Exploring factors for melodic diversification of folk songs in the Ryukyu Archipelago

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6146191
AutoresY Nishikawa (0000-0003-0229-413X, The University of Tokyo), Yasuo Ihara (0000-0003-3072-2410, The University of Tokyo, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume7
Páginase23-e23
Data de publicação2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEvolutionary Human Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2513-843X • E-ISSN: 2513-843X
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/ehs.2025.10010
PMID41089412
OpenAlexW4412544758
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas21

Cultural evolution of traditional music around the world has been the subject of recent quantitative investigations. Researchers have explored cultural diffusion of music as well as patterns of geographic variation that may result. By comparison, less has been studied about the process of music diversification; in particular, under what circumstances music diversifies is yet to be understood. In this study, we examine possible factors that may facilitate music diversification, using data from folk songs in the Ryukyu Archipelago, south-western islands of Japan. For a quantitative analysis, we first transform the melody of each folk song, following an automated scheme, into a sequence of alphabets, which is then used to quantify the melodic dissimilarity between each pair of songs. Our particular interest is in the dissimilarity between putative sister songs, or songs that are inferred to have derived from a common origin, and factors that have positive or negative effects on it. Our results suggest that sister songs tend to diversify more when they are sung in different islands, probably as a result of one being transmitted from one island to another, and when they have come to be sung in different social contexts

Archaeology · Archipelago · Art · Business · Diversification (marketing strategy · Geography · Literature · Melody · Musical · Financial Crisis of the 21st Century · History · Music History and Culture · Marketing