Comparing Lithuanian Folk Scales with Historical Temperament Systems in Lithuania and the USA

Abstract

The novelty and relevance of the idea of this artistic research lies in the comparison of the intervals of the traditional Lithuanian unequal tunings and the European and Middle Eastern unequal temperament systems in order to identify the degree of similarities and differences of interval distances. The novelty also lies in the extent of the research object, which included Lithuanian folk music recordings from the first half of the twentieth century preserved in Lithuania and the USA. It could be argued that the twelve-tone equal temperament (12-TET) has influenced Lithuanian traditional tunings, but several studies carried out on traditional Lithuanian vocal and instrumental music show that the 12-TET is not widespread. However, the micro-intervals in Lithuanian music have retained their uniqueness and distinctiveness compared with neighbouring countries (Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Finland), where no natural intervals and tuning of traditional scales has been detected. The project objective is the comparison of unequal tuning systems with Lithuanian folk music scales using computer technologies. The research methods used during the project were: (a) comparative method, a study of European and Asian unequal systems based on the temperaments of natural harmonic series and the traditional Lithuanian music scales; (b) the software R statistical analysis method, using a file system to process text information. It can be concluded that there are many cases of natural intervals found in Lithuanian folk songs, considering that the temperaments of previous centuries had some naturally tuned intervals.