The enigmatic scale ( it, scala enigmatica) is an unusual musical scale, with elements of both

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

scales, as well as the whole-tone scale. 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 r ...

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 Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

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'' (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 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 In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

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 and a

perfect fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval fro ...

above the starting note. Both the fourth and fifth degrees of a scale form the basis of standard chord progressions, which help establish the tonic. The scale was used by guitarist Joe Satriani in his piece "The Enigmatic" from '' Not of This Earth'' (1986), Monte Pittman with the song "Missing" on "The Power Of Three", and by pianist Juan María Solare in his piano miniature "Ave Verdi" (2013). It was also used in the song "Enigma" from the 1989 album The Spin by the

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composed by Russell Ferrante and Jimmy Haslip .

Overview

References

Further reading