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Semitones
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent notes in a 12-tone scale. For example, C is adjacent to C; the interval between them is a semitone. In a 12-note approximately equally divided scale, any interval can be defined in terms of an appropriate number of semitones (e.g. a whole tone or major second is 2 semitones wide, a major third 4 semitones, and a perfect fifth 7 semitones. In music theory, a distinction is made between a diatonic semitone, or minor second (an interval encompassing two different staff positions, e.g. from C to D) and a chromatic semitone or augmented unison (an interval between two notes at the same staff position, e.g. from C to C). These are enharmonically equivalent when twelve-tone equal temperament is used, but are not the same thing in meantone temp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent notes in a 12-tone scale. For example, C is adjacent to C; the interval between them is a semitone. In a 12-note approximately equally divided scale, any interval can be defined in terms of an appropriate number of semitones (e.g. a whole tone or major second is 2 semitones wide, a major third 4 semitones, and a perfect fifth 7 semitones. In music theory, a distinction is made between a diatonic semitone, or minor second (an interval encompassing two different staff positions, e.g. from C to D) and a chromatic semitone or augmented unison (an interval between two notes at the same staff position, e.g. from C to C). These are enharmonically equivalent when twelve-tone equal temperament is used, but are not the same thing in meantone te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord. In Western music, intervals are most commonly differences between notes of a diatonic scale. Intervals between successive notes of a scale are also known as scale steps. The smallest of these intervals is a semitone. Intervals smaller than a semitone are called microtones. They can be formed using the notes of various kinds of non-diatonic scales. Some of the very smallest ones are called commas, and describe small discrepancies, observed in some tuning systems, between enharmonically equivalent notes such as C and D. Intervals can be arbitrarily small, and even imperceptible to the human ear. In physical terms, an interval is the ratio between two sonic f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarter-comma Meantone
Quarter-comma meantone, or -comma meantone, was the most common meantone temperament in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and was sometimes used later. In this system the perfect fifth is flattened by one quarter of a syntonic comma (81:80), with respect to its just intonation used in Pythagorean tuning ( frequency ratio 3:2); the result is × () = ≈ 1.49535, or a fifth of 696.578 cents. (The 12th power of that value is 125, whereas 7 octaves is 128, and so falls 41.059 cents short.) This fifth is then iterated to generate the diatonic scale and other notes of the temperament. The purpose is to obtain justly intoned major thirds (with a frequency ratio equal to 5:4). It was described by Pietro Aron in his ''Toscanello de la Musica'' of 1523, by saying the major thirds should be tuned to be "sonorous and just, as united as possible." Later theorists Gioseffo Zarlino and Francisco de Salinas described the tuning with mathematical exactitude. Construction In a meantone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anhemitonic Scale
Musicology commonly classifies scales as either hemitonic or anhemitonic. Hemitonic scales contain one or more semitones, while anhemitonic scales do not contain semitones. For example, in traditional Japanese music, the anhemitonic ''yo'' scale is contrasted with the hemitonic ''in'' scale. The simplest and most commonly used scale in the world is the atritonic anhemitonic "major" pentatonic scale. The whole tone scale is also anhemitonic. A special subclass of the hemitonic scales is the cohemitonic scales. Cohemitonic scales contain two or more semitones (making them hemitonic) such that two or more of the semitones appear consecutively in scale order. For example, the Hungarian minor scale in C includes F, G, and A in that order, with a semitone between F and G, and then a semitone between G and A. Ancohemitonic scales, in contrast, either contain no semitones (and thus are anhemitonic), or contain semitones (being hemitonic) where none of the semitones appear cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scale (music)
In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by decreasing pitch is a descending scale. Often, especially in the context of the common practice period, most or all of the melody and harmony of a musical work is built using the notes of a single scale, which can be conveniently represented on a staff with a standard key signature. Due to the principle of octave equivalence, scales are generally considered to span a single octave, with higher or lower octaves simply repeating the pattern. A musical scale represents a division of the octave space into a certain number of scale steps, a scale step being the recognizable distance (or interval) between two successive notes of the scale. However, there is no need for scale steps to be equal within any scale and, particularly as demonstrated by microtonal music, there is no limit to how many notes can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five-limit Tuning
Five-limit tuning, 5-limit tuning, or 5-prime-limit tuning (not to be confused with 5-odd-limit tuning), is any system for musical tuning, tuning a musical instrument that obtains the frequency of each note by multiplying the frequency of a given reference note (the base note) by products of power of two, integer powers of 2, 3, or 5 (prime numbers limited to 5 or lower), such as . Powers of 2 represent intervallic movements by octaves. Powers of 3 represent movements by intervals of perfect fifths (plus one octave, which can be removed by multiplying by 1/2, i.e., 2−1). Powers of 5 represent intervals of major thirds (plus two octaves, removable by multiplying by 1/4, i.e., 2−2). Thus, 5-limit tunings are constructed entirely from stacking of three basic purely-tuned intervals (octaves, thirds and fifths). Since the perception of consonance seems related to low numbers in the harmonic series, and 5-limit tuning relies on the three lowest primes, 5-limit tuning should be capab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five-limit Tuning
Five-limit tuning, 5-limit tuning, or 5-prime-limit tuning (not to be confused with 5-odd-limit tuning), is any system for musical tuning, tuning a musical instrument that obtains the frequency of each note by multiplying the frequency of a given reference note (the base note) by products of power of two, integer powers of 2, 3, or 5 (prime numbers limited to 5 or lower), such as . Powers of 2 represent intervallic movements by octaves. Powers of 3 represent movements by intervals of perfect fifths (plus one octave, which can be removed by multiplying by 1/2, i.e., 2−1). Powers of 5 represent intervals of major thirds (plus two octaves, removable by multiplying by 1/4, i.e., 2−2). Thus, 5-limit tunings are constructed entirely from stacking of three basic purely-tuned intervals (octaves, thirds and fifths). Since the perception of consonance seems related to low numbers in the harmonic series, and 5-limit tuning relies on the three lowest primes, 5-limit tuning should be capab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whole Tone
In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more details). For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff positions. Diminished, minor and augmented seconds are notated on adjacent staff positions as well, but consist of a different number of semitones (zero, one, and three). The major second is the interval that occurs between the first and second degrees of a major scale, the tonic and the supertonic. On a musical keyboard, a major second is the interval between two keys separated by one key, counting white and black keys alike. On a guitar string, it is the interval separated by two frets. In moveable-do solfège, it is the interval between ''do'' and ''re''. It is considered a mel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythagorean Tuning
Pythagorean tuning is a system of musical tuning in which the frequency ratios of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2.Bruce Benward and Marilyn Nadine Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice'', seventh edition, 2 vols. (Boston: McGraw-Hill). Vol. I: p. 56. . This ratio, also known as the " pure" perfect fifth, is chosen because it is one of the most consonant and easiest to tune by ear and because of importance attributed to the integer 3. As Novalis put it, "The musical proportions seem to me to be particularly correct natural proportions." Alternatively, it can be described as the tuning of the syntonic temperament in which the generator is the ratio 3:2 (i.e., the untempered perfect fifth), which is ≈702 cents wide. The system dates to Ancient Mesopotamia; see . The system is named, and has been widely misattributed, to Ancient Greeks, notably Pythagoras (sixth century BC) by modern authors of music theory, while Ptolemy, and later Boethius, ascribed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equal Temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, which gives an equal perceived step size as pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency. In classical music and Western music in general, the most common tuning system since the 18th century has been twelve-tone equal temperament (also known as 12 equal temperament, 12-TET or 12-ET; informally abbreviated to twelve equal), which divides the octave into 12 parts, all of which are equal on a logarithmic scale, with a ratio equal to the 12th root of 2 ( ≈ 1.05946). That resulting smallest interval, the width of an octave, is called a semitone or half step. In Western countries the term ''equal temperament'', without qualification, generally means 12-TET. In modern times, 12-TET is usually tuned relative to a standard pit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major Seventh
In music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it is the larger of the two. The major seventh spans eleven semitones, its smaller counterpart being the minor seventh, spanning ten semitones. For example, the interval from C to B is a major seventh, as the note B lies eleven semitones above C, and there are seven staff positions from C to B. Diminished and augmented sevenths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (nine and twelve). The easiest way to locate and identify the major seventh is from the octave rather than the unison, and it is suggested that one sings the octave first.Keith Wyatt, Carl Schroeder, Joe Elliott (2005). ''Ear Training for the Contemporary Musician'', p.69. . For example, the most commonly cited example of a mel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major Third
In classical music, a third is a Interval (music), musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number, Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones.Allen Forte, Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept and Practice'', p.8. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Third edition . "A large 3rd, or ''major 3rd'' (M3) encompassing four half steps." Along with the minor third, the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as ''major'' because it is the larger of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three. For example, the interval from C to E is a major third, as the note E lies four semitones above C, and there are three staff positions from C to E. Diminished third, Diminished and augmented thirds span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (two and five). The major third may be derived from the harmonic ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
