page_title: Pelog
section_title: Java
hierarchical_section_title: Pelog / Usage / Java
caption_attribution_description: English: Pelog bem 'subdivision'. "The representations of slendro and pelog tuning systems in Western notation shown above should not be regarded in any sense as absolute. Not only is it difficult to convey non-Western scales with Western notation, but also because, in general, no two gamelan sets will have exactly the same tuning, either in pitch or in interval structure. There are no Javanese standard forms of these two tuning systems." Lindsay, Jennifer (1992). Javanese Gamelan, p.39-41. ISBN 0-19-588582-1.
context_page_description: Pelog is one of the two essential scales of gamelan music native to Bali and Java, in Indonesia. In Javanese the term is said to be a variant of the word pelag meaning "fine" or "beautiful". The other, older, scale commonly used is called slendro. Pelog has seven notes, but many gamelan ensembles only have keys for five of the pitches. Even in ensembles that have all seven notes, many pieces only use a subset of five notes.
context_section_description: Although the full pelog scale has seven tones, usually only a five-tone subset is used (see the similar Western concept of mode). In fact, many gamelan instruments physically lack keys for two of the tones.  Different regions, such as Central Java or West Java (Sunda), use different subsets.  In Central Javanese gamelan, the pelog scale is traditionally divided into three pathet (modes).  Two of these, called pathet nem and pathet lima, use the subset of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6; the third, pathet barang, uses 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. The remaining two notes, including 4 in every pathet, are available for embellishments on most instruments, but they do not usually appear on gendér, gambang, or interpunctuating instruments.
  The notes of the pelog scale can be designated in different ways; In Central Java, one common way is the use of numbers (often called by their names in Javanese, especially in a shortened form. An older set uses names derived from parts of the body. Notice that both systems have the same designations for 5 and 6.
  In Sunda, the notes of gamelan degung have one-syllable names. A peculiarity of Sundanese solfège is that scale degrees are given in descending order.
caption: Pelog bem.[1] About this soundPlay (help·info)
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