Mind, Key to Music Composition of Tibetan Buddhist Phet Singing

This study examines a type of Tibetan Buddhist vocal music, dbyangs, with specific emphasis on phet singing in chod dbyangs of Kagyu sect. Chapter I outlines the scope of the study, overview of few previous related studies, goal of the study and research methods. Chapter II introduces the general philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism. General discussion about the origin, occasions, theory and musical characteristics of dbyangs appear in chapter III. Chapter IV provides an overview of chod practice regarding its origin, philosophy, functions, texts, and meaning of phet. Chapter V analyzes the musical attributes of phet based on the selected criteria in each example. It also compares the musical patterns and features among the three samples. Chapter VI looks at the aspects that construct the musical phenomena of phet and their similarities and differences among the three samples. As a conclusion, Chapter VII intends to show the connection between music and human perception, cognition and motivation. There is no pre-set tune or musical composition for chod dbyangs, including phet singing. This study aims to understand the musical phenomena of phet and the factors that shape it.

Autorentext

Chong Lee Suan is a Tibetan Buddhist and an ethnomusicology lecturer in School of Arts, University Malaysia Sabah. She holds an MA in ethnomusicology from University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii. Her research interests focus on Tibetan Buddhist and Sabah ethnic music, especially the relationship between mind and music, and wisdom within music.