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Gamelan Time Names and Values, and How to Play GAMBUH MENYANYI on Saron

Updated: Sep 19, 2020

Offline Lesson Module for this topic is also available for download here:



How to play Gambuh Menyanyi with Saron


Let's watch how the full song is performed by a real life Gamelan group...

Gambuh Menyanyi Playback by Kumpulan Kesenian Anjung Tradisi



Gambuh Menyanyi Music Sheet


Song Background


Gambuh Menyanyi is an advisory poem or haiku. In Malay, we call it ‘pantun nasihat’. This pantun nasihat was directed towards Raden Galuh. The dance for Gambuh Menyanyi is dead now and has been long forgotten by society. Despite not being preserved like other traditional dances, the song and the lyrics still remain in our culture today. The pantun nasihat is as follows:


Puaslah sudah Raden menanam padi,

Nenaslah juga Raden ditanam orang,

Puaslah sudah Raden menabur budi,

Emaslah juga Raden dipandang orang.

Selat Melaka Raden airnya tenang,

Banyak berlabuh Raden perahu Bugis,

Jangan disangka Raden hidupku senang,

Dalam ketawa Raden aku menangis.

Kalau begitu Raden diwaktu senja,

Janganlah lupa Raden pulang segera,

Kalaulah hidup Raden tidak berharga,

Dihina orang Raden sepanjang masa.



Getting to know the "Time Names and Values" in Gamelan


In Gamelan, almost all songs use 4 beats in one bar, hence why in this module we only use the 4 beats per bar. The value of rhythm can be seen in the diagram below.


The common rhythm that we use in traditional songs are the Quarter Note- also known as Crotchet- and Eighth Note- also known as Quaver.


To make it more clear, the notes without upper line is Crotchet, and the notes with upper line is Quaver.



There is no line, so there is only Crotchet on every beat.




There is upper line on the note, so it indicates that they are Quaver, which have half the value of Crotchet.


To learn even more about the concept of Quaver, click on the video below:



1st Line example


The table below is an example of how to play the Crotchet and Quaver notes on the 1st and 2nd bar of the 1st line.

Do take note that on beat symbols are 1,2,3,4, while off beat symbol is &.



2nd Line example


To play the 3rd and 4th bar, you may refer to the example shown in the table below.

Do take note that on beat symbols are 1,2,3,4, while off beat symbol is &.



Getting to know the Repititions in Gamelan


In traditional Gamelan songs, there are repititions in some lines or bars. For Gambuh Menyanyi, the first line needs to repeat twice, as does the second line.

So, how do we recognize the parts that need repitition?


In the Gambuh Menyanyi scoresheet, there are bracket symbols with dots. The number of dots correlates to the amount of repetitions needed to be applied to all parts within the brackets.

For example, the first line of Gambuh Menyanyi have bracketed all the parts in the first line and there are 2 dots on the bracket. So, the first line needs to repeat twice because the number of dots is two.


Playing line by line


1st Line

2nd Line

Playing the full song with and without a metronome ( 80 bpm )



Gambuh Menyanyi Tutorial Video


Now let's watch the tutorial on how to play Gambuh Menyanyi on Saron.

The link for the full syllabus playlist can be found here.



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