If you're thinking you would really hate Japanese Gagaku music and that you've never heard it before, think again. Ever hear that beautiful Shakuhachi flute music played by Samurai warriors and Buddhist monks? Its part of the same tradition. What could be cooler than that? It also sometimes has the beautiful silk stringed zither known as koto.
The scales of Japanese Gagaku court music are derived from building blocks known as fourth chords. Similar to tetra chords, they are not really chords at all but an interval relationship between scale steps. The difference between a fourth chord and a tetra chord is that the fourth chord is usually in the interval of a fourth and there are commonly only three notes contained within it, not four. So, the possible fourth chord combinations where the lower tetrachord usually goes would be CDbF, CDF, CEbF, CEF. The upper fourth chord may be conjunct or disjunct. This means that the upper tetrachord may start adjacent to the last scale step which is F, so the upper fourth chord would start on F#.
The possible combinations in that case would be F#GB, F#G#B, F#AB, F#A#B.
The disjunct tetra chord would start on G not F# in which case we have GAbC, GAC, GBbC, GBC.
There is a decided preference for the interval of a fourth and tritone in Japanese music. The fifth not being nearly as important as it is in western and India's music.
The other feature is that the other notes not spelled out in the scale may still be used as grace notes, passing tones or embellishments and there may be changing tones similar to the different forms of the ascending and descending melodic minor scale in western music or the different forms of the raga in India's music. This often creates a feeling of bitonality in traditional Japanese music.
Bitonality isn't completely off the map in popular music practice. Its right on the fringes which is where I am and like to be. I"ve read that Dionne Warwick's composer, I can't rememer his name, uses bitonality on several songs which made the charts so don't just write it off as irrelevant to what you are doing automatically.
Bitonality is an exciting arena which has not been explored fully in the popular music genre.
Also, if the scale does not have the fifth, G, the koto player may still play it anyway as part of a drone or "chord." My Indian vocalist tells me that even though a raga does not have a Perfect fifth the tamboura drone will still play it because it would be strongly present in the overtone series of the fundamental anyway. Japaese musicians are probably thinking along the same lines.
Another point is that the reed mouth organ, which can only be described as a globular clay/bamboo harmonica, usually plays the notes of the fourth chord/scales. The lowest note usually being the melody. The music does not have a chord progression since it only keeps playing the same chord only the lowest note usually changes to match the melody.
Japanese Gagaku music is the oldest continuously existing ensemble tradition in the world. They must be doing something right.
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