30
votes
Accepted
Why is B♯ higher than C♭ in 31-ET?
This question seems to arise from a “linear” mental model of notes.
C♭ C C♯ D♭ D D♯ E♭ E E♯ F♭ F F♯ G♭ G G♯ A♭ A A♯ B♭ B B♯ C♭ C C♯
Like a piano keyboard, but somehow with 31 notes per ...
- 847
18
votes
Accepted
Why is ra lower than re while la is higher than le?
That's because the solfege syllables for the non-chromatic notes (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si/Ti) were first. They were thoroughly historically anchored in music theory, long before someone thought ...
- 5,148
17
votes
Why is B♯ higher than C♭ in 31-ET?
It is because B and C are closer together than the difference between B and B♯ and the difference between C and C♭. That is, they are all some sort of semitone apart.
Alternatively, note that B♯ is ...
- 26.3k
11
votes
Why is ra lower than re while la is higher than le?
The diatonic notes, of course, came first. Sometime after that, the chromatic notes were described by the system. (It's important that we use Ti instead of Si, as you'll soon note.)
To sharpen notes, ...
- 12.9k
10
votes
Accepted
How is it possible to compose music with chromatic scale when it uses notes other than that of the key of the song?
It's a good question, and one a beginner may ponder for a long time!
Simple answer involves terminology. Scales are simply sets of notes, ordered ascending/descending. So many (many, many) sets of ...
- 197k
9
votes
Accepted
What's the relationship between the chords Cmaj Dmaj Emaj?
It sounds like a chromatic mediant because C and E major are themselves chromatic mediants. You've just added in a passing chord between them.
We could call this "planing," which is just moving a ...
- 85.1k
9
votes
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What do we call a chord progression that consists of descending by one semitone? Is there any notation for jazz grid?
These are ultimately just passing chords, but one more specific way of understanding this is as a tritone substitution; see What is tritone substitution?. But this understanding uses an expanded view ...
- 85.1k
8
votes
Why is B♯ higher than C♭ in 31-ET?
This isn't quite an answer, but is also too long for a comment, and I think it will point you in the right direction.
The conventions for the spelling of 31TET are related to the conventions of ...
- 5,129
8
votes
Non-Chromatic Orchestral Instruments?
In a modern western orchestra, that's about it. Unless you're foolish enough to try to write precise pitches for flexatone or slide whistle, and then try to write a chromatic scale.
Playing a ...
- 22.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Roman numeral slash notation meaning and function? (V/iii)
iii in key C major is E minor. The V of that chord is B (or B7). B is non-diatonic, and is called the secondary dominant in that key. It can lead to Em, and often does, although, despite the allusion ...
- 197k
8
votes
Accepted
Is it common in modern classical music for timpani to play chromatic passages?
Pedal timpani can be used to play melodic passages. The amount of time required to change the pitch is well under a second. They typically have a gauge with an arrow an adjustable letters to allow ...
- 26.3k
7
votes
How is it possible to compose music with chromatic scale when it uses notes other than that of the key of the song?
Here's a quote from the question with the question's incorrect assumption in bold:
Say, I want to write a track in the key of D. So I have the notes D,E,F#,G,A,B & C#. I cannot use any other ...
- 26.3k
6
votes
What's the relationship between the chords Cmaj Dmaj Emaj?
In a more tonal context, the chords C, D, and E can be interpreted as ♭VI-♭VII-I of E major (with substantial borrowing from the tonic minor). This interpretation can be questioned if the ...
- 14.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Why are thirds used with chromatic mediants and not other intervals?
Just 'unpack' the terminology and then re-apply it to your question.
'Chromatic Mediant'
The 'mediant' just means that the roots of the two chords are separated by a third. Starting from a tonic ...
- 59.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Writing E♭ Chromatic Scale in E♭ Major
Here is an example of a chromatic scale from Mozart's B flat piano sonata K.333, the Andante Cantabile movement which has a key signature of E flat major. The excerpt is from m.54...
I highlighted ...
- 59.5k
6
votes
Roman numeral slash notation meaning and function? (V/iii)
This notation is used to code secondary tonalities. V/iii then would be read as "the secondary dominant to the root iii (which in this case is B major to E minor)".
Generally the notation is ...
- 23.1k
5
votes
What are the uses of chromaticism?
Chromatic doesn't necessarily mean non-tonal. There has been chromatic music since before Gregorian Chant (A Bb was used to avoid tritones.) Most of the following is related to "classical" (or Common ...
- 25.8k
5
votes
Chromatic Functional Harmony (Musical Theory of Everything)
Edit: I tried to construct a meta-model of styles of harmony at the end of this answer.
Functional harmony is a simple narrow "mini-game" that can be played on the larger field of music. If you sit ...
- 28.7k
5
votes
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How does performing a chromatic inversion changes the root key?
D♭, not D♯.
But stick to the main part of the explanation, where the original melody, rooted in A and rising up a perfect 5th to E is inverted. It still ends up a 5th away from A, but ...
- 95.6k
5
votes
Can accidentals be seen as a temporary change in scale?
For instance, in Chopin's Nocturne in B-flat minor in the first
measure there's an accidental on the fourth note. But it's really just
a change from B-flat natural minor to B-flat harmonic minor, ...
- 12.9k
5
votes
How would these chords from "Christmas Time Is Here" be analyzed?
The song is in F major, so that E♭9♯11 chord is really just an altered ♭VII chord. In music of this style ♭VII is often used as a type of dominant, so measures 5–8 just alternate ...
- 85.1k
5
votes
How to compose better chromatic harmony
It sounds like you're off to a good start, but I agree that it sounds a bit random. This exercise you have written falls clearly in the Western tonal system, and in that system each pitch has a ...
- 6,496
5
votes
How to choose chords for chromatic melody?
I would say, to best understand harmonization of all music, it would help you to move beyond this concept:
When choosing chords in a tonal, diatonic concept, the formula is somewhat clear to me. If ...
- 58.6k
5
votes
How can I borrow diminished chords with Modal Interchange?
The concept of modal interchange (or "modal borrowing" or "mode mixture") is that you "borrow" a chord quality that is diatonic in the parallel key. If you're in, say, C ...
- 85.1k
4
votes
C Minor Chord on a Chromatic Harmonica in the key of C
Is there perhaps a technique I can use to lower the pitch of the E to Eb while blowing a C triad?
No there isn't. For minor key chord stuff people tend to play chromatic harmonicas in D minor or Eb ...
- 5,129
4
votes
Accepted
What are some viable fingerings for the chromatic run in Fur Elise?
I play this using only fingers 1, 2, and 3. I play all the black keys with finger 3, and all the white keys except the Fs and Cs with finger 1. Finger 2 is used for the Fs and Cs.
You could use 2 ...
- 58.6k
4
votes
Non-Chromatic Orchestral Instruments?
Instruments capable of chromatic runs over their whole range at high speed[1]:
Keyboard:
Piano
Harpsichord
Organ
Accordion
Ondes Martenot (also full-range glissando)
Synthesizer
Celesta
Strings:
...
4
votes
Accepted
Serialism and the the twelve-tone period
The key word here is serialism.
Serialism means that the compositional process is determined by a series, or list, of pitches and various transformations that occur to this series.
A twelve-tone ...
- 85.1k
4
votes
How is it possible to compose music with chromatic scale when it uses notes other than that of the key of the song?
Even if we're exclusively in one diatonic scale, we would sometimes use out-of-chord notes in the melody, e.g. A over a C chord. As long as we approach them properly, the music would sound good (how ...
- 549
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