Musical syntax: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:28, 9 January 2013

Revision as of 00:35, 11 October 2013

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=====Scale degrees=====

The lowest level are [[musical scales]], which consist of seven tones or “scale degrees” per [[octave]] and have an asymmetric pattern of [[interval (music)|intervals]] between them (for example the C-major scale). They are built up out of the 12 possible [[pitch classes]] per octave (A, A♯,B, C, C♯, D, D♯, E, F, F♯, G, G♯) and the different scale tones are not equal in theretheir structural stability. Empirical evidence indicates that there is a hierarchy concerning the stability of the single tones. The most stable one is called the "[[tonic (music)|tonic]]" and embodies the tonal centre of the scale. The most unstable tones were the ones closest to the tonic (scale degrees 2 and 7) which are called the "[[supertonic]]" and the "[[leading tone]]". In studies scale degrees 1, 3 and 5 have been judged as closely related. It was also shown that an implicit knowledge of scale structure has to be learned and developed in childhood and is not inborn.

=====Chord structure=====