The Music of Hindostan c10.131

c10.131

and the lowest note of the *vīṇā*, the oldest instrument of India, is that same A. It is difficult to say how far Indians were ever, or are now, conscious of absolute pitch. There is an interesting comparison of the notes of the scale to the cries of animals. *Sa* is the note of the peacock. *Ri*, of the *chātaka*, the bird of the rainy season. *Ga*, of the goat. *Ma*, of the crane. *Pa*, of the *koïl*, generally translated cuckoo, but bearing no resemblance in its vocal achievement to our bird; it hammers out a single note when making love in the spring, and its mate joins in, invariably at the distance of a tone, and perhaps a rival lover at the distance of a semitone. *Dha*, of the frog. *Ni*, of the elephant. This has been quoted as showing that the scale was conceived as a matter of absolute pitch; and there is some evidence that the cries of animals always keep the same pitch. It may be so: it would require special knowledge to decide this point. On the other hand, the musicians of to-day have no name for and no means of determining absolute pitch; and they are not usually backward in coining names for, or in devising simple methods of putting into operation, any ideas they may possess.