Koto scales and tunning.
Masateru Andô · Journal of the Acoustical Society of Japan (E) · 1989
This thesis deals with the koto, a 13-stringed wooden instrument belonging to the zither family and one of the most representative instruments used in Japanese music. The following points are discussed: 1) explanation of the physical construction and nature of the instrument, 2) nomenclature, explanation and analysis of the characteristic koto tunings (or modes, termed in Japanese choshi), including an analysis of their frequency of use in traditional music and their interrelationships, 3) explanation of the traditional way of setting up or tuning the choshi, using the most common choshi (hira joshi) as an example, 4) analysis of individual performer's pitch deviations (especially concerning the minor seconds) using this traditional tuning method, and 5) a proposal for a more reliable method of tuning (especially in regards to beginners), based on the results of this research. Included also are data in 4) showing that the minor seconds, in particular, are related to the Pythagorian seconds, and that the tuning over the total range of the koto shows scatter deviations similar to those found in a normally tuned piano.