Re: NR 1.1 Pitches 2008-01-26

[Graham Percival]

On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:10:23 -0000
"Trevor Daniels" <address@hidden> wrote:

> Relative octave entry:
> There is a much simpler way of describing how this works.
> It's in 2.1.2 of the LM: a note is placed in the octave
> which is within three staff spaces of the previous note,
> ignoring all accidentals.  Simply count staff spaces between
> the positions of the two noteheads.  All the talk of
> doubly-augmented fourths and double-diminished fifths is
> just confusing and unnecessary.

Hmm... in other words,
- the LM has a simple explanation of this.
- the itemized list explanation about relative mode has a simple
  explanation of this.
- the final paragraph of this reference section has a music
  theoretical explanation which is confusing if you're not up
  on music theory.

?  ;)


This is entirely deliberate.  If you tell a musicology professor
that b-feses is a bigger interval than b-eisis he'll think you're
crazy, since the "fifth" in this case has 4 semitones and the
"fourth" in this case has 8 semitones.  (or something.  I'm not
going to bother counting)

We need to clarify this for people who like mathematical rules.
However, I entirely agree that most people would prefer the
"ignore accidentals" explanation; that's why that's the
explanation we use in the LM and the beginning of this doc
section.

Cheers,
- Graham