As I'm not too well versed in western musical terminology I won't attempt
to answer your query, but as Phil noted, the pentatonic scale came to Japan
from China. I'm not sure if it was during the Heian period or earlier that
the Chinese system of pitch calculations was introduced. I've heard that
the origin of the shakuhachi itself may come from a bamboo pitch pipe which
was used to play the foundation tone of Chinese music, called Huang Chung,
or 'yellow bell.' Music had among its functions not only the bringing of
pleasure but the mirroring and harmonizing of the forces of yang and yin in
ancient China. The pentatonic scale was thought to correspond to many
things in nature including the five basic elements of earth, water, fire,
metal, and wood, the five virtues of benevolence: justice, propriety,
wisdom, and sincerity, the colors yellow, white, blue, red, and black, the
five directions of centre, north, south, east, and west, the number of
'natural man' (the body with its four limbs), and the number of man (3)
combined with woman (2), and so had great significance for classical
Chinese thought. According to Chinese legend, in the third millenium B.C.,
the emperor Huang-Ti sent a man named Ling Lun to the west borders of China
to cut bamboo pipes from which the basic pitches of music could be
determined. First the Huang Chung was calculated as the foundation note
and other pitches were then determined through alternating the lengths of
the pipes by 2/3 and 4/3 ratios. The first five pitches of twelve
comprises today's pentatonic scale. The Huang Chung was thought to be
sacred as all other pitches were derived from it and it was thought that
any change in this fundamental pitch could bring disaster to the entire
country. Perhaps blowing those Ros has more cosmological implications than
we have so far considered. Yokoyama Katsuya sensei recommends at least
ten minutes a day, every day, of Ro buki to become tensai (genius) at
shakuhachi.
Happy Blowing,
Dan
Ribble
"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"
Steve Martin
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