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Semiditone
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is called ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two: the major third spans an additional semitone. For example, the interval from A to C is a minor third, as the note C lies three semitones above A. Coincidentally, there are three staff positions from A to C. Diminished and augmented thirds span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (two and five). The minor third is a skip melodically. Notable examples of ascending minor thirds include the opening two notes of "Greensleeves" and of " Light My Fire". The minor third may be derived from the harmonic series as the interval between the fifth and sixth harmonics, or from the 19th harmonic. The minor third is commonly ...
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Major Sixth
In music theory, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six note letter names or staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it is the larger of the two. The major sixth spans nine semitones. Its smaller counterpart, the minor sixth, spans eight semitones. For example, the interval from C up to the nearest A is a major sixth. It is a sixth because it encompasses six note letter names (C, D, E, F, G, A) and six staff positions. It is a major sixth, not a minor sixth, because the note A lies nine semitones above C. Diminished and augmented sixths (such as C to A and C to A) span the same number of note letter names and staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (seven and ten, respectively). A commonly cited example of a melody featuring the major sixth as its opening is " My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean".Blake Neely, ''Piano For Dummies'', se ...
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Harmonic Series (music)
The harmonic series (also overtone series) is the sequence of harmonics, musical tones, or pure tones whose frequency is an integer multiple of a ''fundamental frequency''. Definite pitch, Pitched musical instruments are often based on an Acoustics, acoustic resonator such as a String (music), string or a column of air, which Oscillation, oscillates at numerous Normal mode, modes simultaneously. As waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, they reinforce and cancel one another to form standing waves. Interaction with the surrounding air produces audible sound waves, which travel away from the instrument. These frequencies are generally integer multiples, or harmonics, of the Fundamental frequency, fundamental and such multiples form the Harmonic series (mathematics), harmonic series. The fundamental, which is usually perceived as the lowest #Partial, partial present, is generally perceived as the Pitch (music), pitch of a musical tone. The musical timbre of ...
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Scale Degrees
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic—the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and chords and whether an interval is major or minor. In the most general sense, the scale degree is the number given to each step of the scale, usually starting with 1 for tonic. Defining it like this implies that a tonic is specified. For instance, the 7-tone diatonic scale may become the major scale once the proper degree has been chosen as tonic (e.g. the C-major scale C–D–E–F–G–A–B, in which C is the tonic). If the scale has no tonic, the starting degree must be chosen arbitrarily. In set theory, for instance, the 12 degrees of the chromatic scale are usually numbered starting from C=0, the twelve pitch classes being numbered from 0 to 11. In a more specific sense, scale degrees are given names that indicate their pa ...
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Mediant
In music, the mediant (''Latin'': "being in the middle") is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant.Benward & Saker (2003), p.32. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant note is sung as ''mi''. While the fifth scale degree is almost always a perfect fifth, the mediant can be a major or minor third. Schenkerian analysts consider the ''mediant'' (third scale degree) as an expansion or extension of the tonic since they are both common tones of the tonic chord. Thus, the third degree of a tonic triad is also the mediant iii note; furthermore, the 5th degree of the submediant chord vi is also the mediant iii note. On the other hand, in German theory derived from Hugo Riemann the mediant in major is considered the dominant parallel, Dp, and in minor the tonic parallel, tP. In Roman numeral analysis, the mediant chord can take several forms. In major scales, the mediant chord is a minor triad and is symboli ...
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Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree () of the diatonic scale (the first note of a scale) and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal (musical key-based) classical music, popular music, and traditional music. In the movable do solfège system, the tonic note is sung as ''do''. More generally, the tonic is the note upon which all other notes of a piece are hierarchically referenced. Scales are named after their tonics: for instance, the tonic of the C major scale is the note C. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord in these styles of music. In Roman numeral analysis, the tonic chord is typically symbolized by the Roman numeral "" if it is major and by "" if it is minor. These chords may also appear as seventh chords: in major, as M7, or in minor as 7 or rarely M7: The tonic is distinguished from the root, which is the reference note of a chord, rathe ...
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Minor Scale
In Classical_music, Western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three Scale (music), scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending). These scales contain all three notes of a minor triad: the root (chord), root, a minor third (rather than the major third, as in a Major chord, major triad or major scale), and a perfect fifth (rather than the tritone, diminished fifth, as in a diminished scale or half diminished scale). Minor scale is also used to refer to other scales with this property, such as the Dorian mode or the Pentatonic Scale#Minor pentatonic scale, minor pentatonic scale (see #Other minor scales, other minor scales below). Natural minor scale Relationship to relative major A natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode) is a diatonic scale that is built by starting on the sixth Degree (music), degree of its relative major, relative major scale. For instance, the ...
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Otonality And Utonality
''Otonality'' and ''utonality'' are terms introduced by Harry Partch to describe chords whose pitch classes are the harmonics or subharmonics of a given fixed tone (identity), respectively. For example: , , ,... or , , ,.... Definition An otonality is a collection of pitches which can be expressed in ratios, expressing their relationship to the fixed tone, that have equal denominators and consecutive numerators. For example, , , and ( just major chord) form an otonality because they can be written as , , . This in turn can be written as an extended ratio 4:5:6. Every otonality is therefore composed of members of a harmonic series. Similarly, the ratios of a utonality share the same numerator and have consecutive denominators. , , , and () form a utonality, sometimes written as , or as . Every utonality is therefore composed of members of a subharmonic series. This term is used extensively by Harry Partch in ''Genesis of a Music''. An otonality corresponds to ...
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Overtone Series
The harmonic series (also overtone series) is the sequence of harmonics, musical tones, or pure tones whose frequency is an integer multiple of a ''fundamental frequency''. Pitched musical instruments are often based on an acoustic resonator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous modes simultaneously. As waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, they reinforce and cancel one another to form standing waves. Interaction with the surrounding air produces audible sound waves, which travel away from the instrument. These frequencies are generally integer multiples, or harmonics, of the fundamental and such multiples form the harmonic series. The fundamental, which is usually perceived as the lowest partial present, is generally perceived as the pitch of a musical tone. The musical timbre of a steady tone from such an instrument is strongly affected by the relative strength of each harmonic. Terminology Partial, harmonic, f ...
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Undertone Series
In music, the undertone series or subharmonic series is a sequence of notes that results from inverting the intervals of the overtone series. While overtones naturally occur with the physical production of music on instruments, undertones must be produced in unusual ways. While the overtone series is based upon arithmetic multiplication of frequencies, resulting in a harmonic series, the undertone series is based on arithmetic division. Nattiez shows the undertone series on E, as Riemann (''Handbuch der Harmonielehre'', 10th ed., 1929, p. 4) and D'Indy (''Cours de composition musicale'', vol. I, 1912, p. 100) had done. Terminology The hybrid term ''subharmonic'' is used in music in a few different ways. In its pure sense, the term ''subharmonic'' refers strictly to any member of the subharmonic series (, , , , etc.). When the subharmonic series is used to refer to frequency relationships, it is written with f representing some highest known reference frequency (, , , , e ...
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Fundamental (music)
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the ''fundamental'' (abbreviated as 0 or 1 ), is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In music, the fundamental is the musical pitch of a note that is perceived as the lowest partial present. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids, the fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency sinusoidal in the sum of harmonically related frequencies, or the frequency of the difference between adjacent frequencies. In some contexts, the fundamental is usually abbreviated as 0, indicating the lowest frequency counting from zero. In other contexts, it is more common to abbreviate it as 1, the first harmonic. (The second harmonic is then 2 = 2⋅1, etc.) According to Benward and Saker's ''Music: In Theory and Practice'': Explanation All sinusoidal and many non-sinusoidal waveforms repeat exactly over time – they are periodic. The period of a waveform is the smallest positive value T for which the following is tru ...
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Tertian
In music theory, ''tertian'' (, "of or concerning thirds") describes any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the intervals of (major and minor) thirds. An interval such as that between the notes A and C encompasses 3 semitone intervals (A-B-B-C) and is termed a minor third while one such as that between C and E encompasses 4 semitones (C-D-D-E-E) and is called a major third. Tertian harmony (also called tertiary harmony ) principally uses chords based on thirds; the term is typically used to contrast with quartal and quintal harmony which uses chords based on fourths or fifths. A common triad chord can be regarded as consisting of a "stack" of two consecutive thirds. This allows for four permutations, each producing a chord with distinct quality: A musical scale may also be analyzed as a succession of thirds. The meantone temperament, a system of tuning that emphasizes pure thirds, may be called "tertian". Chords built from sixths may also be referred ...
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Perfect Fourth
A fourth is a interval (music), 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 the next F is a perfect fourth, because the note F is the fifth semitone above C, and there are four staff positions between C and F. Diminished fourth, Diminished and Tritone, augmented fourths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (four and six, respectively). The perfect fourth may be derived from the Harmonic series (music), harmonic series as the interval between the third and fourth harmonics. The term ''perfect'' identifies this interval as belonging to the group of perfect intervals, so called because they are neither major nor minor. A perfect fourth in just intonation corresponds to a pitch ratio of 4:3, or about 498 cent (music), cents (), while in equal temperam ...
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