GLOSSARY

 

Chromatic – using tones from the five not in the mode.

Diatonic – using only the seven tones of the mode.

Enharmonic Equivalent is a tone which is equivalent in pitch to another, e.g. C#/Db, or Gb/F# etc..

Keynote is the principal tone in a mode – it can also be called the Tonic.

Heptatonic describes a mode consisting of seven tones.

Mode is a specific combination of tones which form the basis of a composition, or section of a composition.

Note is a single musical event, whether a high C on a piccolo or the crash of a cymbal, and whether audibly performed or recorded, on paper or computer, in some form of notation.

Pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of note, defined by its frequency of vibration.

Scale is the tones of a mode performed or notated in pitch order, either ascending or descending.

Timbre is the distinctive sound quality of an instrument or group of instruments.

Tone (sometimes rather clunkily known as ‘pitch class’) is one of the set of pitches, regardless of octave, denoted by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F and G.

Tonescape (neologism) the metaphorical tonal landscape, the tonal environment provided by a particular mode.

Triad is a chord of three tones, consisting of a root with the third and fifth above it.

If anyone has a problem with, or seeks further clarification or elaboration of, any of these definitions, I’m happy to discuss it via email or Twitter.

email: info@arco-x.com

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