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AAWM JOURNAL VOL. 8 NO. 2 (2020)

Metrical Structure and Freedom in Qin Music of the Chinese Literati

Chun-Yan Tse and Chun-Fung Wong

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Abstract:

A general lack of higher-order regularity in temporal organization is one important feature that differentiates qin music of the Chinese literati from most other genres of traditional Chinese music, but this has seldom been discussed in scholarly circles. To fill this gap, the present paper provides a systematic discussion of the freedom in metrical structure characteristic of qin music.

Because rhythmic elements in qin music are not notated in the tablature score, and fine nuances arising from a variety of fingering techniques can affect the perception of phrasing and hierarchies of pulsation, studying the metrical structure of qin pieces is an act of interpretation and depends on a thorough grasp of traditional performance conventions and common melodic patterns in the music. Both authors being experienced qin players, this study is based on our interpretation of music of important qin players of the present and previous generations. Categories of temporal organization without higher-order regularity identified by the authors include “changing meter,” “metrically ambiguous,” and “free rhythm,” as well as the particular category of “pulsation with interpolated half-beats,” forming a continuum where each category merges into the next. Our case study of a representative example of the last category demonstrates an accelerating basic pulsation interrupted irregularly by interpolated half-beats. Such a feature has not been well described in traditional non-Western music, and defies the usual binary division of musical time organization in world music studies into categories with or without a basic regular pulse. This interpretation is confirmed by measurement of inter-onset intervals and linear regression analysis. With the irregular interruption, the listener is sometimes not sure whether certain notes are “on a beat” or are syncopated. Together with irregular interruptions to periodicity at higher levels, the metrical structure can be very ambiguous. The performer might have wanted to create an effect of syncopation or hemiola, but was not concerned with maintaining an overall regular pulsation or any higher-order regularity. The freedom in metrical structure in qin music demonstrates the importance of contextual factors in shaping musical characteristics. The distinctive aesthetic and philosophical perspectives of qin players are particularly important in developing this freedom, which we regard as a Daoist conception. The temporal organization in qin music, and in particular, the category “pulsation with interpolated half-beats,” should provide useful insights into future work on temporal organization in world music, and indeed toward future work on the typology of temporal organization in music in general.

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Keywords: Qin music; metrical structure; metrical ambiguity; Chinese literati; Daoism; Meihua sannong; Zhang Ziqian; Tsar Teh-yun

Contributor Information:

Chun-Yan Tse is a research associate in the Department of Music of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Chun-Fung Wong is an independent scholar.

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