Musical scales are sets of notes that instruments play centered around one note that acts as a resolution. For example, a C major scale includes eight notes, the white keys on a piano, and resolves on the note C. Another important scale is the chromatic scale, which includes every note in western music, or every white and black key on a piano. The relationships between the frequencies of notes in a scale can be quantified mathematically, and different scales have different physical relationships. As I continue with my research, I will spend a fair amount of time exploring these relationships within different types of scales.
Musical tuning is a more relative concept. For example, two instruments playing a C major scale can be playing notes of completely different frequencies, because they are tuned to a different frequency. One instrument can be tuned to A440 and the other could be tuned to A410, and they would be horribly out of tune. A440 is the conventional tuning method in today's instruments. This means that instruments are initially tuned by starting with an A note (the A just above middle C) at a frequency of 440 hertz. The remaining notes are tuned to this initial A note by using mathematical relationships. There are two main types of tuning relationships, just intonation and equal temperament. I will be exploring both throughout the next couple of weeks.
Works Cited:
1. Gunther, Leon. The Physics of Music and Color. New York, New York: Springer, 2012.
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