Macapat

Sekar madya and tembang macapat

Sekar madya (Low Javanese: Tembang tengahan; "middle songs") are supposed to lie between the other two genres, but there is no agreement about which genres are considered sekar madya and which are tembang macapat (old orthography: machapat). Both of these, in contrast to sekar ageng, use varying number of lines of varying length, but always in a specific form. Furthermore, the vowel sound of the final syllable must match a specific pattern (note that this is different from syllable rime, as consonants that follow, if any, do not have to match). The pattern of the length of lines is known as guru wilangan, guru pètungan, or guru wichalan, while the pattern of vowels is known as dhongdhing or guru lagu. In the schemes below, the number represents the guru wilangan, while the letter is the guru lagu of the corresponding line.