Glossary of musical terms and discussion about music theory, history, and physics as relates to Davis Blanchard Wind Chimes

ABS--Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) (chemical formula (C8H8)x· (C4H6)y·(C3H3N)z) is a common thermoplastic used to make light, rigid, molded products. It is a copolymer made by polymerizing styrene and acrylonitrile in the presence of polybutadiene. The proportions can vary from 15 to 35% acrylonitrile, 5 to 30% butadiene and 40 to 60% styrene. The result is a long chain of polybutadiene criss-crossed with shorter chains of poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile). The nitrile groups from neighboring chains, being polar, attract each other and bind the chains together, making ABS stronger than pure polystyrene. The styrene gives the plastic a shiny, impervious surface. The butadiene, a rubbery substance, provides resilience even at low temperatures. For the majority of applications, ABS can be used between −25 and 60 °C as its mechanical properties vary with temperature. The properties are created by rubber toughening, where fine particles of elastomer are distributed throughout the rigid matrix. ABS can be recycled. (Wikipedia)

Aerodynamic--Taking advantage of the wind's energy. The wind catcher on my wind chimes is designed with a hole in the middle to allow it to ride the wind like a box kite. It will then swing perpendicular to the wind instead of twirling around ineffectively.

Anhemitonic--Without halftones. Most common pentatonic scales are anhemitonic and are considered the most consonant, pleasing and soothing to listen to. Examples: Spring Chime, Autumn Chime, Winter Chime, Dawn, Lazy Day, Dusk, Lullaby, Ursa Major, Music Box, Ancient Echo, Spring Splendor, Autumn Aura, Winter Wonder, Lingering Lullaby, Westminster Quarters.

Antinode--In an open ended metal tube, the antinodes are found at both ends and in the middle. This is where the tube vibrates the most.

Augment--To raise a note or musical interval within a chord or scale by a halftone.

Cents--The unit division of the semitone. There are 100 equal cents in a semitone, halfstep, or halftone.

Chord--A group of notes related harmonically and usually sounded or played at the same time. Most common or simple chords are the major and minor triads, each including the fundamental, fifth and major or minor third.

Circle of Fifths--Pythagorean tuning of a scale is based on consecutive intervals of the perfect fifth, until the 12th interval has created all the notes of the chromatic scale. This last interval circles back to the starting tone or fundamental, albeit it is in a higher register. Because the perfect fifth is 2 cents sharp, the 12th interval is 24 cents sharp. This is known as the microtonal 'Pythagorean comma', a quarter of a halfstep, and is the main problem with this tuning system.

Consonance--Pleasing to the senses. Harmonic tones of the simplest mathematical ratios are the most consonant.

Chromatic--A chromatic scale contains 12 tones in successive halfsteps, each a 100 cents in Equal Temperament.

Degree--The position of a note in a scale, usually diatonic.

Demiflat--A note lowered 50 cents or a quartertone. Example: Ursa Major.

Diatonic--A scale of 7 tones, specifically the white keys of the piano; the interval structure of the white keys of the piano and any mode thereof. In Western 12 TET Music, all degrees of a scale refer to the 7 positions of the natural notes: C D E F G A B. A diatonic scale is also a septatonic scale.

Diminished--In music, diminished usually signifies the shortening of a musical interval by a halftone. A diminished triad is built on minor thirds, and this contains a flat or diminished fifth, also known as a tritone or 3 wholesteps. Diminished seventh chords are built in the same way; the diminished seventh is actually a sixth. Diminished scales are built with successive flat thirds, the sum of a wholetone and a halftone, and therefore contains a flat fifth and no natural or perfect (harmonic) fifth. Diminished seventh chords are usually used as transitional phrases or special effect. They are very versatile as there are actually only 3, each with 4 inversions. Example: Dusk.

Dissonant--Less pleasing to the senses and more likely to be irritating. Disharmonic tones derived from intervals of complex mathematical ratios are dissonant. Dissonance can add interest to a musical piece if used sparingly.

Equal Temperament--A system of tuning scales so that all note intervals are equal. This allows for easy modulation between any of the keys without dissonant or howling notes. In a 12 tone or chromatic scale, each halftone interval is 100 cents. This is known as 12 Tone Equal Temperament or 12 TET.

Feng shui--Feng shui literally means wind and water. As both wind and water are fluid elements, feng shui has to do with the flow of energy. Basic concepts of feng shui include opening up spaces for easy flow of air and foot traffic, and alignment with electomagnetic energy. Only metal wind chimes are traditionally recognized for feng shui. They should be positioned outside a window or door leading into the desired space so as to allow the energetic vibration to enter properly. A soothing sound is recommended, any that pleases your senses.

Fifth--The fifth degree of a diatonic scale. The perfect fifth is the most harmonic musical interval other than the unison and octave. The perfect fifth is 2 cents sharper than an equal tempered fifth. Its mathematical relationship to the fundamental is 3/2.

First--The first degree, root or fundamental of a chord or scale. Also known as the one.

Flat--To lower a tone. A natural interval diminished or lowered by a halftone. A flat fifth is a natural fifth diminished by a halftone, and is also known as a tritione. A flat third is a minor third, etc. Also to lower any tone by any number of cent intervals. It is designated in notation as 'b'.

Fourth--The fourth degree of a diatonic scale. The fourth is actually an inversion of the fifth. A descending fifth is the same as an ascending fourth, an octave apart. So a perfect fourth is 2 cents flatter or lower than an equal tempered fourth.

Frequency--The cyclic repetition or oscillation of something. A cycle of a vibration includes rarefication and compression. The frequency of a sound wave is measured in Hz, Hertz, or cycles per second. Each note has its own frequency. The higher the note, the higher the frequency of its sound wave.

Fundamental--The starting tone of a scale, key, or chord. It is the lowest note in root or natural position.

Grace Note--An accidental note that by grace accents, adorns and embellishes a musical performance. The notes that compose my various wind chimes are not accidental.

Halftone or Semitone--An interval of 100 cents in Equal Temperament. Also known as a halfstep. It is the musical distance from any succesive key on a piano, whether black or white. Harmonic halftones are of varying cent intervals, depending on their position in the scale. There are 12 halftones in a chromatic scale.

Harmonic--Having to do with harmony. Notes that harmonize or sound very consonant or pleasing together have simple mathematical relationships to each other in frequency, and are thus sympathetic with each other.

Harmonic Series--The series of harmonic musical intervals progressing from the simplest mathematical ratios to the more complex, represented thus: 1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8..., etc. Because Western music intervals are ascending, then it is more convenient to read the Harmonic Series as: ...8:7:6:5:4:3:2:1. 

Hemitonic--With halftones. The wind chime tunings of Summer Simmer and Summer Chime are similar to the major pentatonic scale, except that the sixth has been raised a wholetone to the major seventh. The Blues Scale of The Blues Chime and Windy City Blues adds the flat fifth (tritone), or blue note, to the natural minor pentatonic scale to produce a hexatonic hemitonic scale with 2 sequential halftones between the fourth and fifth. Hemitonic scales are more dissonant but more expressive and interesting to listen to.

Hexatonic--A scale of 6 tones. A wholetone scale is hexatonic. Examples: Ursa Major, The Blues Chime, Windy City Blues.

Internal Suspension--Stephen Burnham is the inventor of the internal pinned suspension system for hanging the metal tubes of a wind chime. It reduces damping of the tube's vibration, avoids abrasion of the cord passing through the holes in the tube, and presents a sleek appearance. It also allows the tube more action without directional restriction. Galvanized wire pins attach the cord internally and are bent in the middle to allow the cord to center itself.

Interval--The musical difference of 2 tones, usually measured in cents or number of halfsteps. There are 1200 cents in an octave, or the complete range of a scale.

Inversion--Having to do with the position of the root note of a chord. There are as many inversions of a chord as there are degrees or notes in a chord. A simple triad is in root position when the fundamental or tonic of the chord is the lowest note. It is in the first inversion when the third is the lowest note. It is in the second inversion when the fifth is the lowest note.

Just Intonation--A system of tuning scales by using simple mathematical ratios of tone frequencies for the purest harmonic tone intervals. Therefore, the octave is twice the frequency (cycles per second, Hertz, Hz) of the fundamental with a mathematical relationship or ratio of 2/1. The musical perfect fifth has a ratio of 3/2 (702 cents) to the fundamental, 1 1/2 times the fundamental frequency. The musical perfect fourth is 4/3 (498 cents). And so on. Because of these simple ratios, the tones are sympathetic and thus sound consonant or pleasing to the ear. Some are closer to Equal Tempered intervals than others. Anhemitonic pentatonic scales, such as the Greek and Chinese pentatonic scales, are the most pleasing to listen to, that is, 5 note scales without semitones (which are considered dissonant or discordant). They are generally constructed from sequences of musical fifths, the most consonant of tone intervals other than the unison (note of same frequency) and octave, and reduced to within one octave. The Chinese Pentatonic Scale (fundamental and 4 ascending sequential fifths) is actually Pythagorean in nature, but is easily transposed to the suspended Greek Pentatonic Scale (fundamental, 2 ascending fifths, 2 descending fifths), which is both Pythagorean and Just. Pythagorean Tuning involves tuning by using sequential upward intervals of the fifth, and reducing the resulting tones to within one octave. The problem with Pythagorean Tuning is that the mathematical relationships become more complex with increasing distance from the fundamental. The Greek Pentatonic Scale is considered the most soothing because of its symmetrical interval structure and unresolved or uncommitted tonality, and is the most compatible with the 12 Tone Equal Tempered Scale (12 TET). The 12 Tone Equal Tempered Scale is a compromise between pure harmonic tonality and free key modulation, so that all tone intervals are equal (100 cents per semitone).

Key--The group of notes that belong to a particular scale. It is named after the fundamental or starting tone. Key of C would be a group of notes in a scale related to its fundamental tone of C.

Major--Any chord, key, or scale that contains the musical interval, known as the major third, two wholetones above the fundamental. Major also distinguishes the degree of the second, sixth, and seventh tones if the scale.

Melody--A sequence of notes, usually with a defining cadence and hook, melodic, as opposed to harmony, which is usually 2 or more related notes played together at the same time.

Microtonal--Musical intervals significantly smaller than a halftone, usually quartertones (intervals of 50 cents). The tuning of my Ursa Major Wind Chime contains two microtones. A note that is flat by one quartertone is known as a demiflat, and I represent it crudely with a 'd'. Indian Ragas also use quartertones and microtones.

Minor--Any chord, key, or scale that contains the musical interval, known as the minor third, three semitones above the fundamental. Minor also distinguishes the degree of the second, sixth, and seventh tones if the scale.

Mode--In a given scale there are as many modes as there are notes in the scale. A given mode is determined by the bottom note it starts from. In Western music there is some confusion amongst the diatonic modes. The ancient Greeks were the first to adopt a system of modes. The information was lost for several centuries until the Gregorian Monks adopted their own system erroneously from the Greek system. The Greek modes were in descending form. The Gregorian modes are in ascending form and misnamed after the Greeks terminology. Certain patterns, chants, and emphasis were also given to different modes by the Gregorians, much like Indian Ragas. Later during the Renaissance, the system was ironed out and is now known as the Modern Church Modes. But any type scale has its modes. I compare, in name, some of the pentatonic modes I use to the equivalent degrees of the diatonic modes.

Modulation--Referring to the movement from one musical key to another. This plays especially into importance when referring to harmonic scales. Some keys are more harmonically related than others. The harmonic positions of some notes change noticably when modulating from certain keys to another, and can 'howl' dissonately. This is how Equal Temperament came to be, to tame those howling notes, by making all musical intervals equal in number of cents.

Music of the Spheres--Pythagoras, a philospher and mathematician of ancient Greece, is credited with the concept of assigning musical intervals to the then known 5 planets, or spheres, of our solar system. Kepler later became obsessed with this idea, until, late in life, mounting statistics leading to his Planetary Laws shattered any illusions of perfection in the universe.

Natural--The usual or root position of a note; that is, of the diatonic notes: C D E F G A B.

Ninth--The ninth degree of a diatonic scale, or the octave of the second.

Node--The fundamental node on an open ended tube is found at 22.421% of the tube's length from both ends. This is where the tube vibrates the least.

Octave--The eighth note in a diatonic scale, or the eighth white key on a piano. Its frequency is twice that of the fundamental or starting tone of a scale. The octave is the most consonant musical interval other than the unison.

Pentatonic Scale--A scale of 5 tones. Penta is Greek for 5. Two common pentatonic scales are the major pentatonic scale and natural minor pentatonic scale. They are really just different modes of the same scale. The major pentatonic scale consists of the first, second, major third, fifth, and sixth degrees of the diatonic scale; and is found in many musical cultures around the world. The natural minor pentatonic scale consists of the first, minor third, fourth, fifth, and flat seventh degrees of the diatonic scale; and is relative to the major pentatonic scale. A third mode, the suspended pentatonic scale, consists of the first, second, fourth, fifth, and flat seventh degrees of the diatonic scale. It is symmetrical in interval structure. The 2 remaining modes of this scale are not commonly used. There are other pentatonic scales that use different interval structures. Examples: Spring Chime, Summer Chime, Autumn Chime, Winter Chime, Dawn, Lazy Day, Music Box, Ancient Echo, Spring Splendor, Summer Simmer, Autumn Aura, Winter Wonder.

Perfect--A harmonic interval.

Pitch--The particular note of a tone, or its actual frequency in cycles per second, Hertz or Hz.

Pythagorean Tuning--A system of tuning scales, created by the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoreas, by successive descending and ascending perfect fifths, and reducing those resulting tones outside the octave to within the octave. The major pentatonic scale is produced by 4 ascending fifths, while the suspended pentatonic scale is produced by 2 ascending and 2 descending fifths. The musical fourth (inverted fifth) could also be used to create the same scales.

Quartertone--A musical interval of 50 cents or half a semitone.

Resolve--To come to rest. In music, a musical phrase usually comes to rest on the tonic or fundamental, but sometimes on the fifth or fourth, depending on the leading tones, scale, and mode.

Resonance--The duration of a vibrating tone.

Root--The normal position of a note, usually the fundamental in the bottom position. Also the tonal center of a chord, key, scale, or mode as the bottom or lowest tone.

Scale--A series of selected notes, generally spaced within an octave.

Second--The second degree or position of a note in a chord or scale, usually diatonic.

Septatonic--A seven tone scale. A diatonic scale is a type of septatonic scale.

Seventh--The seventh degree of a diatonic scale.

Sharp--To raise or augment a tone by a halfstep, or any number of cents. It is designated in notation as '#'.

Sixth--The sixth degree of a diatonic scale.

Suspended--In a chord, scale, or mode, the replacement of the third degree with the fourth. The musical result is unresolved and leaves the listener 'floating'. Examples: Autumn Chime, Lullaby, Ancient Echo, Autumn Aura, Lingering Lullaby.

Sympathetic--Vibrations that emphasize each other, and are harmonically related with simple mathematical ratios.

Third--The tone of the third degree in a diatonic scale. The third gives resolution in a chord.

Tonic--The fundamental or tonal center, designated as 'one' or 'first'.

Transpose--To move an interval structure from one key to another, or to alter the first degree to a new position in the scale, as in a mode.

Triad--A three note chord, usually major or minor, including the fundamental, third degree, and fifth degree of the diatonic scale or key.

Tritone--An interval of 3 wholesteps, or a flat or diminished fifth. Also a sharp or augmented fourth. This is considered the most dissonant musical interval, inbetween the consonant fourth and fifth. Blues scales make expressive use of this particular tone. Examples: The Blues Chime, Windy City Blues.

Unison--The same note as the fundamental. The unison is the most consonant of musical intervals.

Well Tempered--Tuning systems that temper or adjust the natural harmonic note intervals in a scale to allow more consonant key modulation.

Wholetone--A note interval in equal temperament of 200 cents. There is a total of 6 wholetone intervals in a scale one octave long (this is known as the wholetone scale). A harmonic wholetone has the mathematical ratio of 9/8 or 204 cents.