The Pecan of Bambara-Groundnuts

The Pecan of Bambara-groundnuts is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originating in The Splattered Orcas. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. The music is played on a cathe. The entire performance is extremely fast. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. It is performed using the ipila scale and in the feri rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to play rapid runs and alternate tension and repose.

• The cathe always does the main melody and should be merry.
• The Pecan of Bambara-groundnuts has a well-defined multi-passage structure: an introduction, a chorus and a verse possibly all repeated and a coda.
• The introduction is to be very soft. The passage has phrases of varied length in the melody.
• The chorus is to be very soft. The passage has phrases of varied length in the melody.
• The verse is to be moderately loud. The passage has long phrases in the melody.
• The coda is to be moderately loud. The passage has mid-length phrases in the melody.
• Scales are constructed from seventeen notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1-xx-xx-x-x-xxx-xx-xxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
• The ipila pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 9th, the 13th and the 17th.
• The feri rhythm is made from two patterns: the emayethi (considered the primary) and the ifiyo. The patterns are to be played over the same period of time, concluding together regardless of beat number.
• The emayethi rhythm is a single line with sixteen beats divided into eight bars in a 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 pattern. The beats are named ithi (spoken ith) and seyawi (se). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - | x - | x - | - x | - x | - x | x - | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The ifiyo rhythm is a single line with three beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x X x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.

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