The Rev. F. W. Galpin, the well-known enthusiastic collector of musical instruments, possesses some of this type obtained from Indian tribes of the North West of America, which I have heard him play as to the manner born. The wide diffusion of this type raises curious questions of the dispersion of races, as against that of a common instinct leading to similar development.
The Tche is undoubtedly an instrument concerning which, both practically and historically, a fuller knowledge is to be desired; it involves some curious acoustical problems which would form an interesting study. Certified as being one of the most ancient of Chinese musical instruments, it indicates that when it first was introduced a high degree of civilization must have been attained, and a very keen intelligence have been directed to musical problems, before so complete a system of relation of tones, and measurement of pipes, could have been worked out on a fixed method.
In the accounts received from travellers who attempt to estimate the scales and character of the native music heard by them, we are accustomed to find a prevalence of the minor mode always affirmed, and the statement is generally accepted as one based upon definite knowledge. It seems to be considered that the mournful and the plaintive in song and in music reflect the temperament of the people, and are its natural expression. I am inclined to question this; for I may doubt the keenness of the observer, doubt his musical capability of ear or mental power of analysis, may perceive a tendency of mind to take a stand on foregone conclusions, and may not be satisfied that the writer is competent upon the subject upon which he writes very positively.
Experience has shown me how frequently statements of this kind are not borne out by facts, although the statements have been made in perfect good faith. In this aspect there is a paper by J. F. Fillmore (an American author) which has a peculiar significance. He made a study of the music of the Indian tribes in America, having very special facilities for his work; and he also harmonised many of the melodies, with much satisfaction to the Indians. He says that,—
In short, all melodic and harmonic resources to be found in our music, even the most modern and advanced, are also to be found in the primitive music of a people who have no musical notation, no theory of music, no systematized knowledge of it whatever.
And then at the end we have this naïve conclusion:—
Long before the first week was over, all my preconceived notions of the significance of the incomplete scales, and of the importance of the plain major and minor chords as related to acoustic problems, had wholly disappeared.
The truth is that scales are so elusive that they may be read so as to mean anything a system maker desires, and such scrutiny is about as reliable as the reading of character and destiny by the systems of astrology and palmistry.