Chromatic Semitone
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In modern Western tonal
music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
an augmented unison or augmented prime is the interval between two notes on the same staff position, or denoted by the same note letter, whose alterations cause them, in ordinary
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, wh ...
, to be one
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 no ...
apart. In other words, it is a
unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...
where one note has been altered by a half-step, such as B and B or C and C. The interval is often described as a chromatic semitone. The term, in its French form ''unisson superflu'', appears to have been coined by
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...
in 1722, who also called this interval a minor semitone (''semiton mineur'').Gene Henry Anderson, "Musical Terminology in J.-P. Rameau's ''Traité de l'harmonie'': A Study and Glossary Based on an Index". PhD diss. (Iowa City: University of Iowa, 1981): 196. Historically, this interval, like the
tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adj ...
, is described as being "mi contra fa", and therefore is the "diabolus in musica" (the Devil in music). In 12-tone
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, wh ...
, it is the
enharmonic In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a written n ...
equivalent of a diatonic semitone or
minor second 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 no ...
, although in other tunings the diatonic semitone is a different interval.


Diminished unison

The term diminished unison or diminished prime is also found occasionally. It is found once in Rameau's writings, for example, as well as subsequent French, German, and English sources.Sources for ''diminished unison''
*
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a friend of Haydn and Mozart. Biography Albrechtsberger was born at K ...
, ''Methods of Harmony, Figured Base, and Composition: Adapted for Self-Instruction'', Volume 1, edited by Ignaz Seyfried (Ritter von), and Alexandre Choron (London: R. Cocks & Co., 1834): 4 [Translated from Méthodes d'harmonie et de composition: à l'aide desquelles on peut apprendre soi-même à accompagner la basse chiffrée et à composer toute espèce de musique, par J.-Georges Albrechtsberger. Nouvelle éd., mise en ordre et considérablement augmentée d'après l'enseignement de l'auteur, et formant la collection complète de ses OEuvres de théorie musicale, par le chevalier de Seyfried, son élève. Traduite de l'allemand, avec des notes, par M. Choron. Paris: Bachelier, 1830.] * Henry Charles Banister, ''A Text-book of Music'' (London: George Bell and Sons, 1872): 34. * Alexandre Choron, ''Principes de Composition des Ecoles d'Italie: Adoptés par le Gouvernement Français pour servir à l'instruction des Elèves des Maîtrises de Cathédrales: ouvrage classique formé de la réunion des modèles les plus parfaits en tout genre, enrichi d'un texte méthodique rédigé selon l'enseignement des Ecoles les plus célèbres et des Ecrivains didactiques les plus estimés'', Tome premier, Contenant la préface & les Trois premiers Livres (Paris, 1808): 2 * Castil-Blaze rançois-Henri-Joseph Blaze ''Dictionnaire de musique moderne'' (Brussels: L'Academie de musique, 1828): 269. * Anton Gräffer,
Systematische Guitarre-Schule, Erster Theil
' (Vienna: Anton Strauß, 1811): 38. * Oskar Kolbe, ''Kurzgefasste Generalbasslehre'', second, enlarged and corrected edition (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1872): 12. * Alexander Lehr, ''Campanology Textbook: The Musical and Technical Aspect of Swinging Bells and Carillons'', constituting ''Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America Volume'' 54 (2005): 51.
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) is a professional association of carillonneurs in North America, dedicated to the advancement of the art, literature, and science of the carillon. It was founded in Ottawa, Canada, in 1936 by A ...
. *
Horst Leuchtmann Horst Leuchtmann (26 April 1927 – 10 April 2007) was a German musicologist. Early life and education Leuchtmann was born in Braunschweig. He was a student of the composer Philippine Schick (1893–1970). They compiled a German-English dictiona ...
, ''Dictionary of Terms in Music'' / ''Wörterbuch Musik: English–German, German–English'', fourth, revised and enlarged edition (Munich, London, New York, and Paris: K. G. Saur; Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 1992): 324. (cloth); (print/ebook); (ebook). * Frederic Allison Lyman, ''The Normal Music Course in the Schoolroom: Being a Practical Exposition of the Normal Music Course, Together with Its Complemental Series, The Cecilian Series of Study and Song, by John W. Tufts, Designed to Aid Those who Teach Vocal Music'' (Boston, New York, Chicago: Silver, Burdett, and Company, 1896): 47–48. * Robert Middleton, ''Harmony in Modern Counterpoint'' (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1967): 20. * Cesar-Auguste Monti-Punti, ''Les secrets de la musique ou théorie musicale'', edited by Pierre Rigaud (Paris: Leduc, 1846): 63, 72, 77. * Robert Nelson and Carl J. Christensen, ''Foundations of Music'', seventh edition (Boston: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2008): 169. . * Gustav Schilling,
Musikalische Didaktik; oder, Die Kunst des Unterrichts in der Musik: Ein nothwendiges Hand- und Hülfsbuch für alle lehrer und lernende der Musik, Erzieher, Schulvorsteher, Organisten, Volkschullehrer &c.
' (Eisleben: Ferdinand Kuhnt. 1851): 315. *
Daniel Gottlob Türk Daniel Gottlob Türk (10 August 1750 – 26 August 1813) was a German composer, organist, and music professor of the Classical period. Biography Born in Claußnitz, Saxony, Türk studied organ under his father and later under Johann Adam Hille ...
, ''Anweisung zum Generalbaßspielen'', second edition (Halle: Hemmerde und Schwetschte; Leipzig: Schwickert, 1800): 16. * William Alfred White (1907).
Harmony and Ear-Training
' (New York, Boston tc. Silver, Burdett & Company): 35.
Other sources reject the possibility or utility of the diminished unison on the grounds that any alteration to the unison increases its size, thus augmenting rather than diminishing it.Sources for ''augmented unison''
*
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (21 November 1718 – 22 May 1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer. He was friendly and active with many figures of the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Life Little is known of Marpurg's ear ...
, ''Anfangsgründe der theoretischen Musik'' (Leipzig: Johann Gottlieb Immanuel Breitkopf, 1757): 34. * Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, ''Handbuch bey dem Generalbasse und der Composition: mit zwo- drey- vier- fünf- sechs- sieben- acht und mehreren Stimmen für Anfänger und Geübtere'', second, expanded and corrected edition (Berlin: Gottlieb August Lange. 1762): 14. * Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne (2004). ''Tonal Harmony'' (Boston: McGraw-Hill): 21. . "There is no such thing as a diminished unison." * Michael Pilhofer and Holly Day (2006). ''Music Theory for Dummies'' (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.): 113. . "There is no such thing as a diminished unison, because no matter how you change the unisons with accidentals, you are adding half steps to the total interval." *
Andrew Surmani Andrew Surmani is president and CEO of Surmani Business Coaching and associate professor of music industry studies/academic lead of the Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration program in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communicat ...
, Karen Farnum Surmani, and Morton Manus (2009). ''Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory: A Complete Self-Study Course for All Musicians'' ( .l. Alfred Music Publishing): 135. . "Since lowering either note of a perfect unison would actually increase its size, the perfect unison cannot be diminished, only augmented." *W. S. B. Mathews (1909). "Editorial: Prof. White's ''Harmony and Ear-Training''", ''The Journal of School Music'' 1, no. 9 (June): 260–63. Citation on 263: "What he rof. White in ''Harmony and Ear Training''calls the 'diminished prime or unison' cannot possibly occur. It is simply an augmented unison. Because unison is 'the relation of two tones at the same pitch,' and when one of these is chromatically distanced, it creates the contradiction in terms known as 'augmented' unison; but the other term, 'diminished unison' is impossible on the face of it, because the 'same pitch' cannot be made less." * Smith, Uselma Clarke (1916). ''Keyboard Harmony'', p. 15. The Boston Music Company. "Note that the diminished unison and octave are not commonly used." * Jim Aikin (2004). ''A Player's Guide to Chords & Harmony'' (San Francisco: Backbeat Books): 32. . "In case you were wondering, there's no such thing as a diminished unison." * Arthur Foote and Walter Raymond Spalding (1905). ''Modern Harmony in Its Theory and Practice'', p. 5. Arthur P. Schmidt. "a diminished unison is unthinkable, and the diminished 2d and 9th are of no practical use:..."
The term is sometimes justified as a negative-numbered interval, and also in terms of violin double-stopping technique on analogy to parallel intervals found on other strings.Karl Courvoisier, ''Die Violin-Technik'' (Cologne: Pet. Jos. Tonger, 1878): 26. English edition, as ''The Technics of Violin Playing'', the Strad Library 1 (London: The Strad; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908): 49. Some theoreticians make a distinction for this diminished form of the unison, stating it is only valid as a melodic interval, not a harmonic one.Source for ''melodic interval'':
* Nicolas Etienne Framery, Pierre Louis Ginguené, and Jérôme-Joseph Momigny
Encyclopédie méthodique: musique
2 vols. (Paris: Mme. Veuve Agasse,1818): 2:19. * Carl Edward Gardner, ''Essentials of Music Theory: Elementary'' (New York: Carl Fischer, Inc. 1912): 34. *
Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...
(ed.) "Fortsetzung zu dem musikalischen Wörterbuche", ''Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen, die Musik betreffend'' 3, no. 41 (10 April 1769): 315–22, citation on 318. * E. Friedrich Richter,
Traité de l'harmonie: théorique et pratique
', translated from the German by Gustave Sandré (Leipzig and Brussels: Breitkopf & Härtel, Éditeurs, 1891): 3.


See also

*
False relation A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in polyphonic music, most commonly in vocal music of the Renaissance. The term describes a "chromatic contradiction" ...
* List of musical intervals *
List of pitch intervals Below is a list of intervals expressible in terms of a prime limit (see Terminology), completed by a choice of intervals in various equal subdivisions of the octave or of other intervals. For commonly encountered harmonic or melodic intervals ...


Notes


References

{{Intervals Augmented intervals Unisons