Chromaticisms or Performance Rules ? Evidence from Traditional Singing

Background in ethnomusicology. Chromaticisms in folk tunes are quite frequently discussed in ethnomusicological studies, especially in Eastern Europe. For instance, chromaticisms are abundant in the transcriptions of traditional songs from the region of Lithuania Minor. Therefore it is believed that chromaticisms are characteristic of this region (Čiurlionytė, 1938, 1955, 1969). Samples from this region are often chosen as typical samples of chromaticisms in textbooks on music theory and music encyclopedias (e.g., ME, 2003). Background in music cognition. It is known that small deviations of pitch are systematically applied in vocal performance as markers of emotion and other qualities (Sundberg, 1999). Performance rules for pitch intonation could be derived (Friberg, 1995, etc.). Generally, manifestation of performance rules is observed in traditional vocal music as well, although with certain modifications (Ross and Lehiste, 2001). Aims. We aim to verify the validity of the phenomenon of chromaticism in traditional singing by comparing statistics of nominal chromaticisms found in early transcriptions with pitch performance rules revealed in newer sound recordings of Lithuanian traditional songs. Main contribution. The collection of songs by Christian Bartsch (1886, 1889) is the most representative collection from Lithuania Minor. Statistical analysis of the chromaticisms appearing in the transcriptions was carried out. It was found that two contextual types of chromaticisms manifest most distinctly. First, sharps tend to appear in ascending sequences, whereas flats tend to appear in descending sequences. Second, ‘leading tone’ tends to be ‘gravitated’ by the anchor tone, but only if the two tones experience strong interaction. The same two tendencies were observed for the samples recorded later in Southwestern Lithuania (near Lithuania Minor). However, acoustical measurements showed that the differences between two ‘chromatic’ versions are notably less than semitone of 12 tone equal temperament (12ET), and that they are not stable (the zones of intonation are quite wide). We infer that in this case archaic non-diatonic (quasi-equitonic) musical thinking is actually in operation, and the nominal chromaticisms result from 12ET-biased perception of intervals. It is possible to transfer this conclusion to the Bartsch’s transcriptions, i.e., the ‘typical chromaticisms’ in the transcriptions can be treated as mere pitch deviations, resulting from the performance rules and exaggerated by 12ET-biased perception. In general, the phenomenon of chromatic change in traditional singing becomes questionable. Implications. For ethnomusicology courses: nominal chromaticisms should be reconsidered as mere manifestations of perceptual performance rules, and the transcriptions should be reinterpreted. Music theory courses should avoid (or verify) examples of traditional music as typical examples of chromaticisms. Folk singing practices should avoid exact reproduction of chromaticisms in transcriptions but rather develop skills to master pitch performance rules. A comprehensive account of the phenomena of musical scales and their historical development requires expertise in both the humanities (music history, theory, analysis, ethnomusicology) and the sciences (music psychology, acoustics, statistics).