source file: mills3.txt Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 06:01:01 +0100 Subject: Number of pitches used in melodies From: Gregg Gibson Bob Lee said: > Mr. Gibson, you've obviously given a lot of thought to these issues, so I > think I must not be understanding what you're saying here. Consider this: > > Much of the popular American music from the first half of this century is > based on "Dixieland" chord changes. The 7 notes of the diatonic major scale > are used, of course, but the progressions often include a circle of fifths > starting on the third note of the scale. In C this is E7 - A7 - D7 - G7. > This addition of G#, C# and F# brings the total number of notes used to 10 > per octave. The Fm is also used frequently, adding an Ab to the mix for a > total of 11. > When I refer to the number of pitches that may be remembered in a given melody, I do not mean to question musicians' ability to modulate. It is not uncommon to find all 12 tones used in a single piece. But such pieces do not consist of a single melody. Again, a melody may use more than 9 pitches, but the more are used within a single melody beyond 9 or so (obviously there is nothing sacred about any particular number) the larger a percentage of the audience will remember the melody in a simplified form, and the fewer will remember - or like - the melody. The use of about 7 tones in the octave for most Western melody may therefore be much more than purely a matter of tradition. There is also the matter of ornamental or incidental pitches to consider. The Indians normally use 7-tone modes, I believe, but many more secondary or improvised tones. SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: mr88cet@texas.net (Gary Morrison) Subject: Re: Liminatory Fulminations PostedDate: 16-12-97 06:19:25 SendTo: CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH ReplyTo: tuning@eartha.mills.edu $MessageStorage: 0 $UpdatedBy: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH,CN=Manuel op de Coul/OU=AT/O=EZH RouteServers: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=notesrv1/OU=Server/O=EZH RouteTimes: 16-12-97 06:17:28-16-12-97 06:17:29,16-12-97 06:17:09-16-12-97 06:17:09 DeliveredDate: 16-12-97 06:17:09 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl ([137.174.112.59]) by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA SMTP v4.6 (462.2 9-3-1997)) with SMTP id C125656F.001D0C7D; Tue, 16 Dec 1997 06:19:13 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA16558; Tue, 16 Dec 1997 06:19:25 +0100 Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 06:19:25 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA16543 Received: (qmail 14821 invoked from network); 15 Dec 1997 21:19:21 -0800 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 15 Dec 1997 21:19:21 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu