The transmission of <i>uta-sanshin</i> music: A study of <i>tiyo</i> hand movements

Uta-sanshin refers to the genre of music practised by the nobility during the age of the Ryukyuan kingdom involving singing accompanied by the sanshin three-stringed plucked lute. The genre is today more generally known as ‘Ryukyuan classical music’ and is transmitted primarily in two schools, Afuso and Nomura. The traditional method of transmission involves, in the case of the sanshin part, use of the sanshin notation in the Kunkunshii anthology, while the vocal part is learnt orally from the teacher. However, in the Nomura school, a method of transmission of the vocal part based on the vocal notation developed in 1935 is now widely practised. In contrast, the Afuso school does not even today use vocal notation, instead employing the traditionally practised hand movements known as tiyo. References to practical study during the Meiji era show that frequent use was made of body and hand movements in the Afuso school, while such movements were excluded from Nomura school practice. To judge from documentary evidence and current practice, the Afuso school would appear to have made extensive use of hand movements prior to the Meiji era.<br>However, most Afuso performers are currently unaware that these movements form part of the method of transmission, and the movements are handed on in a vague manner. In this paper I examine tiyo hand movements on the basis of the evidence provided by film images of the late Afuso school master Miyazato Haruyuki. I attempt to classify the features of these movements and to clarify their meaning and purpose.<br>I have found seventeen different movements of the right hand holding the plectrum and eight movements of the left hand gripping the neck of the instrument. I have given names and symbols to each movement and explained their rationale. There are three basic movements (up-down-stop), from which all right-hand movements are generated. Their purpose is to highlight the timing of the vocal and instrumental parts. The basic left-hand tiyo movements are of three main types. These indicate that the vocal line is about to fall or intensify or that the melodic line is to rise.<br>Correspondence can be observed between tiyo movements and the notated melody. This suggests that tiyo may have been based on specific stylistic forms. Differences in tiyo are connected with differences in tempo. Subtle variations in metre distinguished by the use of tiyo give rise to tension and enhance the musicality of uta-sanshin music. But it is almost impossible to express such differences in tempo in the standard notation, thus necessitating a new form of tiyo notation. Tiyo may be considered an important aspect of the Afuso tradition, and teaching based on a better understanding of tiyo movements is likely to be beneficial.