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Michael Curtis
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If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.

Sharps and flats are used to transpose that pattern to various starting tones. The system can get messy. 

I try to think of it as a combination of two series of tones - one in base 7 counting and the other in base 12. If the clock - using base 60 and 24 - gets a little confusing when calculating times, then music gets a bit confusing when it usedusing base 7 and 12 and transposing asymmetrical patterns. You can translate the crazy music patterns from letters and sharps and flats to purely numeric sequences (like in a computer program) and that may feel more like pure logical patterns, but I don't think it helps with reading staff notation. You can add music to the list of crazy systems evolved in our culture like the clock, the calendar, and the entire English language!

If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.

Sharps and flats are used to transpose that pattern to various starting tones. The system can get messy. I try to think of it as a combination of two series of tones one in base 7 counting and the other in base 12. If the clock using base 60 and 24 gets a little confusing when calculating times, then music gets a bit confusing when it used base 7 and 12 and asymmetrical patterns.

If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.

Sharps and flats are used to transpose that pattern to various starting tones. The system can get messy. 

I try to think of it as a combination of two series of tones - one in base 7 counting and the other in base 12. If the clock - using base 60 and 24 - gets a little confusing when calculating times, then music gets a bit confusing using base 7 and 12 and transposing asymmetrical patterns. You can translate the crazy music patterns from letters and sharps and flats to purely numeric sequences (like in a computer program) and that may feel more like pure logical patterns, but I don't think it helps with reading staff notation. You can add music to the list of crazy systems evolved in our culture like the clock, the calendar, and the entire English language!

added 388 characters in body
Source Link
Michael Curtis
  • 59.5k
  • 4
  • 51
  • 164

If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.

Sharps and flats are used to transpose that pattern to various starting tones. The system can get messy. I try to think of it as a combination of two series of tones one in base 7 counting and the other in base 12. If the clock using base 60 and 24 gets a little confusing when calculating times, then music gets a bit confusing when it used base 7 and 12 and asymmetrical patterns.

If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.

If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.

Sharps and flats are used to transpose that pattern to various starting tones. The system can get messy. I try to think of it as a combination of two series of tones one in base 7 counting and the other in base 12. If the clock using base 60 and 24 gets a little confusing when calculating times, then music gets a bit confusing when it used base 7 and 12 and asymmetrical patterns.

Source Link
Michael Curtis
  • 59.5k
  • 4
  • 51
  • 164

If I understand your meaning, the natural letters A B C D E F in your system would all be one whole steps apart and create a whole tone scale.

That might seem logical, but it doesn't reflect the fact that the whole tone scale is not the basis for western music.

Western music is largely based on the diatonic scale...

W W H W W W H

...where W means whole step and H means half step.

The letters were assigned to the tones of that asymmetrical pattern of whole/half steps.