 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ~ jerry
Date: 2001-11-03 13:56
As many of you know, http://musictheory.halifax.ns.ca has some interesting music theory lessons.
I am on lesson 7:Small Intervals. I am confused about their discussion of going from note to note, while at the same time trying to understand the "whole note" semitone idea. I feel like I understand most of the concept of the semitone, chromatic and diatonic theory except for the following.
The first measure of the music on page two shows D to D#. Looking at the piano key board, this looks reasonable. Second measure, same thing going from F to E.
However, look at the last measure: the C goes to Cb. The piano key board shows no Cb (only C & C#). Where is Cb on the key board? For that matter, where is Cb on the circle of fifths?
Similarly, on page three, second measure, Gb to Fb. How does one get from Gb to Fb on the key board? Where is Fb?
Can anyone explain this in lay terms?
~ jerry
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Author: MsRoboto
Date: 2001-11-03 14:15
Cb is a B. It is a 1/2 tone lower than the C which is B.
Fb is G
On the piano just go one key down no matter what it is to flat the note.
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2001-11-03 14:24
Jerry: since there is no black key between b and c they are a half step apart. If you go down the scale you will go from C to Cb if you go up then you go from B to C or B#. The same thing applies for E and F. E and Fb are the same and F and E# ane the same.
What is confusing is that none of my fingering charts show this. It is as if Cb doesn't exist for the clarinet.
Peace
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-11-03 15:21
Jerry - I recall being taught about there being two "tetrachords" in an octave, that is, moving upward, full step,full step, half step amd repeat. Prob. an old concept, but it works for me. Don
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-11-03 15:45
It also helps to remember that every note has two basic names. It's not always clear what they are but this basic idea helps the brain to think what it might be.
The basic ones are:
B = Cb
B# = C
E = Fb
E# = F
When you get to double flats and double sharps, think in terms of keys on the piano. Double flat goes down two keys regardless of whether they are black or white and double sharps go up two keys again regardless of key color.
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Author: Douglas
Date: 2001-11-03 15:51
MsRoboto,
You wrote that Fb is G...no, Fb is the enharmonic of (same sound as) E.
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Author: ~ jerry
Date: 2001-11-03 17:31
All this makes sense now, but when it is noted that on the circle of fifths that C has no sharps or flats, and when viewing the lesson diagram of the piano and there is no Cb it kinda leaves you .......................................
Thanks.
~ jerry
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Author: A David Peacham
Date: 2001-11-04 09:46
It works with the circle/cycle of fifths as well. Start from C and go upwards, we get:
C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# E# B#
but B# is the same as C, so 12 fifths have taken us up 7 octaves.
Start from C and go downwards, we get:
C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb Bbb Ebb Abb Dbb
but Dbb is the same as C, so 12 fifths have taken down up 7 octaves.
Just when you think you've got the hang of it, I have to break the news that it isn't quite as simple as that! This works fine on the piano. But if you ask a singer to sing a series of perfect fifths, after 12 fifths he won't be exactly 7 octaves from where he started. (I'm assuming that our singer has a rather big range, of course!) Why is this? Well, an octave is a doubling of the frequency. So if the A you tune to is 440Hz, the A an octave above will be 880Hz. A perfect fifth is one-and-a-half times the frequency, so the E between these two As will be 660Hz. So seven octaves is two-to-the-seventh-power. Twelve fifths is one-and-a-half-to-the-twelve-power. And these two numbers aren't quite the same. Pianos are tuned slightly out-of-tune, to make the difference disappear. For (much) more information on all of this, do a search on "temperament".
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The Clarinet Pages
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