4 ms·
Circle of fifths and number theory
- chris_wot 13y agoI am a total musical dunce. I had to look up what a chromatic scale is. Turns out, it's this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Pitch_class_space.svg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Pitch_cla... If you ignore the semitones (the sharps - # - and minors - b) if you go around the circle 5 or 4 notes at a time it turns out you eventually get back to the note C. Pardon me if this all sounds very dull and obvious, but something seems to have been missing in my education. This actually starts to open up a new world for me... Which doesn't happen very often! Similar things happened when I sat down to understand exactly what sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant and cosecant were on a circle. I suspect the same will happen when I finally understand the basics of calculus...
- mikestew 13y agoI'm sure they taught this in the music theory class that I didn't take in high school. I learned it later. It does open up the world of music, in that it's one of the things that allows one to go from rote memorization to actually playing music. Ever wonder how how musicians play with others without having ever played the song? Now you know.
- gtani 13y agothere's lots of ways music students remember the circle clockwise and counterclickwise, beginning with key signatures for C major (no sharps/flats), G and F (one sharp and flat) etc. Violins thru cello are tuned in fifths; double bass and the lowest 4 guitar strings in fourths (E-A-D-G from lowest to highest pitched). If you want to read more, there's these little $6 books http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=330968&subsiteid=66& http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=3309... http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2690028887554?r=1&cm_mmca2=pla&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book_5To14-_-Q000000633-_-2690028887554 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2690028887554?r=1&cm_m...