Rustee
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pima practitioner
Posts: 214
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Post by Rustee on Nov 18, 2007 13:52:56 GMT -4
In relation to the intervals in scales, why exactly do they call the 4th and 5th perfect, as opposed to the major, minor, or even aug/dim intervals? Is it related to their properties when inverted, as all the others revert to their opposite when inverted? For example, I know that when taking the major interval C,E and inverting it E,C it essentially becomes a minor interval and vice versa. Yet a perfect 4th interval of C,F stays perfect when inverted to F,C now as a perfect 5th. Whew...now the word perfect looks weird.
Just wondering if that's why they're "perfect", or is there some other other special quality?
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Post by daardvark on Nov 18, 2007 19:38:19 GMT -4
They are called perfect because of their extremely simple pitch relationships resulting in a high degree of consonance and also because when they are inverted they remain perfect (a perfect fourth inverts to a perfect fifth and vice versa).
This was taken directly from wiki music interval
Here is the link as its very good reading
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music)"
This link is messed up. Copy all between the " " and paste it into your browser.
Also (I hope exalt is good) an exalt for a great question. Bravo
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Rustee
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Post by Rustee on Nov 18, 2007 20:56:26 GMT -4
Cool...I was somewhat on track then. Thanks for doing the legwork I wasn't motivated enough for.
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Post by thesmitchens on Dec 24, 2007 21:11:44 GMT -4
A little interesting tidbit pertaining to intervals.
As aforementioned, the perfects are labeled as such due to their high consonance, but did you know that the measured distance from any given root note to the perfect fifth is equal to the golden ratio?
In terms of human perception of sound, the perfect fifth is actually perceived as the most satisfying harmony of two different notes, followed by the perfect fourth. The major 7th, however, gives the strongest desire to resolve to the root note.
In case you were curious or something.
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Rustee
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Posts: 214
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Post by Rustee on Dec 25, 2007 1:16:36 GMT -4
Golden ratio eh? Sounds familiar, but I can't say I knew that...interesting.
I kinda inherently grasped the concepts, but the relevance is more obvious now regarding the 7th's and seeing the connections between other intervals.
Easiest example being the natural minor (1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7) and melodic minor scales (1-2-b3-4-5-6-7). They are both minor scales, but the natural minor's flatted 6th & 7th pull more downward towards resolution to the perfect 5th (or further), while the melodic's major 6th & 7th pull upwards to the (perfect) octave. Thus, why they are often used interchangeably depending on whether you're ascending or descending.
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Post by thesmitchens on Dec 25, 2007 23:12:04 GMT -4
Yeah, and it doesn't stop there. If you look at each note and where the half steps are, in the Natural Minor scale, the Minor Third (an important part of the character of the Minor scale) has a Major Seventh that offers push towards it. Lydian has the Augmented 4th that, while offering tension in relation to the root note (which has a Major Seventh of its own already), offers a very satisfying resolution to the Perfect Fifth, thus giving it its slightly brighter edge over the Major Scale. In contrast, Locrian has the Perfect Fourth offering that kind of pull to the uncomfortable Diminished Fifth.
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Post by Akira on Dec 27, 2007 11:24:01 GMT -4
I've never quite thought of intervals in the way being discussed here, definitely food for thought.
What's this Golden Ratio thingybob?
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Post by thesmitchens on Dec 27, 2007 18:05:10 GMT -4
I've never quite thought of intervals in the way being discussed here, definitely food for thought. What's this Golden Ratio thingybob? The golden ratio is a mathematical proportion. Say you have a line. If you were to dissect that line into two separate lines, of a certain proportion you get the golden ratio. The proportion is that you take the two lines, and the proportion of the smaller one to the bigger one is equal to what the bigger one is to the sum of the two lines connected. The root to the perfect fifth is an example of one of those occasions.
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Post by Akira on Jan 4, 2008 21:31:55 GMT -4
I found something that might be of interest when reading through a section on intonation in Dan Erlewines book "How To Make Your Guitar Play Great".
"...the ear is very forgiving of pitch adjustments of the so-called perfect intervals - i.e., 4ths, 5ths, and octaves. However, the ear will not tolerate the slightest bit of sharpness in a 3rd, 6th, or a 10th (the so-called imperfect intervals)..."
Just something to ponder.
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Post by thesmitchens on Jan 6, 2008 18:09:25 GMT -4
That's interesting. Never knew that.
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