J01035

FOREWORD

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Greetings,

Suharto
Editor-in-Chief

HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 1-7
Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia
Permalink/DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v14i1.2784

p-ISSN 1411-5115
e-ISSN 2355-3820

RIJOQ: VOCAL MUSIC OF DAYAK BENUAQ FROM KUTAI,
EAST KALIMANTAN
Ester*
Agastya Rama Listya**
*Satya Wacana Christian University of Salatiga, Indonesia
E-mail: ester_syg@yahoo.co.id
**Satya Wacana Christian University of Salatiga, Indonesia
E-mail: agastya123@yahoo.com
Received: June 2013. Accepted: Februari 2014. Published: Maret 2014

Abstract
Rijoq, a Dayak Benuaq vocal music, has been passed down from generation to generation through

oral tradition for hundreds of years. When and how it was founded, developed and preserved in
the Dayak community remains questionable. But according to some research done by scholars,
Rijoq has its origin from Dayak Bawo, a tribe living in the borderlines between Central, South, and
East Kalimantan. Rijoq is normally performed during festivities, such as: initiation, reconciliation,
menugal (rice planting) and potong kerbau (buffalo slaughtering). Rijoq’s texts have very deep
messages which are considered still relevant to today’s life context. On the one hand, it speaks
about the horizontal relationship—human beings and their fellows, and human beings and its
nature—; and on the other hand, the vertical relationship—human beings with their Creator. The
primary concern of doing this research is to preserve Rijoq as written and recorded documents.
So far, this research has been successful in notating and recording ive kinds of Rijoq, that is Peket
Muat Bolupm (working together to build lives), Rijoq Patuk Ajer (advice), Rijoq Natal Tautn Bayuq
(Christmas and New Year), Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe (the expression of a man’s feeling who is
falling in love with a woman), and Rijoq Lati Tana Orekng Tepa (forests and lands are disappearing
and gone). But this paper is not intended to discuss these ive kinds of Rijoq. Isiq Asekng Sookng
Bawe is chosen as it is the oldest and the most dificult Rijoq among the rest.
© 2014 Sendratasik FBS UNNES

Keywords: Rijoq; Dayak Benuaq; Bekeleeu

INTRODUCTION

by some physical similarities. Ahmad Yunus concludes that Dayak Banuaq originated from the borderlines between Central
Sulawesi and Serawak, Malaysia (Yunus,
1992, p. 31). The Ahmad Yunus’ conclusion is supported by some similarities found
in these two areas, particularly tools used
for cultivating the ield, battling, hunting
the animals, burying the dead bodies, and
worshiping the souls of their ancestors.
In their original place, Dayak Benuaq was formerly called “Luangan”. Due
to geographical situation and the pressure

In general all Dayak tribes were the
descendants of Chinese immigrants that
emigrated from Yunnan in South China
(Commans, 1987, p. 3-4). No wonder that
some names such as Apui, Bi Lung and
Kun Dung Ga which are very common in
South China also used as Dayak’s names in
East Kalimantan (Soemargono et. al, 1992,
p. 12). Some scholars believe that Dayak

Benuaq was a mixture between Malay, Wedoide and Mongoloide, and characterized
1

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HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 1-7

brought by an Iban tribe from the Northern area, Dayak Benuaq has been forced
to move to East Kalimantan.In their new
home place, they called themselves “Benuaq”, which possibly came from the word
“Benuaqkn”, a name of their new place.
According to their belief, Benuaq is
associated with Ningkah or Nyingkah
Oloo, a igure of demigod (Dyson, 2008, p.
16-17). The descendants of Nyingkah Oloo
spread from the riverside (close to Samarinda, South Kalimantan) to the upper
course of Mahakam, a place known as Gunung Lipan (Centipede Mountain). On this
mountain, Nyingkah Oloo built his home,
a place where many poisonous centipedes
were living (Dyson, 2008, p. 19-20).

Nyingkah Oloo was married to a
Bugis woman, named Dayaang Beliaant.
However the name of Tenggarong as the
capital of Kutai palace did not come from
the Bugis words “tangga arung” (king’s
ladder), but from “wakaai engkaruukng”
(Benuaq words meaning wooden root that
is frequently used for a ireplace when the
people are working together to build their
new city). Benuaq people call Tenggarong
with “tengkaruukng”.
Rijoq

Dayak Benuaq sing their songs in the
social and the religious events. The texts of
these songs are written in the high literary language that only can be understood
by the language experts. Every singer who
wants to master the texts and the songs
used in the religious events should go
through a ritual process.

According to Septianus B., Dayak
Benuaq’s songs are divided into two, that
is sacred and secular. The sacred pieces are
in the form of magic formula or sung story that only can be performed during the
religious rites. Some kinds of secular pieces are: dodo (sung poetry or fairy tale), dequg (poetry or fairy tale similar to dodo but
sung in the faster tempo), loak (songs used
during the kampong thanksgiving ceremony), lengot (similar to loak but written in
different rhythm and notation), and rijoq (a
traditional poetry that is sung during spe-

cial or wedding ceremonies).
The History of Rijoq

None of the Rijoq players know when
Rijoq was born, but they all are convinced
that Rijoq has been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of
years. F. Setianus B., Rijoq is truly convinced that Rijoq was originated from Dayak
Bawo living in the borderlines between
Central, South, and East Kalimantan (now
is known as North Barito district). North

Barito once was known as a tribe with high
cultures and so much inluenced by Hindu. This tribe is well known as the creator of noble literatures, such as metaphors,
aphorism, fairy tales, and Rijoq.
According to the mythology, all joyful arts including Rijoq have its origin in
bekeleu ceremony. This ceremony began
with the victory of Tatau Mukng Batuqover the Aput Pererawetn village. After the
battle, Tatau Mukng Batuq got a serious
illness although beliatn ceremony had been
offered. One day, Tatau Mujaaq Tuhaaq,
Batuq’s father, had a dream. In his dream,
an old man with white hair telling him
that Batuq’s illness was a result of nayuq’s
and tiger’s curse. The spirit of nayuq and
the tiger got mad at Tatau Mukng Batuq
for not holding pesengkeet nayuq eremony
as a thanksgiving over the victory he had
achieved. This old man, then suggested
Batuq’s father to hold a bekeleeu ceremony
to expel the evil spirits that were sent by
nayuq and the tiger (Madrah, 1997, p. 136).

Bekeleeu ceremony has marked the
beginning of all joyful Dayak arts, including Rijoq. It has become a strong reason
why performing Rijoq during the times of
sorrow will result in buhotn (struck down
by death) (Irwanto, 2010, p. 63).
Dayak Benuaq has adopted a lot of
Dayak Bawo literatures, e.g. rijoq and beliatn ceremony. It was possible because
Dayak Benuaq did a lot of travels to other
Dayak kampongs. Another reason is Dayak Benuaq lived side by side and intermixed with Dayak Bawo.

Ester & Agastya Rama Listya, Rijoq: Vocal Music Of Dayak Benuaq From Kutai, East ...
The Functions of Rijoq

Rijoq is usually performed during joyful ceremonies. It is irst an amusement
for the performers itself, particularly during menugal (sowing the rice seed), buffalo slaughtering, or when the women preparing the logistic for menugal (Irwanto,
2010, p. 63), or when the women picked up
doyo leaves for making ulap doyo (piece of
cloth made of leave doyo iber. The making
process takes quite a long time because the
ibres should be separated irst from its

leaves before drying and spun). Later, Rijoq is also sung during the initiation, such
as: birth, marriage, expelling calamity (nalitn tautn) and peace ceremonies (nuaak mikaat lait). Nalitn tautn is ceremony aims to
expel the disaster caused by incest, so that
the farmers may harvest rice.

3

and quite a complicated rhythmic pattern.
The skill of the singers will determine the
complexities of its Rijoq’s rhythmic pattern. In the other word, the more skilful the
singer, the more complicated the Rijoq’s
rhythmic pattern will be.
Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe (The expression of a man who is falling in love with a
woman)

Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe has
three motives (igures 1, 2, and 3) and all
texts are set in the strophic form.

Figure 1. Rhythmic Motive 1 Rijoq Isiq Asekng

Sookng Bawe

The Lyrics and the Forms of Rijoq

Rijoq is a speech literature—a kind of
literature that has been passed down from
generation to generation through oral tradition, for instance, a traditional poetry—
that is sung without any music accompaniment. Therefore, a Rijoq singer is required
to be able to show his/hermusical ability.
In this present day, Rijoq is no longer an
unaccompanied song, but it has been furnished with musical instruments such as:
sapeq, guitar, drum set, synthesizer, sulking
(a wooden lute that’s rarely found in the
performances today). Its verse comprises
of two couplets with each line ends with
a rhyme. Its texts speak about the relationships between human beings and its
Creator, human beings with their fellows,
and human beings with its nature. At the
beginning Rijoq was written in an archaic
Benuaq language, but later to adjust to the

situation, Rijoq’s texts use modern language.
Rijoq is sung by one singer or two alternates. Rijoq has a unique ornament that
usually placed on the syllables that are
located at the beginning or in the middle,
and never in the end of a song phrase. The
main feature of Rijoq is the absence of refrain. It has a lyrical melody, tempo which
is relatively constant throughout the song,

Figure 2. Rhythmic Motive 2 Rijoq Isiq Asekng
Sookng Bawe

Figure 3. Rhythmic Motive 3 Rijoq Isiq Asekng
Sookng Bawe

Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe is also
decorated with some ornaments which in
Western notation similar to acciaccatura,
trill, and slide (igure 4). Isik Asekng Sookng Bawe is considered as an old Rijoq and
demands high skills of its performers. This
Rijoq is performed without any accompaniment so singer’s creativity and musicality
are required.

Figure 4. Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe’s ornaments

Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe is a traditional poetry consisting of six stanzas.
Each stanza has six lines with the rhyme
orders as follow: a – a – a and a – b – b. The

4

HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 1-7

sentence dodoi dinang ayoq sayang which
does not have any meaning is added to
complement the existing melody. Its texts
talk about the love between a man and a
woman. This Rijoq may be performed by
male and female singers as a responsorial.
The message of this Rijoq: love relationship is a holy one and it is not merely about sexual relationship. Every Dayak
person should understand the true meaning of love and should ind his/her partner seriously.
Empit incatn mungih ori
Kakatn mungih manan langit akuq
lilikng langit
Dodoi dinang ayo sayang langit akuq lilikng langit
Kami kemkepm mungih kami
Elokng mungih bungaq kami akuq
kemkepm lei kami
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang kami
kemkepm lei kami
Empit incatn mungih ori
Oroq mungih manan langit kuq
lilikng lei langit
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang langit akuq
lilikng langit
Kami kemkepm mungih kami
Ituq mungih bungaq kami akuq
kemkepm lei kami
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang kami akuq
kemkepm kami
Empit incatn mungih lewekng
Epuq mungih manan langit akuq
lilikng langit
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang langit akuq
lilikng lei langit
Asekng kemkepm mungih asekng
Elokng mungih bungaq kami asekng
akuq kemkepm lei asekng
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang asekng
Empit incatn mungih lewekng
Oroq mungih manan langit akuq
lilikng lei langit
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang langit akuq
lilikng langit
Asekng kemkepm mungih asekng
Elokng mungih bungaq kami asekng
akuq kemkepm lei asekng

Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang asekng
Ayo butuq mungih umaq
Amen mungin bungaq konaq akug
masengkonaq
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang konaq akuq
Masengkonaq
Ruku bere mungih ruku
Ayoq mungih alukng ruku akuq bere
lei ruku
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang akuq bere
lei ruku
Ayo botuq mungih suru
Aweq lekaq nyalaq akuq nentakng lei
nyalaq
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang nyalaq
akuq nentakng lei nyalaq
Ruku bere mungih ruku
Uhatn mungih olukng ruku akuq bere
lei ruku
Dodoi dinang ayoq sayang ruku akuq
bere ruku
Meaning:
A sparrow perches on a house post
I wish to wander around the sky
I wish to wander around the sky
Holding hands together
To ind the lowers to hold on
To ind a girl to marry
A sparrow perches on a house post
To walk far away circling around
the sky
To walk far away to all
destinations
Holding hands together
That is the lower to hold on
This is the girl that is ready
to marry
A sparrow perches on a rice
winnow
Have travelled circling around
the sky
Have travelled to all destinations
Sweetheart
To ind the lower
Sweetheart
To ind a girl, my heart desire
A sparrow perches on a rice
Winnow
To walk far away circling around
the sky
To walk far away to all

Ester & Agastya Rama Listya, Rijoq: Vocal Music Of Dayak Benuaq From Kutai, East ...
destinations
Sweetheart
To ind the lower,
Sweetheart
This is the girl, my heart desire
Sweet potatoes in the ield
If the lower agrees
If the lower does not mind
to meet
Could we meet directly?
Let us make a promise to meet
Sweet potatoes in the ield that has
been burned
There is nothing wrong
There is no need to feel shy and
guilty
to meet
We are about to meet
We will meet immediately

CONCLUSION
The deep moral message of Rijoq’s
texts is still considered relevant to today’s
context. Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe is
just an obvious example of how a hundred-year text could bring a strong message to today’s people who are ignoring
the holiness of love. This research is just
a beginning indeed. Many remain hidden
and covered. Hopefully, this research will
stimulate other researches which try to in-

5

ventories and to preserve Rijoq as a completed written document.
REFERENCES
Commans, M. (1987). Manusia Dayak Dahulu, Sekarang, Masa Depan. Jakarta:
PT Gramedia.
Dyson, P.L. (2008). Sejarah Sendawar 2.
Surabaya: Airlangga University
Press.
Irwanto. (2010). Kesenian Rijoq: Fungsi dan
Keberadaannya. Thesis. Surakarta:
Master’s Degree at Postgraduate
Program at Institut Seni Indonesia
Surakarta.
Soemargono, K. et al. (1992). Proil Propinsi
Republik Indonesia-Kalimantan Timur.
Jakarta: Yayasan Bhakti Wawasan
Nusantara.
Madrah, T.D. (1997). Tempuutn: Mitos Dayak Benuaq dan Tujung. Jakarta: Puspa
Swara.
Yunus, A. (1992). Upacara Tradisional (Upacara Kematian) Daerah Kalimantan
Timur. Jakarta: Depdikbud.
Interviews:
Interview with F. Setianus B. on June 25,
2009.
Interview with F. Setianus B. on August 8,
2011.

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HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 1-7

Appendix

Rijoq Isiq Asekng Sookng Bawe

:

Ester & Agastya Rama Listya, Rijoq: Vocal Music Of Dayak Benuaq From Kutai, East ...

7

HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 8-15
Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia
Permalink/DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v14i1.2785

p-ISSN 1411-5115
e-ISSN 2355-3820

THE PHILOSOPHY OF PUPPET CHARACTERS BATHARA
IN MURWAKALA PLAY FOR THE VALUE OF LEADERSHIP
ETHICS
Wahyu Lestari
State University of Semarang, Sekaran Gunungpati, Semarang, Indonesia
E-mail: wahyu_pyarlestari@yahoo.co.id
Received: August 2013. Accepted: Februari 2014. Published: Maret 2014

Abstract
The study aims to ind out the values of leadership ethics in Murwakala play. which is beneicial
to society in empowering the existence of the puppet. The position of puppeteers in Central Java
is now farther away from the younger generation and society. The preferred method is through
an objective method to ind out the design of performance according to contemporary tastes, as
well as referring to the theory of structuralism in order to uncover the meaning of the textual and
contextual performance. Method of observation, interview and documentation are also used, in
order to get comprehensive data. The results showed the indings of the ethics of leadership from
the teachings of puppet plays Murwakala Asthabrata or eight teachings contained in nature into
eight igures in the play, which synergized with the nature of the universe, such as the nature
of clouds, rain, water, stars, moon, sun, ire, ocean and earth. The indings are collaborative
performances Murwakala played in the new format, according to contemporary tastes, semitheatrical performances. Another inding is souvenirs designs and culinary business run with
team leadership ethics, to enhance the creative industry and economy, establish a relationship
with buyers and afiliated institutions, with a supporting program of stakeholders.
© 2014 Sendratasik FBS UNNES

Keywords: ethical values; leadership, puppets; Bathara; Murwakala.

INTRODUCTION

generations. But, the reality of the practice indeed reversed, because there are not
many people who appreciate the value-of
the noble legacy of its ancestors, both the
value of ideology, historical values, moral
values, as well as other positive values. A
signiicant progress of information technology and national electronic and mass (7
stations), urban aesthetic standards demanded spectacle spectacular, glamorous,
and slapstick as a joke - an urban setting
- have been deliberate or not constitute a
pressure into every corner of the country.
After exclusion of rural areas served to the
audience or the local arts began absorbed
by the societies. The audience is reduced
again due to two things (l) mass media at-

Traditional arts, known as wayang
kulit purwa, have been recognized as a
world cultural arts, and have been awarded a recognition by the United Nations
Educational Scientiic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on November 7, 2003
as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. A recognition
from the international world that the art of
puppets viewed as a masterpiece of nonobject culture as a heritage for all mankind
(UNESCO, 2003, p. 2). That is the moral
responsibility of the Government of Indonesia is quite heavy, which should continue to submit to the cultural heritage for
8

Wahyu Lestari, The Philosophy of Puppet Characters Bathara in Murwakala Play ...

titude and broadcast attitude from big cities which look down on urban local arts
- as something backward, and deserve to
be laughed at, (2) the attitude of leaders of
social and religious art that label the regional arts is not in accordance with religion
and moral value. The classical arts are also
under pressure, the disappearance aegis of
the kingdoms of the past forced the art that
grew in the palace looking for new sponsors from the public, media and art education institutions funded by the government.
The theory developed is the aesthetics and ethics in the context of understanding the values of morality in the puppet
(Suseno, 1991, p. 27-45). Of course, the
thoughts are based on structural approach that directly intersects with the social
system as a multi-cultural situation of the
current civilization (Sears, 1996, p. l2l-135).
The expected result is the reconstructed
product
On puppet show, for example involving the maker of puppets, puppet accessories with themes of leadership, and
souvenirs. This can not be removed with
the handling of management as a model
puppet show production in speciic formats and marketing side (Silalahi, 1994, p.
161).
The Indonesian nation seems to need
to overcome the various problems facing
the nation today, ranging from political
issues, economic, religious, social and cultural rights. Everywhere still encountered
various conlicts, such as demonstrations
and vandalism, and massive robbery
(Metro TV, August 20, 2010), which caused deaths and serious injuries, blasphemy,
also addressed to the leaders of the country. Citizens ask for justice, and irmness
from the leaders. Natural disasters occur
in all parts of Indonesia, which, if observed
events appear in 26th, Tsunami, train collision, until the Mount Merapi erupts, what
does it mean? Meaning, 2 plus 6 equals 8
divided by 4 equals two, which could be
interpreted heart and thought. Heart and
thought must be balanced, cannot stand
alone, meaning that what human beings

9

think about, which is realized in action,
must also be internalized by the heart, in
order to obtain a balance mentally and
physically, and life becomes serene and
peaceful, not to cause lare in surroundings
(Rustono, 2010, November 8, 2010). National competitive grant research strategy is
based on six national strategic ields that
had been proclaimed by the President in
2008, and was developed by Direktorat Penelitian dan Pengabdian Masyarakat (DP2M)
into l2 themes. Themes of Art and Culture / Creative Industries (Art and Culture/
Creative Industry) are one of the selected
research themes under the title Understanding
Ethical Values Leadership puppet
plays Murwakala: Dissemination and
Implementation for the Society. The theme proposed is consistent with what had
been determined, because it was oriented
in applied research and has a regional /
national scale.
The inheritance of cultural values
through the presentation of the arts is more
directed to oral tradition, the more pressure it can be seen in the form of the development of imaginative, relective, and
dramatic, Burns (1973, p. 45-60) called the
conventions of art that is attached directly
to its form. Inheritance is really a matter
that cannot be avoided in the modem era,
such as the emergence of show variations
that in accordance with the means and the
context.
The research begins with literary research activities in particular Bathara from
Murwakala puppet plays, then applied in
the ield with the condition of the performing arts that have been collaborating.
Afterward, the design of works of art is arranged in an innovative format according
to the demands of the audience, that mostly the younger generation.
Darnawi (1985, p. 32) points out that
these values can be heard through the
wise puppet igures and religious as well
as from the utterances of Punokawan in
puppet. The value has been attached to
the individual interaction in a puppet life
community. Values and the meaning of

10

HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 8-15

life which became the paradigm of era civilization (Timur, 2006, p. 174). The values
of tenderness also appear in art, pointed
to the tenderness of heart that is embodied
in wise behaviour, which is a way of life
which guarantees human dignity as the
main human beings (Sardjono, 1995, p. 23)
Lestari (2009, i) revealed that ethical
leadership of igure Bathara from Murwakala puppet plays, containing philosophical values of life exempliied by a variety
of puppet characters in it such as: character
of Bathara Teacher, Bathara Endra, Bathara Bayu, Bathara Yama, Bathara Aqni, Bathara Kala and Dalang Kandabuwana and
puppeteer who each have characters that
can be a good model for a leader.
Preserving and responsible to the
cultural heritage of ancestors, continually make great efforts in order to make
puppets remain to be attracted to the
younger generation. Therefore, in order
to raise again the values of leadership to
do with empowerment of the creative industries of art craft as well as encouraging
community economy, research needs to be
done by building a theory, and the new
format puppet shows to it the demands of
the present generation.The Empowerment
of the puppet masters who their current
activity displaced by other forms of performance, bravely acting out puppet plays
Murwakala. Encouraging the craftsman to
collaborate each others in a performance
event.
METHOD
The subjects of the research were society, the puppet masters and souvenirs
craftsman. Society as individuals and as
leaders should understand and emulate the character of the puppet characters,
who become Asthabrata tenet. The puppeteers dare to act out Murwakala plays.
The research object is the puppet
show plays Murwakala, that the characters in the play are a symbol of leadership
character.
The method used is an objective method, namely a way that describes the re-

search as there are materials that are used
as objects of research, namely Murwakala
puppet plays.
The analysis used is an object of research forms. Description: (2) Universe includes elements that affect the community
social environment. Its form is the design
and accommodation of the performance,
namely the ruwatan ceremony with performance of leather puppet show Murwakala
have been collaborating, in order to bring
about a new shape or appearance, which
involve players or characters that exist within the play, with the puppeteer and the
audience. (2) Consisting of puppet spectators, participants of Ruwatan, or guests,
arts observer organizations, who is invited
to attend the show. (2) Artist or the players,
and the characters in the play. (3) Trial Method is used to determine whether the work
result has fulilled the wishes and tastes of
society. The effectiveness of trial method
was determined by experts brought in the
performance arts, performance arts observer, performance art critics, cultural and
arts practitioners of puppetry. The aim is
to explore the input to the reinement and
improvement of the artwork design. (4)
ocialization Method, is one way of introducing the product of artwork design to
the public, in accordance with the concept
that has been implemented, through seminars that bring the relevant participants/
stakeholders.
The steps are as follows.
1. Arranging Murwakala puppet play script.
2. Composing musical singing of puppet
show
3. Arranging staging draft, techniques
and procedures
4. Exercises
5. Text reading by puppeteer
6. Appreciation of igures
7. Joint exercises between the puppeteer
and the musical accompaniment
8. Performance testing
9. Evaluation
10. Preparation of reports including documentation of testing.
In order to realize the design that has

Wahyu Lestari, The Philosophy of Puppet Characters Bathara in Murwakala Play ...

been prepared, it needs to do an observation both on the location of the show as well
as the players involved in the show. Observations of the location can be conducted
either outdoor or indoor.
Trial method is also intended to determine whether the work design result
has met thewishes of society, such as hold
and offer ruwatan ceremony to the public,
campuses, or tourismQ place, so there will
be found input or reinement and improvement of artworks in the future.
Interview
Interviews were conducted to the
informant such as puppet masters in the
Central Java region, with samples taken
from puppeteers in Semarang included
Ki JokoEdan, and Ki Sayuti, KiSupraptono, from Surakarta Ki Suyanto, and from
Yogyakarta Ki Timbul Hadi Prayitno. The
results of observations were cross checked
with the references as well as indings related to literary form, observation and practice in the ield related to the show.
Documentation
Documentation was recording the
action of the Murwakala leather puppet
show, and then translated it, both in each
scene, as well as the characters within the
play. The results of the translation, further interpreted, thus found the values that
exist in the show including the characters
in it, like a igure of eight gods. This eight
Gods character then so called HastaBratatenet, which is a guidance that can be
inspired by everyone in his life, especially
in the concept of leadership.

11

her interests are giving the improvement
of appreciation to the audience about the
art of leather puppet Purwa which also
conveyed the content of the moral values
of leadership represented by the presence
of puppet characters who play in Murwakala, so that people can take lessons from
the show, which be able to apply in daily
life in the future.
The design objective is to create an
alternative leather puppet show that is
called Murwakala along with other buffer.
The result of designing performance becomes a means of enlightenment, education, and entertainment that focuses on the
universal problems encountered in daily
life. Without having to leave the grip of
puppet show, the show was designed in
collaboration with other art forms outside
of the art of puppetry. Not excluding it will
be included also all the sporting programs
tailored to the unity of the whole chosen
themes, so it is possible to involve the other types of arts.
The design is as follows:
1. The form of the puppet is leather
puppet carved in a simple lat
2. The characters involved in a puppet
show Murwakala
3. The use of Javanese Gamelan with special arrangement as musical accompaniment in the show
4. At the end of the design is the presentation of the textbook which is ready
to be staged by any puppeteer who is
interested.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Procedures of Design
In this section the activities started
by designing a variety of devices that have
been planned to include:

The Design form of Murwakala Plays
Designing the puppet show is not
making it up that the puppet is still a
mainstay in the delivery of a certain material, expectedly to contribute to the general public about various things related
to contemporary problems or issues of
government programs and the wishes or
expectations of massive societies. The ot-

The irst stage
1. Plotting particular puppet character
played by human igures such as Kala
Bathara igures, Derma Derma and
UlamDermi, as well as JokoJatusmati
igures, and the igures of puppeteer
Kanda Buwana, provided approximately l0 puppets.
2. Arranging the script which lately sta-

12

HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 8-15

ged completely. The collaboration between the puppeteer who plays shadow
puppet and dialogue with Murwakala
played by the people.
3. Arranging music to accompany the
show
4. Technique plan of puppet plays stage
with Murwakala as the main igure
5. Socialized to the public, students, academics and the puppet masters and artists, the activity is assumed as Legen
Tuesday night activity in UNNES, and
had been held on November 8th, 2010.
The Second Stage
1. The main igure of the stage basically contains the main idea that must
be delivered through the igure’s trip,
groups, and community. Then it is
poured into the plot and scenes in the
overall play. The basic idea of the Murwakala puppet play stage is like to give
enlightenment and public information
about the existence of the character,
in Javanese culture, Bathara Kala is a
symbol of catastrophe and misfortune spreader. Up with the 21st century,
such play related to sacred ceremonies
are still performed, either in massive or
individually.
2. The central themes of Murwakala
puppet plays, is a comprehensive understanding of the existence of Bathara
Kala as a symbol of catastrophe that
should be avoided by people. The spiritual value contained in the igure is a
puppet of enlightenment for the audience, as well as the concepts of leadership, such as how a person should be
able to hold the promise that has been
uttered, loyalty to the job.
3. Then the theme of leadership is poured
into the structure of the presentation
of puppet plays, so the source of the
presentation based on the convention
of Purwa shadow puppetry as can be
found in the community. Furthermore,
step by step, the story of Bathara Kala
low to the daily story by presenting
public igures, such as community leaders, Kyai Ageng Buyut Wangken as

an authoritative igure of the leader
in a community, and simple igures
that can be played by another player
who has been plotted or spontaneous
players from the spectators.
4. Bathara Guru should go directly to the
world to give examples of his leadership to people about how to dispel the
existence of Kala.
5. The eight Gods, which in Javanese culture symbolized as so-called Asthabrata tenet (8 behavior) eight characters
that can be inspired by people, from
the eight Gods’ characters, which later, the element of number 8 (eight)
synergized with eight elements of nature characters, including the nature of
water, ire, wind, moon, stars, oceans,
clouds and sun, from the eight natural
properties can be used as the teaching
of leadership to the community, leadership inspired from nature could be
a guidance for a good life. The presence of Bathara Guru necessarily has to
work hard to give enlightenment to
the human the ways of dealing with
problems of daily life. Of course, the
desire of evil Bathara Kala, will take
all Sukerta’s children will run smoothly because of the existence of Bathara
Kala, through this igure of Kandhabuwana puppeteer, the secret of the
existence of Kala can be undermined
by human beings. All elements of the
Murwakala story plays is applied to
the show structure combined with the
form of arts outside the art of puppetry. The stage arrangement of Murwakala puppet plays can be seen in the
scheme as follows.
Ethical Dimension of Murwakala Puppet
Play
The results of study shows there
were value of leadership ethics in Murwakala puppet plays, which emerged from
the eight characters in the play. The research indings are also supported by the Sutarno opinion (2006, p. 50-119).
The inding that strengthens the eight
God’s characters synergized with the con-

Wahyu Lestari, The Philosophy of Puppet Characters Bathara in Murwakala Play ...

13

Notes:
1. Puppet box
2. Puppet box lid
3. Kendhang batangan, ciblon
and bem
4. Gender slendro pelog
5. Slentem slendro pelog
6. Finder
7. Sither
8. Sither
9. Kenong slendro pelog
10. Demung I
11. Demung II
12. Saron I
13. Saron II
14. Peking
15. Bonang Barung and
Penerus, Slendo pelog
16. Gong
= Puppet Master
= Waranggana

Figure 1. The Stage Arrangement of Murwakala Puppet Place
dition of the natural character that must
be watched out and understood by the
public. The value of leadership ethics can
also be found from the Murwakala puppet
play, one meaning of words can be seen
is Murwa that means managing and Kala
means time, so Murwakala mean show to
respect the time, the respect of time is one
key to success. Another key to success is
if people could be disciplined, discipline
starts from leading to himself and continue to lead on a wider scale. The tenet of
leadership can be explored through the
puppet igures, which over the puppet
characters, we would know its nature and
character, which can be a good model in
daily life. One of the tenets of Javanese culture is called Asthabrata which is an ethics
code of leadership, since the previous time
till now, even when the future still remains

relevant to be learned and applied, and observed by anyone, who wants to have the
soul of leadership, though he is not as a
formal leader in an institution. Every individual is essentially a leader for himself/
herself.
Astabrata tenet is not only learned
through written literature, but also through
art performance. In the art performance/
show, the tenet is shown from the symbolic
igures with leadership character. Leadership character is assembled from the eight
gods’ character that is as representative of
natural objects’ character
The lead character refers to the eight
Gods’ character such as: the Endra God,
the Surya God, the Bayu God, the Kuwera God, the Baruna God, the Yama God,
the Chandra God and the Brama God. The
eighth character of the God is also synchro-

14

HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 8-15

nized or in line with the character of natural objects such as: the nature of the earth,
water or ocean, ire, wind, sun, moon,
stars, and cloud. According to community development, the nature or eight-Gods’
character that at irst became the leader’s
characteristic only has been developed in
general guidance for all people without
any exception, is that one should be able
to become the sun, capable as the moon, a
star, the earth, water, could be a tree, could
become wind, and capable of being cloud
for others. The consequence is that if any of
those characters are not owned, it will be
handicapped for human.
The discussion of puppet show design is not making it up that puppet is still
a mainstay in the delivery of a certain material, with the hope to contribute to the
general public about various things related to contemporary problems or issues of
government programs as well as the wishes and expectations of the larger society.
Other interests are enhancing audience’s
appreciation to the art of shadow/leather
puppet which conveys the message of leadership moral values represented by the
presence of puppet characters that play in
Murwakala, so that people can take lessons from the show which can be applied
in daily life.
CONCLUSION
The creation and design of Bathara
from Murwakala puppet plays, the setting
of the main igure tells about the events
and issues of daily life. Reminding that
the art of puppet show has a standard or
reference, then the system in presenting
Murwakala as the main igure cannot be
abandoned. This means that elements such
as puppet show setting, gamelan, singing,
and main igure structures become a very
important consideration.
The story of puppet play can be a means for the puppeteer to convey thoughts,
feelings and responses of an event that
happened in the real world. For example,
most of the puppeteer has to do, namely
as an aspiration for development, so that

through the characters of puppet show,
puppeteer addresses the issue of family
planning, building construction, religion, advances in technology and ethics or
aesthetics, according to his abilities and
mastermind’s creation. Frequently, also
various nuisance of environment is manifested into Dolanan song, dialogue between characters, without bothering the
puppet story structure presented.
The theme design of Murwakala story revolves around the events and issues
of everyday life. Given the art of puppet
show has a grip, then the system plays
Murwakala presentation cannot be abandoned. This means that elements such as
setting buffer in the show of puppets, gamelan, singing, and structures play a very
important consideration.
The design of the Murwakala puppet
play show is unlike traditional stage sets,
this was done because the concept of the
show was collaborated with other art
forms, then the consideration of place and
space arrangement of the stage is adjusted with the aim of the show. Two barrel
Slendro and Pelog of gamelan divided into
two parts arranged in a row, right behind
the puppeteer provided a space for theatrical scenes, so that the arrangement requires more space than a traditional stage.
The Asthabrata tenet is not only
learned through written literature, but also
through the art performance show. In the
show, the tenet is presented from symbolic
igures with the lead character. It refers to
the eight gods’ characters that constitute
the eight characters of natural objects.
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Bidney, D. (1967). “Myth, Symbolism and
Truth”. Thomas Seboek (Ed.), Myth
Simposium. Blomington and London:
Indiana University Press.
Cassirrer, E. (1965). An Essay on Man, An
Introduction to a Philosophy of Human
Culture. New York: New Haven.
Kanthi, W. (1995). Wayang Kulit as Medium
of Communication. Faculty of Communication University of Dr. Soeto-

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mo, Surabaya.
Kasidi. (1998). Inovasi dan Transformasi
Wayang Kulit. Yogyakarta: Institute
for Javanese Study
________. (2004). Teori Estetika Untuk Seni
Pedalangan. ISI Yogyakarta: Lembaga
Penelitian ISI Yogyakarta.
Kayam, U. (2001). Kelir Tanpa Batas. Yogyakarta: Gama Media.
Kuntowijoyo. (1986). Budaya dan Masyarakat. Yogyakarta: Tiara Wacana.
Lestari, W. (2009). Seni Pembebasan: Estetika sebagai Media Penyadaran.
Harmonia: Jurnal Pengetahuan dan Pemikiran Seni. 9 (1).
_______. (2009). Masalah Pengembangan
Seni dan Industri Seni melalui Pendidikan Seni. Semarang: Cipta Prima
Nusantara.
_______. (2009). Kepemimpinan Etis
dalam Lakon Wayang Murwakala
bagi Pemberdayaan Industri Kreatif
sebagai Salah Satu Peningkatan Ekonomi Kerakyatan, research report.

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Unpublish. Jakarta: DP2M Jakarta.
Lorens, B. (1996). Kamus Filsafat, Jakarta:
Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Magnis-Suseno, F. (1987). Etika Dasar: Masalah-masalah Pokok Filsafat Moral. Yogyakarta: Kanisius.
_______. (1991). Wayang dan Panggilan Manusia, Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka
Utama.
_______. (1993). Etika Jawa, Jakarta: Gramedia.
_______. (1993). Etika Jawa Sebuah Analisa
Falsai tentang Kebjaksanaan Hidiqa
Jawa, Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka
Utama.
Sajid, R.M. (1971). Bauwarna Wajang jilid 1.
Surakarta: Penerbit Widia Duta.
Scheller, M. (1973). Formalism in Ethics and
Non—Formal Ethics Values, Eramston:
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HARMONIA : Journal of Arts Research and Education 14 (1) (2014): 16-21
Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia
Permalink/DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v14i1.2786

p-ISSN 1411-5115
e-ISSN 2355-3820

SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCES OF VIOLIN EXTRACURRICULAR
ACHIEVEMENT TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Naik Salaiyah
Student of Postgraduate Program of Gajahmada University, Indonesia
Jln. Bulaksumur Yogyakarta
E-mail: naik.salaiyah@yahoo.co.id
Received: July 2013. Accepted: Februari 2014. Published: Maret 2014

Abstract
This research aims to ind out (1) whether there is an inluence between student’s achievements
of learning violin toward their emotional intelligence, (2) whether there is a correlation between
student’s achievement of learning violin and their emotional intelligence, and (3) how much
contribution of student’s achievement of learning violin to their emotional intelligence. It is
a qualitative research which is deined as a research method based on positivism philosophy
which is used to study particular sample and population. The sample and population are drawn
randomly using research instruments to collect data, and the data are analyzed statistically. This
aims to examine the hypothesis deined. The inding shows that there is a signiicant inluence
between student’s achievement of learning violin and their emotional intelligence about 76.1%,
while the rest of it 23.9% is inluenced by other factors which are not studied in this research. It
proves that learning violin inluences student’s emotional intelligence very much and emotional
intelligence is inluential in increasing student’s achievement. From the data, it shows that most of
the students participating in violin extracurricular are able to increase their learning achievement.
© 2014 Sendratasik FBS UNNES

Keywords: achievement; violin; emotional intelligence

Music can be affected in an academic ield
through the forming of learning pattern,
overcoming bored, avoiding a disturbingexternal-noise. In addition, music makes
us feel powerful, conident, reduce sorrow, erase anger, relieve stress, and reduce
fear and worry. Music should introduce in
the very beginning so it is able to stimuli a
music genre that can develop the students’
intelligence, it is classical music which is
played by using violin at extracurricular
program.
The skills of reading a violin notation
can improve the students’ understanding
in terms of training their emotional intelligence. In practical, reading music notation
means that the students have already had
their loved-song-bank. Besides, they have

INTRODUCTION
One of the government’s efforts to
educate the nations is by education. Education plays an important role to guarantee long life of the nation and the country.
The constitutional foundation of education
has been clearly stated in the Preamble of
the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia that one of the main goals of the
Republic is to establish intelligent life of
the nation. Thus, education is an effort to
improve and develop the quality of human
resources.
Music is important because it is a
good thing, music is a part of life and one
of human culture magniicent, by developing the music the best of it will be gained.
16

Naik Salaiyah, Signiicant Inluences of Violin Extracurricular Achievement ...

to understand music elements that have
been discussed through music theory,
have sense and a strong enough rhythm.
The students are able to read the rhythm
pattern in the notation in which using music notation, and also they have to have a
strong imagination of the tone, so that they
can play the song with its tone, notation,
and appropriate melody.
Some skills above can be gained to
train the students’ emotional intelligence
by playing or using the learning aids in a
music extracurricular program at school,
as the instrument is a violin because the
students are easier to feel the song so the
result will be better. In fact, while having
a violin extracurricular program, the time
is limited. In contrary, in learning violin
through reading the notation needs a theoretical understanding about music notation. For the time is limited so the students
are supposed to study it at home to train
their intelligence.
Learning will result some changes in
a person. To ind out how far the changes
are there must be an assessment. This kind
of assessment to measure how far their
achievement of learning is, called the result of learning.
Learning process at school is one of
complex and whole process. Many people
argue that to get the highest achievement
in terms of education, people should have
high Intelligence Quotient (IQ), that intelligence question (IQ) is a potential that
will help the students to gain the optimal
result. Winkel (1997) stated that the nature
ointelligence is the ability to state and defend one aim, to a just in terms of gaining
the goal, and to do a self assessment critically and objectively.
In fact, in teaching-learning process
at school we often ind many students
who could gain their achievement as
equal as their intelligence. Some students
have a high intelligence but on the other
hand their achievement is relatively low.
In contrary, there are some students who
have relatively low intelligence but could
achieve good achievements. Grade of intelligence is not the only factor that deter-

17

mines a successful person. There are other
factors that determine the case. Goleman
(2002) argued, someone’s intelligence (IQ)
only represents 20% of his/ her success,
while the other 80% are presented by other
factors such as, EQ. Emotional Quotient
(EQ) is the ability to motivate his/ herself, overcome frustration, control a desire,
control mood, and the ability to cooperate
with others.
An IQ learning process could not
function well without any participation
of the emotional sensestoward the lesson
that is delivered. However, those two intelligences will complete each other. The
balance of IQ and EQ are the students’
successful key at school (Goleman, 2002).
Education at school not only need to develop rational intelligence, in which a model
that is usually understood by students, but
also emotional intelligence of the students.
The result of some researches in
University of Vermont about analysis of
the human brain neurology structure and
behaviourshow that in a very important
event in people’s life, EQ will come irst
before rational intelligence. A good EQ can
determine individual success in academic
achievement to build a carrier, develop
a harmonious relationship between husband and wife, and to reduce an aggressive attitude of teenagers (Goleman, 2002).
It is undeniable fact that for those
who have low IQ and mental backwardness will be dificult, even they cannot follow their formal education for their age.
However, in fact, a few people with high
IQ has low educational achievement and
vice versa.
The occurrence of the term emotional
intelligence in education, for most people
perhaps can be deined as the answer of
the gaffe. Daniel Goleman according to his
book deined a new deinition of intelligence. Although EQ is relatively a new thing
compare to IQ, but some researches indicated that emotional question is also important to compare to IQ (Goleman, 2002).
Based on Goleman (2002), emotional
intelligenc