Major Locrian scale

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In music, the major Locrian scale, also called the Locrian major scale, is the scale obtained by sharpening the second and third notes of the diatonic Locrian mode. With a tonic of C, it consists of the notes C D E F G♭ A♭ B♭. It can be described as a whole tone scale extending from G♭ to E, with F introduced within the diminished third interval from E to G♭. The scale therefore shares with the Locrian mode the property of having a diminished fifth above the tonic.

The Locrian mode is either a musical mode or simply a diatonic scale. On the white piano keys, it is the scale that starts with B. Its ascending form consists of the key note, a half step, two whole steps, a further half step, and three more whole steps.

Diminished third musical interval

In classical music from Western culture, a diminished third is the musical interval produced by narrowing a minor third by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from A to C is a minor third, three semitones wide, and both the intervals from A♯ to C, and from A to C♭ are diminished thirds, two semitones wide. Being diminished, it is considered a dissonant interval.

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It can also be the natural minor scale or Aeolian mode with raised third and lowered fifth intervals. It may also be derived from the Phrygian Dominant scale, but this time, the second is major, while the fifth is diminished.

The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the natural minor scale. On the white piano keys, it is the scale that starts with A. Its ascending interval form consists of a key note, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step to return.

Major third musical interval

In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions, and the major third is a third spanning four semitones. Along with the minor third, the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the larger of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three. For example, the interval from C to E is a major third, as the note E lies four semitones above C, and there are three staff positions from C to E. Diminished and augmented thirds span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones.

In English, Arabian scale may refer to what is known as the major Locrian scale. [1] A version of the major Locrian scale is listed as mode 3 in the French translation of Safi Al-Din's treatise Kitab Al-Adwar.[ citation needed ] This was a Pythagorean version of the scale.

Pythagorean tuning

Pythagorean tuning is a system of musical tuning in which the frequency ratios of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2. This ratio, also known as the "pure" perfect fifth, is chosen because it is one of the most consonant and easiest to tune by ear and because of importance attributed to the integer 3. As Novalis put it, "The musical proportions seem to me to be particularly correct natural proportions." Alternatively, it can be described as the tuning of the syntonic temperament in which the generator is the ratio 3:2, which is ≈702 cents wide.

Aside from this Arabic version, interest in the major Locrian is a phenomenon of the twentieth century, but the scale is definable in any meantone system. It is notable as one of the five proper seven-note scales in equal temperament, and as strictly proper in any meantone tuning with fifths flatter than 700 cents. If we take the tonic in the scale given above to be G♭ rather than C, we obtain the leading whole-tone scale, which with a tonic on C is C–D–E–F♯–G♯–A♯–B; this can equally well be characterized as one of the five proper seven-note scales of equal temperament.

Meantone temperament

Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, that is a tuning system, obtained by slightly compromising the fifths in order to improve the thirds. Meantone temperaments are constructed the same way as Pythagorean tuning, as a stack of equal fifths, but in meantone each fifth is narrow compared to the perfect fifth of ratio 3:2.

Rothenberg propriety

In diatonic set theory, Rothenberg propriety is an important concept, lack of contradiction and ambiguity, in the general theory of musical scales which was introduced by David Rothenberg in a seminal series of papers in 1978. The concept was independently discovered in a more restricted context by Gerald Balzano, who termed it coherence.

Equal temperament The musical tuning system where the ratio between successive notes is constant

An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which the frequency interval between every pair of adjacent notes has the same ratio. In other words, the ratios of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, and, as pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, equal perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor.

The major Locrian scale is the 5th mode of the Neapolitan major scale, which may be used in conjunction with the Neapolitan chord, but is not limited to it. This scale is also known as melodic minor ♭2. [2] Its modes and corresponding seventh chords are:

In music, the major Neapolitan scale and the minor Neapolitan scale are two musical scales. Both scales are minor, despite their names.

In music theory, a Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the lowered (flatted) second (supertonic) scale degree. In Schenkerian analysis, it is known as a Phrygian II, since in minor scales the chord is built on the notes of the corresponding Phrygian mode.

  1. Neapolitan major; CmM7 (add ♭9, 11, and 13) (Dorian mode with major seventh and minor second)
  2. leading whole-tone; D♭M7♯5 (add 9, ♯11, and ♯13) (Phrygian mode with major sixth and diminished unison) (whole-tone scale plus major seventh)
  3. Lydian dominant augmented; E♭7♯5 (add 9, ♯11, and 13) (Lydian mode with augmented fifth and minor seventh) (whole-tone scale plus major sixth)
  4. Lydian minor; F7 (add 9, ♯11, and ♭13) (Mixolydian mode with augmented fourth and minor sixth) (whole-tone scale plus natural fifth)
  5. major Locrian; G7♭5 (add 9, 11, and ♭13) (Aeolian mode with major third and diminished fifth) (whole-tone scale plus natural fourth)
  6. altered dominant major 2nd; Am7♭5 (add 9, ♭11, and ♭13) (Locrian mode with major second and diminished fourth) (whole-tone scale plus minor third)
  7. altered dominant diminished 3rd; B7♭5 (add ♭9, ♮9, and ♭13) (Ionian mode with minor third and augmented unison) (whole-tone scale plus ♭9)

The major Locrian scale has only two perfect fifths, but it has in some sense a complete cycle of thirds if one is willing to count a diminished third as a third: four major thirds, two minor thirds and a diminished third making up two octaves. In 12-equal temperament, the diminished third is enharmonically equivalent to a major second, but in other meantone systems it is wider and more nearly like a third.

Perfect fifth musical interval

In music theory, a perfect fifth is the musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.

The major Locrian in 12 equal temperament

Howard Hanson in his Harmonic Materials of Modern Music devotes several pages to the major Locrian, [3] or more precisely to its transpositional set class, a concept Hanson pioneered. He names this transpositional class the seven-tone impure major second scale, and notes that the various modes of the major Locrian can all be defined as the whole tone scale with one additional note, and where that note occurs does not affect the transpositional class. He also notes that the scale has the property that every three-note chord possible in the twelve tone chromatic scale already appears in the major Locrian.

Examples are given of the use of this scale by Claude Debussy in his opera Pelléas et Mélisande and Alban Berg in his song "Nacht".

Related Research Articles

In the theory of Western music, a mode is a type of musical scale coupled with a set of characteristic melodic behaviors. Musical modes have been a part of western musical thought since the Middle Ages, and were inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music. The name mode derives from the Latin word modus, "measure, standard, manner, way, size, limit of quantity, method".

In music theory, the term minor scale refers to three scale patterns – the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale – rather than just one as with the major scale.

In music theory, an interval is the difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord.

In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones. For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B. According to this definition, within a diatonic scale there is only one tritone for each octave. For instance, the above-mentioned interval F–B is the only tritone formed from the notes of the C major scale. A tritone is also commonly defined as an interval spanning six semitones. According to this definition, a diatonic scale contains two tritones for each octave. For instance, the above-mentioned C major scale contains the tritones F–B and B–F. In twelve-equal temperament, the tritone divides the octave exactly in half.

In jazz, the altered scale or altered dominant scale is a seven-note scale that is a dominant scale where all non-essential tones have been altered. This means that it comprises the three irreducibly essential tones that define a dominant seventh chord, which are root, major third, and minor seventh and that all other chord tones have been altered. These are:

A jazz scale is any musical scale used in jazz. Many "jazz scales" are common scales drawn from Western European classical music, including the diatonic, whole-tone, octatonic, and the modes of the ascending melodic minor. All of these scales were commonly used by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, often in ways that directly anticipate jazz practice. Some jazz scales, such as the bebop scales, add additional chromatic passing tones to the familiar diatonic scales.

Chord (music) harmonic set of three or more notes

A chord, in music, is any harmonic set of pitches consisting of multiple notes that are heard as if sounding simultaneously. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and broken chords, or sequences of chord tones, may also be considered as chords.

Augmented fifth musical interval

In classical music from Western culture, an augmented fifth is an interval produced by widening a perfect fifth by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from C to G is a perfect fifth, seven semitones wide, and both the intervals from C♭ to G, and from C to G♯ are augmented fifths, spanning eight semitones. Being augmented, it is considered a dissonant interval.

An augmented triad is a chord, made up of two major thirds. The term augmented triad arises from an augmented triad being considered a major chord whose top note (fifth) is raised. When using popular-music symbols, it is indicated by the symbol "+" or "aug". For example, the augmented triad built on C, written as C+, has pitches C–E–G♯:

Supertonic second degree or note of a diatonic scale

In music, the supertonic is the second degree or note of a diatonic scale, one step above the tonic. It is sung as re in solfege. In music theory, the supertonic chord may be symbolized by the Roman numeral ii in a major scale, indicating that the chord is a minor chord (for example, D-F-A in C major), or iio in a natural minor scale, indicating that the chord is a diminished chord (for example, D-F-A♭ in C natural minor), if in second inversion a six-four chord (A♭-D-F), and if the third is raised an augmented sixth chord (A♭-F♯). If in major or minor, through the lowering of the second scale degree (also the sixth in major), the chord is major (D♭-F-A♭) then it is a Neapolitan 6th chord, N6 or ♭II6. The supertonic may be raised as part of the common-tone diminished seventh chord, ♯iio7.

A heptatonic scale is a musical scale that has seven pitches per octave. Examples include the major scale or minor scale; e.g., in C major: C D E F G A B C—and in the relative minor, A minor, natural minor: A B C D E F G A; the melodic minor scale, A B C D E F♯G♯A ascending, A G F E D C B A descending; the harmonic minor scale, A B C D E F G♯A; and a scale variously known as the Byzantine, and Hungarian, scale, C D E♭ F♯ G A♭ B C. Indian classical theory postulates seventy-two seven-tone scale types, whereas others postulate twelve or ten seven-tone scale types collectively called thaat.

Harmonic major scale

In music theory, the harmonic major scale is a musical scale found in some music from the common practice era and now used occasionally, most often in jazz. It was named by Rimsky-Korsakov. In George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept it is the fifth mode (V) of the Lydian Diminished scale.

Jazz chord

Jazz chords refer to chords, chord voicings and chord symbols that jazz musicians commonly use in composition, improvisation, and harmony. In jazz chords and theory, most triads that appear in lead sheets or fake books can have sevenths added to them, using the performer's discretion and ear. For example, if a tune is in the key of C, if there is a G chord, the chord-playing performer usually "voices" this chord as G7. While in a strict classical music context, the notes of a G7 chord would be G–B–D–F, jazz often omits the fifth of the chord—and even the root if playing in a group. However, not all jazz pianists leave out the root when they play voicings: Bud Powell, one of the best-known of the bebop pianists, and Horace Silver, whose quintet included many of jazz's biggest names from the 1950s to the 1970s, included the root note in their voicings.

In music theory, the half-diminished seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh. For example, the half-diminished seventh chord built on C, commonly written as Cø7, has pitches C–E♭–G♭–B♭:

A synthetic mode is a mode that cannot be derived from the diatonic scale by starting on a different note. Whereas the seven modes are all derived from the same scale and therefore can coincide with each other, synthetic modes work differently.

In music theory, the dominant seventh flat five chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a major third, a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh above the root. For example, the dominant seventh flat five chord built on C, commonly written as C7♭5, is composed of the pitches C–E–G♭–B♭:

The jazz minor scale is a derivative of the melodic minor scale, except only the ascending form of the scale is used. As the name implies, it is primarily used in jazz. It may be derived from the major scale with a minor third, making it a synthetic scale, and features a dominant seventh chord on the fifth degree (V) like the harmonic minor scale.

References

  1. ↑ Christiansen, Mike (2003). Mel Bay Complete Guitar Scale Dictionary, p.41. ISBN   0-7866-6994-2.
  2. ↑ "Neapolitan Scale and Its Modes", GNU Solfege 3.22 user's manual.
  3. ↑ Hanson, Howard (1960). Harmonic Materials of Modern Music, [ page needed ]. Appleton-Century-Crofts. ISBN   978-0891972075.

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