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The enigmatic scale ( it, scala enigmatica) is an unusual
musical scale 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 ...
, with elements of both major and minor scales, as well as the
whole-tone scale In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or ''hexatonic'' s ...
. It was originally published in a Milan journal as a musical challenge, with an invitation to
harmonize In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads". A harmonized scale can be created by using each note of a musical scale as a ...
it in some way.


Overview

The enigmatic scale was invented by a professor of music at the Bologna Conservatory, Adolfo Crescentini. On August 5, 1888, Ricordi’s ''Gazzetta musicale di Milano'' challenged its readers to compose a piece that harmonized against this scale. The Gazzetta published several solutions to this “scala-rebus” (scale-puzzle), including one by Crescentini, yet the whole affair might have become obscure had not Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi later composed his own solution, which became the basis of the "Ave Maria (sulla scala enigmatica)" (1889, revised 1898), part of the ''
Quattro Pezzi Sacri The ''Quattro pezzi sacri'' (, ''Four Sacred Pieces'') are choral works by Giuseppe Verdi. Written separately during the last decades of the composer's life and with different origins and purposes, they were nevertheless published together in 18 ...
'' (1898) sacred pieces It has been described as "that still almost incomprehensible into-one-another-gliding of harmonies over the entirely 'unnatural' ''scala enigmatica''". The piece features the scale both in its harmonies and as a
cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tre ...
throughout the short pieceScott L. Balthazar, ed. (2004). '' The Cambridge Companion to Verdi'', p.180. . in whole-note values in the bass and then each successively higher voice accompanying, "queer counterpoint which...is far-fetched and difficult of intonation; ndthe total effect is almost, if not quite, as musical as it is curious". The version of the scale starting on C is as follows: ::C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C The scale has a general formula of: ::1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 With the musical steps as following: Semitone, Tone and a half, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semitone, Semitone. The scale lacks a
perfect fourth A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...
and a perfect fifth above the starting note. Both the fourth and fifth degrees of a scale form the basis of standard
chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
s, which help establish the tonic. The scale was used by guitarist
Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...
in his piece "The Enigmatic" from '' Not of This Earth'' (1986),
Monte Pittman Monte Lee Pittman (born November 19, 1975) is an American musician and studio musician based in Los Angeles, known largely as Madonna's long-time guitarist and for playing for heavy metal band Prong. He has also worked as a solo artist. Caree ...
with the song "Missing" on "The Power Of Three", and by pianist
Juan María Solare Juan María Solare (born August 11, 1966) is an Argentine composer and pianist. Education Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Solare studied and received his diploma in piano (María Teresa Criscuolo), composition (Fermina Casanova, Juan Carlos ...
in his piano miniature "Ave Verdi" (2013). It was also used in the song "Enigma" from the 1989 album
The Spin ''The Spin'' is an album by the American jazz band Yellowjackets, released in 1989. The album title refers to the Earth's rotation. The band supported the album with a North American tour. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best J ...
by the
Yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, e ...
composed by
Russell Ferrante Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ri ...
and
Jimmy Haslip James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group the Yellowjackets, which he left in 2012. He was also an early user of the five-string electric bass. Early life and ...
.


References


Further reading

*Hewitt, Michael. 2013. ''Musical Scales of the World''. The Note Tree. . {{Giuseppe Verdi Heptatonic scales Hemitonic scales Tritonic scales Musical scales with augmented seconds