3 ms·
I think it makes sense for the other keys, too. Let’s say we had twelve distinct letters, A–L. Here’s a key: H J K A C E F First of all, which key is it?
by jakelazaroff 5y ago
I think it makes sense for the other keys, too. Let’s say we had twelve distinct letters, A–L. Here’s a key:
H J K A C E F
First of all, which key is it? We know it starts with H. But is it major or minor? We have to mentally calculate all the intervals, rather than just looking for the sharps and flats.
And calculating the intervals is annoying! You could go 2122212, which doesn’t correspond to major or minor — it’s dorian.
Meanwhile, in current notation, you’d just look at the sharps (C# and F# = D major) and the starting note (E).
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- sunaurus 5y agoYour argument feels quite subjective - the exact opposite argument seems like it could just as valid to somebody else: "looking at sharps is annoying, with 12 distinct notes you can just count the intervals". I think in an alternate universe where a 12 (or 6+6) notation had historically been used instead of 7+5, the 7+5 option would seem quite unnatural to most people. In any case, starting from a blank slate without historic context, the 7+5 naming scheme just isn't intuitive.
- jakelazaroff 5y ago6+6 doesn’t make sense, though — there are 7 notes in any given diatonic scale. You could change the scales around so that they only have 6 notes, but then we’re discussing an entirely different system rather than just a different notation. Anyway, you can count the intervals now. For example, I know that there are five half steps between F and A#. It is slightly annoying to keep the B and E exceptions in mind, but it’s definitely possible — most people just find it easier to use the sharps and flats as a shortcut.
- sunaurus 5y agoA 6+6 notation can be used for any kind of scale, including diatonic ones. Just like a 7+5 notation can be used for non-diatonic scales. A 6+6 system makes more sense in terms of fundamentals - there's the exact same distance between each "full" letter. That doesn't limit what kind of scales you can annotate with the letters at all.
- jakelazaroff 5y agoSure, but the flip side is that every scale now has one repeated letter and at least one sharp or flat. Take C major; in hypothetical 6+6 notation, it becomes C D E E# F# A# B# In fact, I think every diatonic scale in 6+6 notation will have three or four sharps/flats.