WHAT IS MICROTONALITY…AN INTRODUCTION
In all my years of playing, I have found the least understood subject to be that of tuning. Not just tuning an instrument to sound good, but: WHY are the notes on a piano (or guitar) tuned in the arrangement that they are, namely, what we call 12 tone equal temperament? Equal temperament means, simply, that every note is exactly the same distance from each other…a convenient way to measure this distance is CENTS; 100 cents is C to C#, one key on a piano, or one fret on a guitar. (there are 1200 cents in the 12 tone octave). But, the 12 tone system we all use is actually a fairly new kid on the tuning block, so to speak…throughout history, most cultures throughout the world have used systems with smaller intervals than 100 cents, and this is where the term microtone comes into play. And Western musicians have also used temperaments with more (or less) notes than 12 tone temperament; some popular tunings are 17, 19, 22, 24, 31, 34, 53, and 72 notes per octave; 19 tone temperament, for example, has 63 cents per note; 34 tone has 35 cents between notes. Charles Ives and Bela Bartok both used quartertones in pieces (24 tones/octave), and Julian Carrillo had a 96 tone system…yow.
Equal temperaments were created to play music with chords that modulate through
different keys; but besides equal temps, there are other, much older ways to tune:
Just Intonation, which uses intervals from the Harmonic Series (the overtones
formed any time a string is plucked, for example), and Pythagorean tuning, which
involves stacking intervals of a 5th on top of each other (C-G-D-A-E-B, and up
as far as you want, or, going down in 5ths, F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db), and building scales
from these intervals. It has been said that Indian music uses 22 unequal intervals,
called srutis; Arabic and Turkish music can have many intervals, from 17 to 24
to 53 (also unequal); and with string glissandos and vocal bends, Eastern musicians
are actually hitting more subtle intervals than these as well (the same goes for
blues artists). And the ancient Chinese theorists stacked hundreds of 5ths on
top of each other, and examined the scales which resulted (although they probably
did not use all of those notes in practice). Early Western musicians used Pythagorean
tuning for many years, then evolved into Meantone and Well Temperaments. Meantone
and Well temps (Well temps were also called circulating temperaments) had 12 notes
to the octave, but the notes were not equally spaced; in these systems, some keys
would be more in tune than others. Many contemporary theorists think Bach's famous
Well Tempered Clavier was tuned to some sort of Well temp, but since Bach never
specified his tuning preferences in his writings, there is still a lively debate
(to say the least) about just how Bach tuned his instruments.
I play guitars with 19, 31, 34, and 36 equal tones, and a non equal 21 tone guitar, as well as fretless axes, which I tune to different Harmonics. I know guitarists who use 20 tones, 64 (!) unequal tones, 22 tones, 24 tones, 53 tones, and all points in between; and many modern synthesizers have the capacity to retune for microtonal scales. Tuning theory is vast and ancient, and it's study and application can open many areas of exploration for creative musicians. I have found a new freedom as a player and composer, because I now have access to more subtle intervals, and the new scales and chords which come from them. I truly believe the study and application of different tunings is the pathway to the future of music. It is a wide open field, and the possibilities are endless…Neil Haverstick (Stickman)
microstick.net
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Non-12-Tone Guitar By Ivor Darreg
Nineteen for the Nineties by Ivor
Darreg
Tunings
for 19 Tone Equal Tempered Guitar by William A. Sethares
34 Equal Guitar by Larry A. Hanson
Constructing a Theory of Turkish Music
Based on Practice by Traditional Masters by Dr. Can Akkoc
Bach's Art of
Temperament by Bradley Lehman
The Infrared Frequencies of DNA Bases: Science and Art by
Susan Alexjander and Dr. David W Deamer
How to Build a Music Scale From Scratch by John Starrett
Search for a Theoretical Model Conforming to Turkish
Maqam Music by Ozan Yarman
Just Guitar by John Schneider