source file: m1378.txt Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 13:34:47 -0400 Subject: Re: TUNING digest 1377 From: monz@juno.com (Joseph L Monzo) On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 05:31:35 -0700, Niel Haverstick wrote: > >... If you listen to blues, which is at the root of much >contemporary pop, there's micronotes galore because of the > bending and stretching that constantly goes on. As soon > as one bends a note, we're off the pitch of the scale, and > somewhere else. As to the related subject >of is this then microtonal music per se, my personal feeling is > that if the bending and stretching occurs over a base scale > of an instrument tuned in 12 eq, then I don't feel like calling > it microtonal, overall, because 12 eq is our home base, and > any notes which are not bent are still in 12. Of course, this > is a rather subjective perception, and maybe >there's no right answer, just gut intuitions...Hstick > Strangely enough, I find that I can agree with the responses to this from both Gary Morrison and Johnny Reinhard. System-building in music certainly goes a long way towards satisfying one's intellectual proclivities, but then in good performances, there always seems to be room for expressive inflection. The ultimate (and to me, surprising) outcome of the Hendrix Chord debate, for me, was that the most intriguing interpretation of the chord was that it is a *hybrid* of 12-ET and 7- (and/or 19-) limit just intonation. This is clearly microtonal, and it's precisely those small microtonal nuances that come from bending the lowest two notes to approximate just ratios, and from having the highest note a 12-equal ratio, which give the chord the unique sound it has. It certainly sounds much more interesting played this way than in straight 12-equal (although not necessarily as interesting or consonant as in any of the straight just-intonation versions). By and large, my feeling about calling the blues microtonal is that there is very little actual harmonic movement -- the 12-equal scale gives what I think is a good approximation of a "tonic" (I) with its close Pythagorean relatives (IV and V) -- but lots of exploration of higher-prime identities within that restricted chord movement. Even though the 12-equal "7th" is between 29 and 33 cents sharper than the 7th harmonic in all three chords, every chord in the blues *always* has it, and to me, this reinforces the idea that the 12-equal "7th" is intended by blues musicians to be interpreted as the 7th harmonic. This is even more the case when a good perfomer like Jimi compensates by bending up other notes in the chord to make the "7th" fit better. Certainly, the guitar is a 12-eq instrument, but, as Neil says, "there's micronotes galore because of the bending and stretching that constantly goes on" in the blues (I emphasize the word "constantly"). And don't forget -- the vocals are an integral part of standard blues, and we know there's no 12-equal restriction there! A great blues singer like Robert Johnson or Louis Armstrong sings notes that are all over the place, and between all the cracks. And when the techical ability on the instrument is there, as it is in both Johnson and Hendrix on the guitar or Armstrong on the trumpet, the instrumental notes will be all over the place too, quite closely related to what the voice is doing. Throughout musical history, the measure of a great instrumental performer's ability has been how good he/she is at making the instrument "sing", "wail", or "talk". Note the reference to vocal performance! We can't always use the construction of the instrument as a yardstick when we're talking about such talented performers. To me, the blues is clearly a microtonal music, the question is, how systematic are the *just-intonation* implications that are buried there in those notes? In my opinion, 7 and 19 are definitely there. What about 11, 13, and 17? (I'm pretty sure I hear Robert Johnson singing some 11s) What about 23 and still higher primes? Joseph L. Monzo monz@juno.com 4940 Rubicam St., Philadelphia, PA 19144-1809, USA phone 215 849 6723 _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]