I was invited by a neighbour to the Museum Sono Budoyo on Sunday evening. I'd understood there was to be a singing performance, but in fact it was much more interesting. It was a singing lesson. I understood little, as it was all in Javanese. But it was culturally very fascinating.

There were about 50 people in attendance by the end. Most wore batik. Many of the men wore peci. We were all given handouts with the text of Javanese poems both in Jawi script and in transliterated form. We sat on mats on the floor, and were served sweet tea, boiled bananas, and boiled peanuts.

First a few gamelan musicians and a singer (a waranggono, or, in less refined or halus terms, a sinden) performed. Then everyone sang a piece together. After which they set up another microphone, and for the rest of the session, someone at the front would explain the poems, and then members of the audience would take it in turns to sing two stanzas, each rounded off by the soft boom of the gong. Others hummed them on when they got stuck. Inevitably, some sounded better than others to my (untutored) ears, but the whole thing had a curiously refined, meditative, spiritual appeal, and there was a calm seriousness about the learning endeavour.

I surreptitiously inspected the crib-sheets of the people next to me. Their notation was different, and I couldn't figure out how it worked. I can't even remember whether it resembled the notation illustrated here.

I've now become very interested in this rather esoteric world. There is some interesting material here, here and here. But I will be seeking out more.