Klarinet Archive - Posting 000235.txt from 2004/07

From: Elgenubi@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Re: Music Theory
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 13:48:50 -0400

The following thoughts are not well researched, I admit, but maybe they will
suggest something about why a major scale is "in some sense, natural" as Tony
worded it.

Umar, this was one of your questions, was it not? Why does a 'major' scale,
i. e. a scale of step, step, half-step, step, step, step, half-step, sound
natural?

My two thoughts, worth about 1 cent each:
If we consider a major scale as 8 notes in two groups with one step between
them, then it is
step, step, half-step, and ....
step, step, half-step.

Or in another way:
C, D, E, F, and......
G, A, B, C.

Does this repeated pattern have anything to do with the 'natural' sound??

My second thought:
What about other cultures? If one listed all the 'natural' sounding scales
used in different cultures, what are the patterns, if any, that show up a lot?

Wayne Thompson

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