“Elements that are held under tension (entasis) contrast with those that are relaxed, and together they comprise a set of intersecting relationships that describe the arc and string of a bow drawn to the point of releasing an arrow. Bios Biós, as the ancient saying goes, ‘Life is a bow.’ The metaphor of a bow also appears in the Hippocratic corpus of medical tracts, where one bone setter likens properly adjusted limbs to a drawn bow in which opposite forces are balanced against one another.” — The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece
- When did musicians in Europe begin using scales that were not based on seven notes?
- Many 19th-century composers set out to look for sound elements within popular folklore and the cultural roots of their native countries, that they could later incorporate into their works. This trend or movement was known as Nationalism. However, some European countries have always used other scales in their music. An example of this is Russia—the Russians use pentatonic scales in their oldest melodies and the nationalist composers (in this case belonging to Russian Nationalism) used that resource to invest their works with that "national feeling" that identified them so distinctly. That can be a beginning.
Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Impressionists, led by Claude Debussy, went even further and incorporated scales from different regions of the world. Debussy himself, for example, used hexatonal and pentatonic scales in his pieces. Henceforth the trend continued, as these sonorities became a fresh response to a prevailing tonal system whose resources had become exhausted. But we must remember that scales other than those from seven tones have been used throughout history and since ancient times, even in Europe. That is why their sonorities are so exotic and at the same time so familiar, and it is because of this that they somehow bring us closer to our past and origin.
https://youtu.be/_MSZKjaSOrw
- Is there such a thing as irregular intervals?
- The intervals are classified in several ways, but the most common is the consonant and dissonant. That is, put simply, those that are pleasant and harmonious to our ears, and those that are shocking, strident. These two forces govern the tonal system, as it is a system that transits eternally through moments of tension and relaxation. Harmony teaches us how to get the most out of this, how to chain chords in the most balanced way. It is a dense subject, but vital in the understanding of musical theory.
— for Alberto
On the tonal system:
https://figurationoftheinvisible.tumblr.com/post/180990208043/the-tonalities-of-music-major-minor-keys
Image: John Singer Sargent, Rehearsal of the Pasdeloup Orchestra at the Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, 1879–80
