Musical Instrument Museum Indonesia: the Javanese Gamelan Designed By: Nancy Kullos, Colin Pearson, and Dr

Home , Gambang, Idiophone, Javanese culture, Kendang, Kenong, Membranophone

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Musical Instrument Museum Indonesia: The Javanese Gamelan Designed by: Nancy Kullos, Colin Pearson, and Dr. Rebecca A. Cairo

Overall Lesson Goal Students will learn about the geography, culture, and gamelan music of Java, Indonesia. For cultural context, they will see and hear instruments of the Javanese gamelan including the gong, saron, kendhang, suling, rebab, and siter. Through a singing activity, the students will practice hearing the rhythm of the gong cycle. At MIM, students will have the opportunity to see representative instruments of the Javanese gamelan.

Suggested Grade Levels: 4–6 and 7–8 Gallery: Indonesia Culture Group: Javanese Instruments: Instruments of the Javanese gamelan including the gong, bonang, gambang, saron, kendhang, kenong, ketuk, saron, suling, rebab, siter, and slenthem, Curricular Area: Music Cocurricular Areas: Language Arts, Music, Science, Social Studies

Objectives The student will be able to: • Locate Indonesia on a map and find the island of Java. • Describe the importance of the gamelan to Javanese culture. • Learn the names and musical roles of some of the instruments in the gamelan.

Arizona Music Standards Strand 2: Relate

Concept 1 – Understanding the relationship among music, the arts, and other disciplines outside the arts.

PO1. Gr. 4 & 5 – Identifying the use/function of music from various cultures correlating to grade-level social studies curriculum.

PO1. Gr. 6 – Identifying/describing the ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines are related to music. (e.g., science, history, math)

PO4. Gr. 4–5–6 – Exploring and analyzing the relationships of music to language arts, visual arts, and literature.

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Concept 2: Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

PO1. Gr. 5 – Describing the historical context and/or influence of music on daily life, culture, politics, etc.

PO2. Gr. 5 – Describing the cultural context and/or influence of music on daily life, culture, politics etc.

Gr. 6 – Comparing and contrasting the influences of music in various cultures.

PO3. Gr. 4 & 5 – Describing the origins and development of instruments.

Strand 3: Evaluate Concept 1: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. PO2. Gr. 5 – Categorizing instruments as Western and non-Western. [NOTE: Rather than categorize instruments as Western and non-Western, MIM encourages that students learn to see all instruments as equal.]

Gr. 6 – Identifying instruments as Western and non-Western by family (e.g., woodwind, percussion, strings, membranophones, idiophones, etc.) [NOTE: MIM encourages guests to consider all instruments equally, rather than identifying instruments as Western and non-Western.]

PO4: Gr. 4 – Identifying musical examples by culture. Gr. 5 – Identifying musical examples by genre. Gr. 6 – Classifying musical examples by culture.

Social Studies Standards Strand 4: Geography Concept 1: The World in Spatial Terms PO1. Construct maps, charts, and graphs to display geographic information.

PO3. Interpret maps, charts, and geographic databases using geographic information.

PO4. Locate physical and cultural features (e.g., continents, cities, countries, significant waterways, mountain ranges, climate zones, major water bodies, landforms) throughout the world.

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PO5. Interpret thematic maps, graphs, charts, and databases depicting various aspects of the United States and world regions. (Apply to regions studied.)

Concept 2: Places and Regions PO1. Describe the human and physical characteristics of places and regions.

PO3. Compare the historical and contemporary interactions among people in different places and regions.

Key Vocabulary and Focus on Concepts Archipelago, idiophone, chordophone, membranophone, aerophone, Indonesia, Java, gamelan, gong, kenong, ketuk, saron, bonang, gambang, kendhang, suling, rebab, siter, wayang kulit Materials Required Pictures and sound clips of Javanese gamelan, map of Indonesia, world map. Procedures Part 1 – Setting the Scene Indonesia: One Country, Many Parts 1. In Part 1, we will explore the musical traditions of another country and culture. We are going to Indonesia. Using the MIM-provided map (ES_MU_Indonesia_MAP), we will have students identify the relative location of Indonesia. (Questions to elicit this information are: Who knows where Indonesia is? Indonesia is part of what continent? Asia. In what region of the world is Indonesia found? Southeast Asia. What type of land mass is Indonesia? Indonesia is an archipelago, a group of 17,508 islands (6,000 inhabited) stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Now, among this group of over 17,000 islands is the island of Java, the focus of this lesson. Today, we are learning about Javanese gamelan.

2. According to interest level and time parameters, some geographic facts about Indonesia are provided below to be shared with the class. The point of this discussion is to familiarize students with Central Java, illustrate the cultural diversity of Indonesia, and place Javanese gamelan in its musical context—not to become sidetracked in requiring students to memorize all of the details. • Indonesia is an archipelago, a string of islands that spreads over 3,400 miles. • Over 200 million people live in Indonesia (242,968,342, to be exact). If we compare that figure to the United States, do we have more or less population than Indonesia? (The United States has the third largest population in the world, and Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world.) 3

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• The 3 largest Indonesian islands are Sumatra, Java, and Bali. Indonesia’s capital is Jakarta, on the northwest tip of Java, the country’s most populated island.

3. The United States of America has fifty states, each with its recognizable characteristics, and Indonesia is similar. Indonesia’s many islands have cultural and geographic characteristics that make each a little different from the others.

4. Similar to American students and young adults, Indonesians listen to and play all kinds of music. They have rock bands, hip-hop, jazz, and many other types of music, too. They go to school and attend concerts. Indonesians see movies and watch music videos just like we do. In fact, many Indonesians listen to the same music we do.

5. Also like the United States, Indonesia has musical traditions that date back hundreds of years. (Scholars have found stone carvings depicting gamelan instruments on a Buddhist temple in Java dating back to 800 BCE, some 2800 years ago, so we suspect the gamelan tradition is even older than that.) Among these musical traditions is gamelan music. While there are important differences in types of gamelan across Indonesia, we are talking about the type of gamelan that comes from the area of Central Java. We will call this Javanese gamelan.

6. The name gamelan comes from the Javanese term gamel, a verb meaning “to strike” or a noun meaning “hammer.”

7. When we talk about “gamelan,” we are referring to a set of instruments that were created to be played together for a specific musical style or genre. (Ask students to name other genres of music they can recall.) This ensemble, also called gamelan, is a unique combination of several categories of musical instruments found around the world. How they are used collectively in Central Java helps create Javanese gamelan musical culture. While gamelan began solely as an instrumental ensemble, over time vocal music became an important part of the gamelan experience. Soon, students will view the ES_MU_Gamelan_ppt. This presentation is an introduction to Javanese gamelan and includes images of musicians, musical instruments, and shadow puppetry, which are all an important contextual part of the gamelan experience students will have at MIM.

8. A Powerpoint presentation is available that prepares elementary school students to understand the geographical location of Indonesia; to preview the musical instruments of the world, in particular, the Javanese gamelan at MIM; and to view shadow puppetry in context. Photographic and sound examples shall include the gong, kenong, ketuk, saron, bonang, gambang, kendhang, suling, rebab, and siter. In addition, information regarding the wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) and the dalang (puppeteer) is included.

9. All the instruments you will be seeing at MIM can be categorized into families of instruments. We learned about these categories in the sound science lesson about musical instruments. The five categories were aerophones, chordophones, idiophones, membranophones, and electrophones. (If a review is needed, see ES_SC_Sound_ppt.) The 4

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educator writes the names on the board as they are introduced, reminding students that the categories were developed depending on how sound vibrations are created with each instrument. Elicit examples of each for review, drawing on what they see in the classroom.

10. Now that we have more background information about the location of the country of Indonesia, Central Java, and the Javanese gamelan, let’s preview our Powerpoint presentation (ES_MU_Gamelan_ppt). As you view this, you will see Javanese Indonesians playing gamelan. Look closely at the instruments they play. We will be learning some of the names of the instruments later. In the meantime, think about how this ensemble is the same and/or different from performing groups we are familiar with. We can discuss this point after seeing the presentation again.

11. The educator leads a guided viewing of the ES_MU_Gamelan_ppt. This Powerpoint presentation shows a short media clip of Javanese gamelan and photographs of gamelan instruments, including the gong, kenong, ketuk, saron, bonang, gambang, kendhang, suling, rebab, and siter. The presentation ends with a short media clip of gamelan accompanying the wayang kulit, a form of shadow puppetry popular in many parts of Indonesia.

12. Do any of you see any instruments that look familiar? (Students will respond with all sorts of answers. Guide them toward the gongs. Questions to elicit information include the following: What do you observe? How would you describe a gong sound? From its sound, can you infer what the gong is made of? Can you see patterns in the types of gongs in this photo? What context clues give you more information about how the gong is used in gamelan? Generally speaking, Javanese gamelan gongs are made of bronze. Other gamelan instruments can be made from other materials such as wood, bamboo, or iron, but they will sound different. Can you formulate a hypothesis why this is so? (While at MIM, remember to see the gong exhibit in the Asia gallery. There is a state-of-the-art audio and visual display that shows how these gongs are made.)

13. What kinds of instruments do you observe in a Javanese gamelan? Many instruments are used in the gamelan. How could these instruments be classified? These instruments are considered idiophones: saron, slenthem, gong, gambang and kendang. Can you distinguish why this is so? These instruments are considered membranophones: two- headed drums. The rebab, a two-stringed bowed instrument is considered to be a chordophone. The suling, a bamboo flute, is an aerophone. After each example, have a student summarize why the categorization scheme makes sense. NOTE: The science lesson (ES_SC_Sound) explores the characteristics of sound and how different categories of musical instruments make sound.

14. Close today’s lesson with a summary review. The questions are provided to assess mastery level of the points of today’s lesson in which we set the scene for Javanese gamelan. At the start of the next session, you will review these points.

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15. Suggested summary points that assess for understanding: Where is Indonesia located in the globe—near what continents? What landform is the country of Indonesia? Where is the island of Java located within Indonesia? Drawing upon what you have seen and learned today, how is Javanese gamelan the same as and/or different from your school band or school orchestra?

Part 2 – Instruments of the Javanese Gamelan

One Sound, Many Parts: Instruments of the Javanese Gamelan

1. Begin today’s lesson with a quick review of the geographic characteristics of Central Java within Indonesia. Refer to Part 1 for background information. Ask students what instruments they remember from the Powerpoint presentation. You will be using the Powerpoint again, so cue up the presentation. Tell students that today we will learn the names of instruments played in Javanese gamelan. Write these names on the board: gong, kenong, ketuk, saron, bonang, gambang, kendhang, suling, rebab, and siter. Remind students that these words, like all modern Indonesian words, are pronounced phonetically. Also, point out onomatopoeia (i.e., the use of words that sound like the objects they name or the sounds those objects make). Example: gong. The word gong sounds like the noise the gong makes.

NOTE: Visit the gamelan mécanique site (produced by Cité de la Musique) for a fun way to investigate gamelan from Sunda, Java, and Bali. Sounds of gamelan instruments may be heard online at www.citedelamusique.fr/gamelan.

2. Here are the main instruments we will learn about in the Javanese gamelan: a. Gong – There are many gongs in a Javanese gamelan, but the largest gong is the most important instrument in the group. It marks the end of each cycle of the melody. Have the students create this sound vocally. b. Kenong (kuh-NONG) – These big knobbed gongs make a “nong” sound. They divide the melody into equal numbers of beats. c. Ketuk (kuh-TOOK) – This smaller knobbed gong makes a “tuk” sound to keep a steady beat between the kenong beats. d. Saron (SAH-ron) and slenthem (SLUHN-tuhm) – These instruments have large bronze bars instead of gongs. The musician plays the melody with these instruments. e. Bonang (BO-nahng) – This instrument can have as many as fourteen knobbed gongs on it. The musician plays notes using the bonang to embellish the melody. f. Gambang (gam-BAHNG) – This wooden xylophone is used to play a rapid version of the melody. g. Kendhang (ken-DAHNG) – These barrel-shaped drums keep the steady beat for the group and signal to the group what to do next. h. Suling (su-LING) – These flutes, constructed of bamboo, play the melody. i. Rebab (ri-BOB) – This two-stringed instrument plays a “fancier” version of the melody.

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j. Siter (SI-ter) – This is a multiple-stringed zither. The musician plucks the strings quickly, playing along with the gambang, the wooden xylophone.

3. Now let’s learn how the gamelan music works. We will use a chart, adapted for our use from a college textbook chapter about global music written by R. Anderson Sutton (see References). While there is much more to know about gamelan, this will help us experience how the music works using a form we are familiar with: singing. Using this chart, we will see one way in which we can experience some of the sounds of a gamelan ensemble. (See ES_MU_Gamelan_handout1 from Sutton’s chapter on gamelan in Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples.) (This can be sung or played as a class.)

4. Gamelan music is performed as a group effort; instead of performing solos to feature individuals, gamelan musicians work collaboratively, coordinating their movements in a way that is impressive. Gamelan musicians rehearse long hours with the goal of fitting all the musical parts together in a precise manner. It seems as if the musicians think as one. In many ways, they work as a team, thinking and feeling together. With many instruments and many musicians, they work to create one sound. They each know their parts from working closely and listening carefully.

5. Historically, gamelan was used to accompany dances in royal courts as well as in temple and village rituals. Today, gamelan has this and other functions. It is often used in performances of the wayang kulit, a form of shadow puppetry. In this way, gamelan takes on dramatic aspects. These performances often last many hours into the night. Many aspects of Indonesian culture, music, dance, and theater are interwoven into this musical experience. This topic is further explored below in Lesson Variations.

6. The educator can again show the Powerpoint presentation. This time, however, have students identify the names of the instruments and sing the sound each instrument creates. At the close of the presentation, emphasize the idea of the wayang kulit, an important part of Javanese gamelan.

7. Summary Review: In today’s lesson, students were introduced to the concept that one sound is created from many parts. They learned the names of ten Javanese gamelan instruments. As a class, how many names can they remember? What are some representative sounds of the instruments? What roles do instruments play in the gamelan ensemble—in particular, what is the role of the gong? What interpersonal skills are necessary for a successful gamelan performance?

Lesson Extensions

After learning about the Javanese gamelan and visiting MIM, we can use an educator-created Venn diagram to see how this musical ensemble is similar/dissimilar to other musical ensembles. Examples for comparisons: a rock group, an orchestra, a garage band, a mariachi 7

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group, a hip-hop crew. In this activity, encourage students to think about the types of instruments used, the role of rhythm, the leader, and the cultural and traditional uses of the music. Assessment Students will play along with the musical parts of the gamelan (music). Students perform the rhythm activity by reading a form of notation (music). Students identify the main islands of Indonesia (geography). Lesson Variations As mentioned above, an important part of Javanese gamelan involves drama. If desired, educators may extend this lesson as students study, create and use puppets like those in the gamelan tradition. (See Resources) Many of the theatrical performances of gamelan include dance-dramas in which dancers portray heroic figures of local legends. The dancers enact localized versions of the ancient Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. In some traditions, the majority of these actor-dancers are masked, while in others, masks are reserved for just a few characters. Among the most common—and popular—types of musical theater is wayang kulit (literally, “skin shadows/images”) in which roles are played not by people but by intricately carved leather puppets whose lacelike shadows bring epic stories to life on an illuminated screen. Theater standards can be incorporated as students create these puppets (see Resources). Further Explorations Collaborate with the homeroom educator or school librarian to allow students time to explore the musical culture of Java in text and online. See Resources section for suggested Internet sources for further explorations. Handouts ES_MU_Gamelan_ppt ES_MU_Gamelan_Indonesia_MAP (http://alliance.la.asu.edu/maps/Indonesia_physical.pdf) ES_MU_Gamelan_musicalactivity

Resources Background Information about Javanese Gamelan for Educators. This information is provided to educators to deepen their understanding as they present the concepts in this gamelan lesson. One of the most well-known traditional musical forms of Java and of neighboring Bali is the gamelan. Gamelan, derived from the Javanese term gamel, a verb meaning “to strike” or a noun meaning “hammer.” Today gamelan is a generic term referring to an ensemble comprised predominantly of Indonesian percussive instruments. However, vocal music played an important role in the development of gamelan. In the beginning of the 20th century, the term karawitan was introduced, embracing both vocal and instrumental elements in the gamelan. As a consequence of both ethnographical setting and historical development, 8

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diverse gamelan styles exist. There are two principal gamelan styles: Balinese and Javanese (see Resources: http://sumarsam.web.wesleyan.edu/Intro.gamelan.pdf, accessed July 2, 2010). Background Information about the Spiritual Tradition of Indonesian Gamelan.

The gamelan started as a highly spiritual music tradition. Many Indonesians believe that the instruments of the gamelan are sacred and have supernatural power. Musicians are respectful toward the instruments and believe that each set has its own spirit. Feet and shoes are considered to be unclean, so they take their shoes off as a sign of respect for that spirit (niu). Read more . . .

Periodically, an offering is provided and incense is burned before the gong. This is to show respect for the instruments. Some other rules: there is an inviolable rule that no one ever steps over one of the musical instruments, since to do so would be considered a breach of respect. If there is not enough room to pass, the musician must move the instrument temporarily to provide space, and when he/she passes by instruments and other players, he/she does not stride along erect but bends low, holding one hand before him/her and mumbling the appropriate Javanese word of permission and apology (nuwun sewu) for crossing in front of someone. Besides spiritual beliefs, such careful treatment of gamelan instruments also prevents possible physical damage of the instruments.

Background Information about Instrument Classification Scheme from Oxford Music Online (see References)

Aero means “air” and phone means “sound” (Greek and Latin roots). Therefore, we can define aerophone as a term for musical instruments that produce their sound by setting up vibrations in a body of air.

Membran means “skin.” Membranophone is a term for musical instruments that produce their sound by setting up vibrations in a stretched membrane.

Chord means “rope or string.” Chordophone is a general term for musical instruments that produce their sound by setting up vibrations in a stretched string.

Ideo means “personal” (the material of the instrument itself makes the sound). Idiophone is a general term for musical instruments that produce their sound by setting up vibrations in the substance of the instrument itself. Electro means “electric.” Electrophone is a general term for instruments that produce vibrations that must be passed through a loudspeaker before they are heard as sound.

References

Brown, Howard Mayer, and Frances Palmer. “Aerophone.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed July 20, 2010.

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Brown, Howard Mayer, and Frances Palmer. “Chordophone.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed July 20, 2010. Brown, Howard Mayer, and Frances Palmer. “Idiophone.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed July 20, 2010. Brown, Howard Mayer, and Frances Palmer. “Membranophone.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed July 20, 2010. Central Intelligence Agency. “Indonesia.” In The World Factbook. Last modified August 19, 2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html. Accessed August 20, 2010. Hood, Mantle, and Hardjo Susilo. Music of the Venerable Dark Cloud. Los Angeles: Institute of Ethnomusicology, University of California, 1967.

Solis, Ted. Performing Ethnomusicology: Teaching and Representation in World Music Ensembles. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.

Sutton, R. Anderson. “Asia/Indonesia.” In Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples, edited by Jeff Todd Titon, Linda Fujie, David Locke, David P. McAllester, David B. Reck, John M. Schechter, and R. Anderson Sutton, 231–262. Belmont, CA: Schirmer / Thomson Learning, 2005.