Today we are going to discuss something that a lot of you have probably never heard of and that is quarter tone music. If you have ever heard quarter tone music before you would instantly recognize it as being different than anything typically heard in Western music. To most of us it may sound like music that is being played out of tune. So what exactly is it and how is it different from the music most of us know?
Let’s begin by talking about Western music. For most of us the music we are familiar with is founded upon the principles in Western Music. Everything from Rock to Pop to Symphonies utilizes the same twelve notes (or tones) that are the foundation of nearly all the music you know. But all music is not based on the principles of Western music and there are different cultures around the world that utilize notes beyond the twelve tones we are familiar with.
In our music we base things upon the smallest interval of a half step. For example, if you look at the keyboard of a piano, the smallest distance between any two keys (black and white) is a half step. On other instruments it is the same; the smallest distance between notes is a half step. Quarter tone music adds notes between these notes.
Now you might be wondering, if most instruments are made with half steps in mind, how do you produce notes between these notes? It is easier on some instruments than others. For example, on a violin – an instrument with no frets – you can simply produce these notes without much trouble provided you have the ear to produce them. There are some guitars which have extra frets which allow you to produce quarter tones as well. When it comes to piano there are a few compositions where quarter tone music is achieved by playing two pianos, one at standard pitch and another tuned a quarter step higher or lower. Here is an example of quarter tone music played on a piano.
So what does this mean? Not a whole lot to most of us. It is an anomaly to our ears and it’s something we rarely utilize in our music.
Western music is based upon 12 notes, A B C D E F G plus the sharps and flats between some notes. Other cultures have more than 12 notes or tones and some of them (like Indian music) have a great number of notes beyond our standard twelve. People who grow up with these different forms of music can actually hear more tones than someone who is only familiar with Western music. To our ears it just sounds out of tune but it is actually much more than that.
Western audiences are also indoctrinated with something called tempered tuning (See our video: Why a Piano is Never in Tune). This basically means that any two notes on a piano are out of tune with one another (except for octaves). But they are equally out of tune in all keys. When it comes to a piano there is really no way to get pure intervals like a singer or a string instrument can produce unless you tuned it to play perfectly in one key. Then all other keys will be out of tune to one degree or another. Our ears actually are used to this phenomenon so it doesn’t affect our enjoyment of the music and we hear these notes as correct even though the intonation is flawed.
When it comes to different world music there are many types of tunings that produce incredible results. I recommend listening and exploring music from different cultures for yourself. I would love to hear your comments on the subject.
Thanks again for joining us here at LivingPianos.com info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729.