Music = B ( Repetition vs. Variation, Culture)

Music is a language where all concepts and thoughts are abstract, where semantics can be re-formulated in each work and statements are made, (using an external device, aka "musical instrument"), embedded in an imaginary grid of Time. This environment of non predefine words or meanings, makes the communication of clear ideas a tricky endeavor, and at the same time gives music the power to express emotions like no other language.

How do we justify the presence of an element in a musical phrase? Why is the ending of a certain phrase the logical conclusion to its antecedent? In other words:
What makes a musical statement valid?

There is no simple answer to this question. ...maybe there is no answer. In the end this is all very subjective. Nevertheless music must follow certain universal rules since it's meant to be interpreted and understood by us: humans and ergo by our brains (or should we say: our minds). Music must talk to us in a way that our embedded language system can understand and process.

One of the key rules music must obey is, what we could call, a "pattern-predictability" rule.
Our minds are always looking for patterns, always trying to predict outcomes, to anticipate what's next. When we listen, we use time as a grid to discern between chaos and patterns.

A metronome at 60 will click every second and, after listening to it just a couple of times, we are able to predict when the next click will come. We interpret that as a beat, probably the most simple pattern there is. Now... Is that music? Probably not. The lack of variation is what makes it not musical. If, at least, the timbre of the click would have changed over time, or some of the beats went missing at a set amount of clicks; then we would have been closer to some kind of musical statement.

That balance between repetition and variation (new information) is what turns sound into music. Too much repetition is too predictable, too monotonous, it is just sound that comes at regular intervals. Too much new information (variation) is chaos. When composing or improvising, we must always remember that's the game we're playing.

A great musician is a master of balance, of equilibrium, he/she knows when to add something new, when to create tension, and when to give us the predictable and let us feel at home.

But that's not the end of it. There's an almost unsolvable problem in all this argument: us. The Audience. The Listener. Who is 'us'? There's one more variable we need to take into account:
Culture, because, unfortunately, what's repetition to me it is not always repetition to someone else, in fact it might be chaos. And then comes the famous quote: "That's not music! It is just noise"

So we must add that parameter to our equation:
Music = Balance (Repetition vs. Variation, Culture)

While writing about this, I've been listening to Mozart, The Beatles, John Coltrane, Keith Jarret (and many more...) and I must add something to my previous statement:

A great musician is a master of balance, of equilibrium, he/she knows when to add something new, when to create tension, and when to give us the predictable and let us feel at home. A master musician is one that makes Culture minimal in the equation of Music.



mDecks

The raised 5th assumption.

What would you assume if a raised 5th degree of the key signature's corresponding major key, appears in the first few measures of a tonal piece?

Examples:
Key Signature: 0 flats, 0 sharps. Key Signature for C major. The raised 5th is G#.
Key Signature: 2 sharps. Key Signature for D major. The raised 5th is A#.
Key Signature: 3 flats . Key Signature for Eb major. The raised 5th is B natural.

In fact there's quite a few assumptions you can make. But based on the style and period of the piece (of course composer too) we can prioritize as follows:

1. We are on the relative minor key.
Explanation. The relative minor shares the same key signature as its relative major, but still needs it 7th degree raised to create the harmonic tension of the V (dominant)
Verification: Checking the first and last notes of the piece, for the relative minor chord, will probably tell us if this is true.

2. A strong vi chord is being targeted.
Explanation: In this case we would be in a major key (C). The raised 5th of that key (G#) is the 7th degree of the vi chord (Aminor) which is the 3rd of the V7/vi (see Why is there an F# on C major? post)
Verification. Checking the first and last notes of the piece, for the major chord(C) and verifiying that the chord used under the raised 5th (G#) is the V7/vi (E7) and that the chord after that is the vi (Aminor).

3. The note is part of a line cliche.
Explanation. It is very common to used a harmonic progression with alterations of the I chord.
I - I+ - I6 (sometimes keeps going - Ib7 - I7..)
Verification: Checking the chord below the raised 5th degree is still the I, and the raised 5th is a passing tone between 5 and 6.


mDecks

Why is the smallest 2nd, that can be written, negative?

If we are to write two notes a 2nd apart, we need to use 2 consecutive letters of the alphabet (such as AtoB or EtoF) or GtoA (note names repeat after G)

The smallest 2nds are then B-C and E-F, being both 1/2 steps apart. And they're minor 2nds.

Now if we use flats and sharps we can make those 2nds even smaller and they will still be 2nds

So B#-C and B-Cb are 2nds and there notes are cero steps apart (B# is enharmonic for C, and Cb is enharmonic for B).

Now if we use both alterations at the same time we have:
B#-Cb which are -1 half step apart. (minus 1 half step , that's a negative number!)

mDecks

Talking Intervals: Why is 2+2=3 ?

An interval of a second (2nd) is the distance between 2 notes which names are in alphabetical order (A-B, B-C, C-D, D-E, E-F, F-G) and G-A, regardless of their alteration (sharp, natural or flat).

If the distance between the two notes if a step (2 half steps) then the 2nd is clasified as Major.
C-D, B-C#, Bb-C are all major 2nds.

It he distance is a half step then it's a Minor 2nd.
B-C, C#-D, E-F are all minor 2nds.

If the distance is 1 and 1/2 step then it's an Augmented 2nd.
Bb-C#, Gb-A, Db-E# are all augmented 2nds.

If the distance is cero step then it's a Diminished 2nd.
B#-C, G#-Ab, D#-Eb are all diminished 2nds.

What about Gb-A#? That's 2 steps (1/2 step bigger than an Augmented)
It is called a double-augmented 2nd.

As you can see being a 2nd does not tell us much regarding distance between notes, but just distance between names of notes.

But, why is 2+2=3?
When we stack two 2nds, one on top of each other, we get a 3rd. (C-D + D-E = C-E)

Well.. We shouldn't be counting D twice, should we? (CDDE is actually CDE or C-E)


mDecks

Why is there an F# on C major?

C major is the key with no sharps or flats.
So why is there an f# on almost every piece in C major?

Well, the answer is in the piece's harmonic progression.

For a piece to be in C major, we need the C major chord to be the I. The I only feel as a I if there's a V7 before it (G7) and if we have the 7th degree moving to that 1st degree (B -->C). That G7 makes the C major stronger when it resolves to it.

But how do you make the V7 (G7) stronger? You use the V7 of that V7 (V7/V). In this case you use the V7 of G, and that's D7.

D7 has an F# in the triad (the 3rd of D) (F#--> G works as the 7th degree going to 1st)

And there's your F# on C. Every time (almost every time, we should say) you see an F# on a C major piece, the harmonic progression is going through the V7/V (that's D7). So look for the D, the A and the C in the rest of the harmony and you'll probably find them (D7 = D F# A C).

Ok... Why is there also a C# on C major then???

mDecks