3 ms·

I don't understand the interval thing. Anyone who knows what 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' sounds like knows what an octave sounds like, and anyone who has seen

I don't understand the interval thing. Anyone who knows what 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' sounds like knows what an octave sounds like, and anyone who has seen 'Star Wars' knows a perfect fifth. Does he mean two notes played at the same time?

scrozier 3y ago
I think _maybe_ he meant that you can't tell that you heard a C and an F, only that you heard a perfect fourth. Even that's not 100% true: some people can tell. And it's certainly not what he said.
- superpope99 3y ago
  I believe what he is referring to is the idea that you can't tell the difference between eg. an "augmented second" and a "minor third". One is written e.g. C-D#, one C-Eb. I've always found the distinction between these two types of interval largely pointless - for exactly his reasoning. They sound the same. Potentially they are useful in discussing theory in writing, potentially they are relevant when tuning using non-equal temperament. But knowing this distinction doesn't help you make music that sounds good. An ear trained pianist, for example, would not distinguish these two intervals, and I would argue that would not be a limiting factor to the quality of music they could produce.
  - 21echoes 3y ago
    the reason they are named differently and are notated differently is that they serve different functions. they're more or less homophones. or, perhaps to keep it within the artistic sphere, they're like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checker_shadow_illusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checker_shadow_illusion and other "same color" illusions -- they are technically the same, but taken in context they signify different things. you would build different chords around them, you would play different melodies around them, etc. in other words, it's not just when writing them out in english that we treat those two intervals differently -- we treat them differently while using them during music you are, of course, correct that many very competent musicians would not correctly name this distinction using the official theory terms. but that doesn't mean that they don't understand the distinction when using them in musical contexts, or that the distinction is not meaningful. plenty of professionals are experts at something without being able to describe it perfectly in words
  - HPsquared 3y ago
    It depends on the instrument and tuning system. In 12-tone equal temperament they are the same. Some tuning systems treat them differently though, in fact some early keyboards had separate keys, the black keys were split in two so D# was a different key to Eb. Called "split sharps". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_sharp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_sharp
DavidWoof 3y ago
This statement appears in the section on naming intervals. Does "Greensleeves" start with a minor third or an augmented second? Strictly speaking, you can't actually know the name of the interval until you see the written notes, although obviously you can make some educated guesses based on the standard practice of the music style.

scrozier 3y ago

I think _maybe_ he meant that you can't tell that you heard a C and an F, only that you heard a perfect fourth. Even that's not 100% true: some people can tell. And it's certainly not what he said.

superpope99 3y ago
I believe what he is referring to is the idea that you can't tell the difference between eg. an "augmented second" and a "minor third". One is written e.g. C-D#, one C-Eb. I've always found the distinction between these two types of interval largely pointless - for exactly his reasoning. They sound the same. Potentially they are useful in discussing theory in writing, potentially they are relevant when tuning using non-equal temperament. But knowing this distinction doesn't help you make music that sounds good. An ear trained pianist, for example, would not distinguish these two intervals, and I would argue that would not be a limiting factor to the quality of music they could produce.
- 21echoes 3y ago
  the reason they are named differently and are notated differently is that they serve different functions. they're more or less homophones. or, perhaps to keep it within the artistic sphere, they're like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checker_shadow_illusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checker_shadow_illusion and other "same color" illusions -- they are technically the same, but taken in context they signify different things. you would build different chords around them, you would play different melodies around them, etc. in other words, it's not just when writing them out in english that we treat those two intervals differently -- we treat them differently while using them during music you are, of course, correct that many very competent musicians would not correctly name this distinction using the official theory terms. but that doesn't mean that they don't understand the distinction when using them in musical contexts, or that the distinction is not meaningful. plenty of professionals are experts at something without being able to describe it perfectly in words
- HPsquared 3y ago
  It depends on the instrument and tuning system. In 12-tone equal temperament they are the same. Some tuning systems treat them differently though, in fact some early keyboards had separate keys, the black keys were split in two so D# was a different key to Eb. Called "split sharps". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_sharp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_sharp

DavidWoof 3y ago

This statement appears in the section on naming intervals. Does "Greensleeves" start with a minor third or an augmented second? Strictly speaking, you can't actually know the name of the interval until you see the written notes, although obviously you can make some educated guesses based on the standard practice of the music style.