Musical scales and temperament

We have talked about pitch, loudness, and quality for a single tone, but we haven't talked about sequences of tones and what makes them musical. If you sing a simple melody and then sing it higher, you say it is the same melody or "tune", but what is the same about it? This is the area of tuning and temperament and the building up of musical scales.

What are the basic assumptions about human pitch perception that underly the buildup of musical scales?

What is meant by "musical interval"?

Why are the musical fourth and fifth used for the buildup of musical scales?

Describe the Pythagorean and Just musical scales.

How is today's common Equal Temperament scale constructed?

What is the basis for "cents" notation? What are its advantages?

What is the just noticeable difference in cents?

Describe how the major triad differs between Just, Pythagorean, and Equal Temperament.

*Basic assumptions about pitches

*Musical intervals

*Pythagorean scale

*Just scale

*Equal temperament

*Cents notation

*Advantages of cents

*Just noticeable pitch difference

*Calculation of cents

*Harmonics in cents

*Warmup effect in cents

*Major triad differences

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Acoustics of Woodwind Instruments

Summarize the types of air columns used in woodwind instruments.

What is meant by an "upper register"?

How is the upper register achieved with a clarinet? Why is the upper register the third harmonic rather than the second?

Why is the mouthpiece of the clarinet an acoustical "closed end"?

How is the "edge tone" produced with a flute?

What are the elements in the flute which affect the efficiency of the edge tone? That is, what elements are responsible for being able to produce a clear, steady tone?

How is the upper register achieved with a flute?

*Air columns

*Open air column

*Closed air column

*Conical column

*Clarinet upper register

*Clarinet mouthpiece

*Edge tone

*Edge tone efficiency

*Overblowing the flute

*Effect of airstream velocity

*Effect of slit-to-edge distance

*Woodwind instruments

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Acoustics of Brass Instruments

The mouthpiece of a brass instrument constitutes a "closed end" acoustically, so a tube with a brass mouthpiece would be expected to produce only odd harmonics. Yet a brass instrument produces all harmonics. Describe how the brass instrument produces all harmonics.

What is the role of the bell in producing the sequence of notes in a brass instrument?

How does the mouthpiece influence the frequencies produced?

What is a pedal tone?

How do the valves change the pitch of a trumpet?

How will the pitch of a brass instrument change as the instrument warms up?

If a brass instrument produced an exact series of harmonics, which of those would be most out of tune with an equal tempered instrument like a piano?

*Closed tube resonances

*Producing a harmonic sequence

*Bell effect

*Mouthpiece effect

*Pedal tone

*Valves

*Warmup effects

*Harmonics in cents

*Brass instruments

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