The following scheme devised for obtaining accurate information
respecting the music of different nations is probably without precedent.
In the year 1874 the British Association for the Advancement of Science
resolved to issue a book of instructions for the guidance of travellers
and residents in uncivilized countries, to enable them to collect such
information as might be of use to those who make special study of the
various subjects enumerated in the book.[3] The subjects relate to
manners and customs, arts, sciences, religion, war, social life,--in
fact, to everything which throws light upon the stage of civilization
attained by the people, and which the ethnologist may desire to
ascertain. The book is for this purpose divided into a number of
sections, each on a certain subject, on which it contains a number of
questions. These are preceded by a short note explanatory of the
subject. In order to render the questions as effective as possible,
especial care has been taken that they should enter into all necessary
details.[4]
Having been requested to undertake the section headed "Music," and to
draw up a list of numbered questions in accordance with the plan adopted
by the committee, I have endeavoured to direct the attention of those
for whom the book is intended to the musical investigations which, in my
opinion, are especially desirable; and I have occasionally interspersed
among the questions a hint which may assist the investigator. It
appeared to me unnecessary to give definitions of musical terms made use
of in the questions--such as _interval_, _melody_, _harmony_,
etc.--which are to be found in every dictionary of the English language.
Some terms, however, required an explanation to render them fully
intelligible to those travellers who are but little acquainted with
music. Of this kind are, for instance, the names of the different
musical scales. The English missionaries, traders, merchants, consuls,
and other residents in foreign countries, seldom possess any available
knowledge of music. Still, among the questions here submitted to them
are many which they may be able to answer satisfactorily; while, on the
other hand, it must be admitted, not a few can be properly replied to
only by men of musical education and experience. However, what one
person is unable to investigate another may do; and thus, perhaps, we
may hope, in the course of time, to be supplied with reliable and
instructive answers to most of the questions from different parts of the
world.
Some of the questions may appear, at a first glance, to be of but little
importance; it is, however, just those facts to which they refer which
ought to be clearly ascertained before we can expect to discern exactly
the characteristics of the music of a nation or tribe.
It will be observed that certain questions pre-suppose a somewhat
advanced state of civilization--as, for instance, those referring to
musical notation, instruction, literature, etc. There are several
extra-European nations--as the Japanese, Chinese, Hindus, etc.--which
have advanced so far in the cultivation of music as to render these
questions necessary; and it would be very desirable to possess more
detailed information concerning the method pursued by these nations in
the cultivation of the art than is at present available.
The present scheme is quite as interesting to the musician, or even more
so, than it is to the ethnologist. Professional musicians in general
are, however, not likely to become acquainted with the instructions for
musical researches published together with various other scientific
inquiries by the British Association. It is for this reason that they
are here inserted, since the present work has a better chance of coming
into the hands of professional musicians than the anthropological
publication. Howbeit, years must elapse before it leads to a practical
result. The originator of the questions may never enjoy the advantage of
receiving the answers; but he has, at least, the pleasure of preparing
the way for an accumulation of well-ascertained facts which intelligent
musicians of a future generation will know how to turn to good account.
"(_Section LXVIII._) _Music._
"The music of every nation has certain characteristics of its own. The
progressions of intervals, the modulations, embellishments, rhythmical
effects, etc., occurring in the music of extra-European nations, are not
unfrequently too peculiar to be accurately indicated by means of our
musical notation. Some additional explanation is, therefore, required
with the notation. In writing down the popular tunes of foreign
countries, on hearing them sung or played by the natives, no attempt
should be made to rectify anything which may appear incorrect to the
European ear. The more faithfully the apparent defects are preserved the
more valuable is the notation. Collections of popular tunes (with the
words of the airs) are very desirable. Likewise, drawings of musical
instruments with explanations respecting the construction, dimensions,
capabilities, and employment of the instruments represented.
"_Vocal Music:_--
"1. Are the people fond of music?
"2. Is their ear acute for discerning small musical intervals?
"3. Can they easily hit a tone which is sung or played to them?
"4. Is their voice flexible?
"5. What is the quality of the voice? is it loud or soft, clear or
rough, steady or tremulous?
"6. What is the usual compass of the voice?
"7. Which is the prevailing male voice--tenor, baritone or bass?
"8. Which is the prevailing female voice--soprano or alto?
"9. Do the people generally sing without instrumental accompaniment?
"10. Have they songs performed in chorus by men only, or by women only,
or by both sexes together?
"11. When they sing together, do they sing in unison, or in harmony, or
with the occasional introduction of some drone accompaniment of the
voice?
"12. Is their singing in regular time, or does it partake of the
character of the recitative?
"13. Have they songs for solo and chorus,--or, with an air for a single
voice, and a burden (or refrain) for a number of voices?
"14. Describe the different kinds of songs which they have (such as
sacred songs, war-songs, love-songs, nursery-songs, etc.), with remarks
on the poetry.
"_Instruments:_--
"15. What are their instruments of percussion (such as drums, castanets,
rattles, cymbals, gongs, bells, etc.)?
"16. Have they instruments of percussion containing sonorous plates of
wood, glass, stone, metal, etc., upon which tunes can be played? and if
so, write down in notation, or in letters, the tones emitted by the
slabs.
"17. Have they drums with cords, or some other contrivance by means of
which the parchment can be tightened or slackened at pleasure?
"18. Have they drums with definite tones (like our kettle-drums)? and,
if so, what are the tones in which they are tuned when two or more are
played together?
"19. Any open hand-drums with one parchment only (like our tambourine)?
"20. Are the drums beaten with sticks or with the hands?
"21. What wind-instruments (trumpets, flutes, etc.) have they?
"22. Any trumpets with sliding tubes (like the trombone)?
"23. How are the flutes sounded? is there a plug in the mouth-hole?
"24. Any nose-flutes?
"25. What is the number and the position of the finger-holes on the
flutes?
"26. What tones do the flutes yield if the finger-holes are closed in
regular succession upwards or downwards?
"27. If the people have the syrinx (or Pandean pipe), ascertain the
series of musical intervals yielded by its tubes.
"28. Do the people construct wind-instruments with a vibrating reed, or
some similar contrivance, inserted in the mouth-hole?
"29. If they have a reed wind-instrument, observe whether the reed is
_single_ (like that of the clarionet) or _double_ (like that of the
oboe.)
"30. Have they a kind of bagpipe?
"31. What musical instruments have they which are not used by them in
musical performances, but merely for conveying signals and for such like
purposes?
"32. Have they stringed instruments the strings of which are sounded by
being twanged with the fingers?
"33. Any stringed instruments twanged with a plectrum?
"34. Any stringed instruments beaten with sticks or hammers (like the
dulcimer)?
"35. Any stringed instruments played with a bow?
"36. If there are stringed instruments with frets on the neck (as is the
case with our guitar), note down the intervals produced by the frets in
regular succession.
"37. What are the substances of which the strings are made?
"38. Is there any peculiar contrivance on some of the instruments in the
arrangement and situation of the strings?
"39. Are there stringed instruments with sympathetic strings (_i.e._,
strings placed under those strings which are played upon. The
sympathetic strings merely serve to increase the sonorousness)?
"40. What are the musical intervals in which the stringed instruments
are tuned?
"41. Do the people possess any musical instrument of a very peculiar
construction? If so, describe it minutely.
"42. Give the name of each instrument in the language of the country.
"43. Describe each instrument, and give illustrations, if possible.
"44. Give some account of the makers of musical instruments; of the
woods, metals, hide, gut, hair, and other materials they use; of their
tools, etc.
"45. What are the usual adornments and appendages of the musical
instruments?
"_Compositions:_--
"46. On what order of intervals is the music of the people founded? Is
it the Diatonic Major Scale (like _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_, _g_, _a_, _b_,
_c_)? Or the Diatonic Minor Scale (in which the third is flat; like _c_,
_d_, _e flat_, _f_, _g_, _a_, _b_, _c_)? Or the Pentatonic Scale (in
which the fourth and the seventh are omitted, thus _c_, _d_, _e_, _g_,
_a_, _c_)? Or some other order of intervals?
"47. Is the seventh used sharp (_c_-_b_), or flat (_c_-_b flat_)?
"48. Does the superfluous second occur in the scale? (In
the example _c_, _d_, _e flat_, _f sharp_, _g_, _a flat_, _b_, _c_,
|__________| |______|
the steps from the third to the fourth, and from the sixth to the
seventh, are superfluous seconds.)
"49. Does the music contain progressions in semitones, or chromatic
intervals?
"50. Are there smaller intervals than semitones, such as 1/3 tones, 1/4
tones?
"51. Are there peculiar progressions in certain intervals which are of
frequent occurrence in the tunes? If so, what are they?
"52. Do the tunes usually conclude on the tonic (the key-note, or the
first interval of the scale), or, if not, on what other interval?
"53. Do the tunes contain modulations from one key into another? If so,
describe the usual modulations.
"54. Are there certain rhythmical peculiarities predominant in the
music? If so, what are they?
"55. Is the time of the music generally common time, triple time, or
irregular?
"56. Are there phrases or passages in the melodies which are of frequent
re-occurrence?
"57. Have the airs of the songs re-occurrences of musical phrases which
are traceable to the form of the poetry?
"58. Have the people musical compositions which they regard as very old?
and do these compositions exhibit the same characteristics which are
found in the modern ones?
"59. Are the compositions generally lively or grave?
"60. Describe the form of the various kinds of musical compositions.
"_Performances:_--
"61. Have the people musical bands or orchestras?
"62. Which are the instruments generally used in combination?
"63. Which are the instruments commonly used singly?
"64. What is the number of performers in a properly constituted band?
"65. Is there a leader of the band? How does he direct the performers?
"66. Does the band play in unison or in harmony?
"67. If vocal music is combined with instrumental music performed by the
band, is the instrumental accompaniment in unison (or in octaves) with
the voice, or has it something of its own?
"68. Is the _tempo_ generally fast or slow?
"69. Are there sudden or gradual changes in the _tempo_?
"70. Are there changes in the degree of loudness?
"71. Do the musicians, on repeating a piece, introduce alterations, or
variations of the theme?
"72. Do they introduce embellishments _ad libitum_?
"73. Mention the occasions (religious ceremonies, social and public
amusements, celebrations, processions, etc.) on which musical
performances take place.
"74. Are there military bands? and how are they constituted?
"75. Is music employed to facilitate manual labour?
"76. Are there songs or instrumental compositions appertaining to
particular occupations or trades?
"77. Have the people a national hymn or an instrumental composition
which they perform in honour of their sovereign or in commemoration of
some political event?
"78. Describe minutely the musical performances in religious worship, if
there are any.
"79. Have they sacred dances performed in religious ceremonies, at
funerals, etc.?
"80. Any war-dances, dances of defiance, etc.?
"81. Any dances in which they imitate the peculiar movements and habits
of certain animals?
"82. Are there dances accompanied by musical instruments, by singing, or
merely by rhythmical sounds such as clapping of hands, snapping of
fingers, reiterated vociferation, etc.?
"83. Give a list of all the dances.
"84. Endeavour to ascertain whether the rhythm of the music accompanying
the dance is suggested by the steps of the dancers, or _vice vers‚_.
"_Cultivation:_--
"85. Do the people easily learn a melody by ear?
"86. Have they a good musical memory?
"87. Are the children taught music? and if so, how is it done?
"88. Are there professional musicians?
"89. Any performers who evince much talent?
"90. Any minstrels, bards, reciters of old ballads?
"91. Any professional improvisators?
"92. Are there professional musicians of different grades?
"93. Who composes the music?
"94. Do the musicians follow other professions besides music?
"95. Are the ministers of religion also musicians and medical men?
"96. Have the people some kind of musical notation?
"97. Have they written signs for raising or lowering the voice in
singing, for giving emphasis to certain words or phrases, or for similar
purposes? If so, describe the signs.
"98. Do they possess treatises on the history, theory, etc., of music;
instruction books for singing, and for playing musical instruments,
etc.? If so, give a detailed account of their musical literature.
"99. Have they musical institutions? Give an account of them.
"100. How do the people appreciate their own music?
"101. What impression does the music of foreign nations produce upon
them?
"_Traditions:_--
"102. Are there popular traditions respecting the origin of music?
"103. Any myths about a musical deity, or some superhuman musician?
"104. Any legends or fairy-tales in which allusion to music is made? If
so, what are they?
"105. Any tradition about the invention of certain favourite musical
instruments?
"106. Any tradition or historical record respecting the antiquity of
stringed instruments played with a bow?
"107. Any records respecting their sacred music?
"108. Is music believed to possess the power of curing certain
illnesses?
"109. The power of enticing and taming wild animals?
"110. Are there popular tunes, or certain rhythmical figures in the
tunes, which, according to tradition, have been suggested by the songs
of birds?
"111. If there is anything noteworthy about music which has not been
alluded to in the preceding questions, notice it."
[3] 'Notes and Queries on Anthropology, for the Use of Travellers and
Residents in Uncivilized Lands. Drawn up by a Committee appointed by the
British Association for the Advancement of Science. London, 1874.'
[4] The book contains the note: "The Council of the Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland will be glad to receive any
communications relating to the queries contained in this volume.
Communications to be addressed to the Secretary, 4, St. Martin's Place,
Trafalgar Square, London." It is understood that a certain number of
copies of the book will be gratuitously distributed by the committee to
English consular agents, naval officers, missionaries, and others who
are likely to turn them to good account.
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