Tanaka Is The Level Of "pure Tone" Theoretical Research

The exchanges in the music fields between China and Japan have enjoyed a long history. In recently years, the exchange has become more frequent and fruitful. However, generally speaking, there are few studies conducted on musical theory and technique. From this point of view, the thesis is of great significance. Through the study of features of the technique and music temperament in the framework of Japanese musical theory system which is inherited from that of the Chinese one, with the "pure tune" theory of Tanaka Shōhei as the main focus, the thesis intends to find out some of the features of Japanese musical theory. The thesis is written in five parts.Chapter 1 is the introduction part, which introduces the objects, significance, as well as the studying methods of the research. Literature view is also conducted in this part.Chapter 2 introduces the musical theory system which is inherited from the musical theory system of Sui and Tang Dynasty of China. This chapter is divided into four parts. Part 1 and 2 have introduced the history of the exchange in music field between China and Japan especially during Sui and Tang Dynasty. Through exchanges, Chinese musical theory has been brought into Japan and further become the base of Japanese musical theory system. Chapter 3 and 4 analyzes the features of middle scale in Japanese musical theory system, and furthermore, analyzes the Japanese pentatonic scale: Dorian Mixolydian Scale and Miyakobushi Scale.Chapter 3 is an introduction to Tanaka Shōhei and his contribution to the perfection of traditional Japanese pentatonic scale. The beginning of this chapter introduced Tanaka Shōhei and gives positive judgment to his status in Japanese music circle. Tanaka Shōhei dedicated a lifetime to the research of traditional Japanese music. He brought forward the famous "pure tune" theory to thoroughly analyze traditional Japanese music. Then the focus turns to research his efforts on the perfection of traditional Japanese pentatonic scale. There exists great limitation in the music creation of Japanese pentatonic scale, in particular the appliance of pentatonic Modes. Therefore, Tanaka Shōhei improved tonic, subdominant and dominant harmony of pentatonic scale respectively and filled the deficiency of each harmony, making it a heptatonic scale.Chapter 4 serves as a view on the characteristics of theoretical system of Japanese music through Tanaka Shōhei's "pure tune" theory. This chapter is also the core of the dissertation, with 5 sections. The first section introduces features of western just intonation, which also is the theoretical basis of Tanaka Shōhei's "pure tune" theory. The second section is Tanaka Shōhei's conclusion of western just intonation, which was summed up from overtone, Pythagorean tuning, music of the three markers mark and the just intonation tone of the network. The third section analyzes Tanaka Shōhei's "pure tune" theory. He used Yin Lv Xuan as an example, judged and checked each scale through frequency ratio of each scale to show their relationship in digital form and form "Pure Miyakobushi Scale". He then used the same approach to form "Pure Dorian Mixolydian Scale". At last, he did some comparison and contrast on the harmony relationship between these 4 modulations. The forth section discusses the musical instrument "pure-organ" into a shallow study. This 5-octave organ has 21 keys in a 5-octave, featuring the amalgamation of each scale in its performance. The last section generally discusses the positive influence Tanaka Shōhei's "pure tune" theory has on posterity.Chapter 5 is the comparison of development routes of theoretic system of traditional music of China and Japan. This chapter discusses analysis and research conducted on the different development routes of theoretic system of traditional music of China and Japan.Conclusion: The dissertation concluded some features of theoretic system of Japanese music after its intake of Chinese and western music from aspects like scale, pitch, rhythm, harmony, etc. Through the comparison with Chinese music, the author made some reflection on the development theoretic system of our traditional music.