Kepatihan is a type of cipher
musical notation that was devised for the notation of the
Indonesian
gamelan.
History The system was devised around 1900 at the
Kepatihan (the Grand Vizier's compound) in Surakarta, and was based upon the
Galin-Paris-Chevé system, imported in the nineteenth century by Christian missionaries to allow the notation of hymns. It superseded several other notation systems of Javanese origin devised around the same time.
Notation The pitches of the seven-tone
pélog tuning system are designated by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; while the five-tone
slendro pitches are notated as 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. The
octaves are noted by dots above and below the numbers, as in
Chinese jianpu, although of course the pitches do not correspond. A dot over a note indicates the octave above, and a dot below a note represents the octave below. Two dots over a note indicate a note two octaves higher than standard, and so on. Depending on the tuning of the individual gamelan, it is often possible to hear the pitches 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of slendro as an anhemitonic pentatonic scale,
do-re-mi-sol-la. However, in the pélog system pitches are simply numbered from low to high 1–7 and there is no question of interpreting these sounds
diatonically. As the pélog
scale is essentially a five-note scale, the notes 4 and 7 function similarly to '
accidentals' in Western terms: a 4 may serve as a 'sharp' or raised 3 (common in
patet lima or nem) or as a 'flat' or lowered 5 (usual in patet barang). Similarly 7 functions as a 'flat' 1 in patet lima or nem; 1 in patet barang may function as a 'sharp' 7, but is more often interpreted as a temporary change of pathet. By default,
kepatihan notes are assumed all to have the same
duration. Deviations from these regular
rhythms are noted in two ways.
Beams or lines (overscores) above notes indicate half the standard duration (although this is an area of notation that is often inaccurate in practice). A dot (
pin) in the place of a note indicates the continuation of the previous note, not a rest. In vocal parts the figure 0 represents a rest, but rests are not written in instrumental parts, because the instruments normally play continuously and any rests are part of the basic playing style of the instrument. Additional symbols are needed for some instruments; for example,
melismas and slurred bowing are noted by lines above or underneath the numbers. Strokes on
colotomic instruments are indicated by diacritical marks over or around the
kepatihan numbers. There are numerous sets of such marks in use; for example, one set (not an agreed standard) uses a circle for
gong ageng, parentheses for
gong suwukan, ^ for
kenong, ˇ for
kempul, + for
ketuk, and – for
kempyang. All or some of these marks may be omitted, as they can usually be determined from the form (
bentuk). ==Performance practice==