the regular

form.

A related regularity consists in the fact that at least one of

the pitches in an "irregular" interval is always a semitone away from

the next higher or lower pitch of the m<la in which it is found.

Turning to Figure 3 again, one can observe that pitches fl and - b form

t he i r r e g u l a r i n t e r v a l of 9 semitones. A s i t t u r n s ou t , i s a semitone

from t h e next h ighe r p i t c h i n t h e mGla, namely, c, and - ebb i s a semitone

b away from t h e next lower p i t c h , namely . Another way of s t a t i n g t h i s

is t o s ay t h a t - b forms a l ead ing tone t o - c and - ebb forms a l ead ing tone

t o - db. This can b e observed more c l e a r l y i n Figure 5 where t h e mGla

p i t c h e s are arranged from low t o high (Figure 5 ) . An important f a c t i n

t h i s r ega rd i s t h a t t h i s leading- tone ' re la t ionship i s found i n a l l t h e

i r r e g u l a r i n t e r v a l s i n a l l t h e i r r e g u l a r mGlas.

I n s h o r t , i t would appear t h a t t h e i r r e g u l a r melas can be

derived from r e g u l a r mGlas according t o a uniform t ransformat ion such

t h a t by s h i f t i n g t h e p i t c h of one o r both tones i n a r e g u l a r i n t e r v a l an

i r r e g u l a r i n t e r v a l r e s u l t s a s w e l l as a lead ing tone t o one of t he

members of t h e r e g u l a r mgla. Though t h e term leading- tone might seem

somewhat e t h n o c e n t r i c , one should observe t h a t leading- tone adjustments

a r e found i n musical c u l t u r e s a s widely d i v e r s e a s those of Japan,

8 Indonesia , and t h e West. Indeed, t h e r e i s an obvious p a r a l l e l between

r e g u l a r and i r r e g u l a r m e l a s on t h e one hand and t h e Western n a t u r a l and

harmonic minor modes on t h e o t h e r i n t h i s r e spec t .

CONCLUDING REMARKS

I n conclus ion , one can no te t h a t South Indian melas can be d i -

chotomized i n t o r e g u l a r and excep t iona l forms, depending on t h e presence

o r absence, r e s p e c t i v e l y , of c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n . Regular forms r ep resen t

t h e ma jo r i t y of mzlas and a l s o tend t o have more subs id i a ry janyas . I f

t h e l a t t e r f a c t is taken a s an i n d i c a t o r of popu la r i t y , r e g u l a r melas

can a l s o be considered t o be more popular . In terms of world-wide

- t endencies , r e g u l a r melas can be considered more n a t u r a l and a r e re-

cognized a s such i n South I n d i a i t s e l f . The form which a r t i f i c i a l i t y

takes can be defined in terms of, a) the absence of cyclic bisection, b)

a single type of transformation relationship between natural and arti-

ficial forms, and c) leading-tone relationships which result from such

transformations. It would seem, then, that the regular melas are scales

in the most determinate and universal sense of the term, and the ir-

regular melas are use-scales (~ebrauchsleiter)' derived from the regular

The data base employed here could be extended in a number of

ways to develop further the ideas outlined above. Other indicators of

poularity such as frequency of actual performance could be investigated,

and more probing questions concerning the concept of artificiality could

be asked of South Indian musicians and audiences. Finally, the model

tonal systems as described here could be tested against those data which

are ultimately most important, namely, actual pieces of Carnatic music.

One can only hope, in the meantime, that the directions for further

research provided here will prove to bear fruit.

By way of conclusion, I would like to suggest a much more

general hypothesis for future research, namely, that systematically more

"elegant" or "central" forms (such as scales featuring cyclic bisection)

might tend to predominate in a given repertoire. With this hypothesis,

one might enter realms of rhythmic theory and topics even further afield.

Suffice it to say for the present that the data discussed here lend some

credence to such an hypothesis and considerable hope for the union of

theoretical and empirical studies.

NOTES

Jay Rahn, "Some Recurrent F e a t u r e s of Sca les ," I n Theory

Only, Vol. 2 , Nos. 11-12 (Feb.-Mar., 19771, pp. 43-52.

Walter Kaufmann, The ~ a g a s of South I n d i a , Bloomington,

London, Indiana Un ive r s i t y P re s s , 1976.

I b i d . , p. xxv.

I b i d . , p. x x x i i i .

Those melas t h a t do n o t f e a t u r e c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n a r e

marked w i t h a n a s t e r i s k (*) i n F igu re 1. -

Note t h a t a number of j a n y a s (of f i v e o r s i x no te s ) i n melas

w i thou t c y c l i c b i s e c t i o n could b e grouped w i t h r e g u l a r

melas i n s t e a d (e .g . , nos. 4: 2, 10, 17, 19; 12: 3, 14; - 13 ; 2 , 4 , 7, 11, 12 , 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26; 18:

12; 60: 3, 5; 61: 5 , 8; 67: 16 , 19; 68: 8 , i n Kaufmann's

numbering). This would reduce t h e average number of

janyas i n i r r e g u l a r mG1as and he igh ten t h e c o r r e l a t i o n between

p o p u l a r i t y and r e g u l a r i t y . A s Kaufmann p o i n t s ou t ( ~ a s s i m ) ,

a number of janyas could be grouped under more than one mela.

Rahn, op. c i t . , pp. 51-52.

Cf . J a y Rahn, "Javanese Pelog Tunings Reconsidered, "Year-

book of t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Folk Music Counci l , Vol. 10 ,

1978 ( i n p r e s s ) .

9. On Gebrauchs l e i t e r , see Er i ch Maria von Hornbostel ,

' S t u d i e n uber das Tonsystem und d i e Musik d e r Japaner ,"

Samrnelbande d e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l e n Musikgese l l schaf t , v o l .

4 (l902-03), pp. 302-60 ( r e p r . and t r a n s . i n Klaus P.

Wachsmann e t a l . , eds . , Hornbos te l Opera Omnia, The Hague,

Martinus N i j h o f f , 1975, v o l . 1, pp. 1-84, esp. p. 7 and

Rahn, "Some Recurrent F e a t u r e s of Sca l e s ," p . 52.

FIGURES

Figure 1: 72 South Ind ian ~ g l a s .

" - m I 1 IL a m - I I

I a - ,I

Figure 2: ~ G l a ~ a n a k G f i ~ 7 expressed as a cycle o f - h a l f octaves.

No. of So. of Average no. of maximum no. minimum nc m&as janyas Janyas per mgla of janyas/mka o f janyas,

me l a

Regular 4 5 1434 32

I r r e g u l a r 27 497 18

Standard Deviation

Regular 30.00 - 2.95 ( l e s s than - 2.88)

I r r e g u l a r 3.47 19.10 ( g r e a t e r than 2.88)

Figure 4: Dist r ibut ion of janyas among regu la r and i r r e g u l a r mGlas.

b * 8 9 ab b C' c d e

Figure 5: ~ e l a ~&amirti arranged from low t o high.