العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolQUARTER TONE
A 'quarter tone' is an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which is half a whole tone.
In equal temperament the quarter tone is 50 cents, or a frequency ratio of 21/24 or 1.0293. In 24 tone equal temperament, or the quarter tone scale, it is the smallest step. Two equal temperament quarter tones equal a semitone, and three make a 'three-quarter tone'. A three-quarter tone may also be considered half of a minor third. In just intonation the quarter tone is often 36:35 or 33:32, approximately half the semitone of 16:15 or 25:24.
Many composers are known for having written music including quarter tones or the 'quarter tone scale', first proposed by 19th-century music theorist Mikha'il Mishaqah (Touma 1996, p.16), including: Alberto Ginastera, Alois Hába, Charles Ives, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tui St. George Tucker, Ivan Alexandrovich Vïshnegradsky, Mildred Couper (see List of quarter tone pieces).
Because many musical instruments manufactured today are designed for the 12-tone scale, not all are usable for playing quarter tones. Sometimes special playing techniques must be used.
Conventional musical instruments which can play quarter tones include:
★ Synthesizers (if design permits)
★ Fretless string instruments (on fretted string instruments it is possible with bending)
★ Slide brass instruments (trombone)
★ Woodwind instruments, using special fingering or bending.
Experimental instruments have been built to play in quarter tones, for example a quarter tone clarinet by Fritz Schüller (1883-1977) of Markneukirchen.
Other instruments can be used to play quarter tones when using audio signal processing effects such as pitch shifting.
Pairs of conventional instruments tuned a quarter tone apart can be used to play some quarter tone music. Indeed, "quarter tone pianos" have been built which consist essentially of two pianos stacked one above the other in a single case, one tuned a quarter tone higher than the other.
★ See also: Arabic music and Arab tone system
While the use of quarter tones in Western music is a more recent and experimental phenomenon, these and other microtonal intervals have been an important part of the music of the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, Assyria, Kurdistan and neighboring lands and areas for many centuries.
The concept that Eastern music uses quarter tones is entirely a Western view. The truth is that there is no such interval used in the music of the East. Western musicologists are generally unable to think outside the box of the tempered scale. Hence the idea of quarter follows naturally from the Western semi-tone which is exactly half of the Western whole tone. The tempered (and somewhat sterile) system of the Western scale is only a few hundred years old as a concept, whereas the theory and practise of Eastern musics are thousands of years old. The Pythagorean tetrachord system produced intervals of many kinds. None of these are equal to a quarter or even three quarters of a tone in the Western way of understanding music.
Many Arabic ''maqamat'' contain intervals of three-quarter tone size; a short list of these follows.[1] (Note: Due to the lack of widespread support for Unicode quarter tone characters, a regular flat symbol is used with a strikethrough. The proper form has a short diagonal stroke through the stem, not a straight stroke through the bowl.)
★ 1 - 'Bayati' (بياتي): D E♭ F G A B♭ C D
★ 2 - 'Hussayni'
★ 3 - 'Siga' (سيكاه): E♭ F G A B♭ C D E♭
★ 4 - 'Rast' (راست): C D E♭ F G A B♭ C (with a B♭ replacing the B♭ in the descending scale)
★ 6 - '‘Ajam'
★ 'Sabba' (صبا): D E♭ F G♭ A B♭ C D
The medieval philosopher and scientist Al-Farabi described a number of intervals in his work in music, including a number of quarter tones.
Assyrian/Syriac Church scale:
★ 1 - Qadmoyo (Bayati)
★ 2 - Trayono (Hussayni)
★ 3 - Tlithoyo (Segah)
★ 4 - Rbi‘oyo (Rast)
★ 5 - Hmishoyo
★ 6 - Shtithoyo (‘Ajam)
★ 7 - Shbi‘oyo
★ 8 - Tminoyo
The enharmonic genus of the tetrachord described by the Greek Archytas consists of two quarter tones and a major third.
★ Temperament
★ List of quarter tone pieces
★ List of meantone intervals
1. Classical 'Ud Music in Egypt with Special Reference to Maqamat, , Johanna, Spector, Ethnomusicology, 1970
★ Habib Hassan Touma (1996). ''The Music of the Arabs'', trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.
In equal temperament the quarter tone is 50 cents, or a frequency ratio of 21/24 or 1.0293. In 24 tone equal temperament, or the quarter tone scale, it is the smallest step. Two equal temperament quarter tones equal a semitone, and three make a 'three-quarter tone'. A three-quarter tone may also be considered half of a minor third. In just intonation the quarter tone is often 36:35 or 33:32, approximately half the semitone of 16:15 or 25:24.
Many composers are known for having written music including quarter tones or the 'quarter tone scale', first proposed by 19th-century music theorist Mikha'il Mishaqah (Touma 1996, p.16), including: Alberto Ginastera, Alois Hába, Charles Ives, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tui St. George Tucker, Ivan Alexandrovich Vïshnegradsky, Mildred Couper (see List of quarter tone pieces).
| Contents |
| Playing quarter tones on musical instruments |
| Music of the Middle East |
| Greek tetrachords |
| See also |
| Notes |
| References |
Playing quarter tones on musical instruments
A quarter tone clarinet by Fritz Schüller.
Because many musical instruments manufactured today are designed for the 12-tone scale, not all are usable for playing quarter tones. Sometimes special playing techniques must be used.
Conventional musical instruments which can play quarter tones include:
★ Synthesizers (if design permits)
★ Fretless string instruments (on fretted string instruments it is possible with bending)
★ Slide brass instruments (trombone)
★ Woodwind instruments, using special fingering or bending.
Experimental instruments have been built to play in quarter tones, for example a quarter tone clarinet by Fritz Schüller (1883-1977) of Markneukirchen.
Other instruments can be used to play quarter tones when using audio signal processing effects such as pitch shifting.
Pairs of conventional instruments tuned a quarter tone apart can be used to play some quarter tone music. Indeed, "quarter tone pianos" have been built which consist essentially of two pianos stacked one above the other in a single case, one tuned a quarter tone higher than the other.
Music of the Middle East
★ See also: Arabic music and Arab tone system
While the use of quarter tones in Western music is a more recent and experimental phenomenon, these and other microtonal intervals have been an important part of the music of the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, Assyria, Kurdistan and neighboring lands and areas for many centuries.
The concept that Eastern music uses quarter tones is entirely a Western view. The truth is that there is no such interval used in the music of the East. Western musicologists are generally unable to think outside the box of the tempered scale. Hence the idea of quarter follows naturally from the Western semi-tone which is exactly half of the Western whole tone. The tempered (and somewhat sterile) system of the Western scale is only a few hundred years old as a concept, whereas the theory and practise of Eastern musics are thousands of years old. The Pythagorean tetrachord system produced intervals of many kinds. None of these are equal to a quarter or even three quarters of a tone in the Western way of understanding music.
Many Arabic ''maqamat'' contain intervals of three-quarter tone size; a short list of these follows.[1] (Note: Due to the lack of widespread support for Unicode quarter tone characters, a regular flat symbol is used with a strikethrough. The proper form has a short diagonal stroke through the stem, not a straight stroke through the bowl.)
★ 1 - 'Bayati' (بياتي): D E
★ 2 - 'Hussayni'
★ 3 - 'Siga' (سيكاه): E
★ 4 - 'Rast' (راست): C D E
★ 6 - '‘Ajam'
★ 'Sabba' (صبا): D E
The medieval philosopher and scientist Al-Farabi described a number of intervals in his work in music, including a number of quarter tones.
Assyrian/Syriac Church scale:
★ 1 - Qadmoyo (Bayati)
★ 2 - Trayono (Hussayni)
★ 3 - Tlithoyo (Segah)
★ 4 - Rbi‘oyo (Rast)
★ 5 - Hmishoyo
★ 6 - Shtithoyo (‘Ajam)
★ 7 - Shbi‘oyo
★ 8 - Tminoyo
Greek tetrachords
The enharmonic genus of the tetrachord described by the Greek Archytas consists of two quarter tones and a major third.
See also
★ Temperament
★ List of quarter tone pieces
★ List of meantone intervals
Notes
1. Classical 'Ud Music in Egypt with Special Reference to Maqamat, , Johanna, Spector, Ethnomusicology, 1970
References
★ Habib Hassan Touma (1996). ''The Music of the Arabs'', trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
