Re: (RL) Minor Keys - wtf?

[Maurice Rickard <maurice@mauricerickard.com>]

At 11:55 AM -0400 7/16/01, KWood@lightbridge.com wrote:
> This feels like it may well lead to a better understanding of
> what, exactly, a 'key' is, or perhaps to a sudden craving for alcoholic
> beverages.

Both, maybe.

> Up until now I have pictured keys and such as a very
> cut-and-dry collection of musical 'facts', wheras it seems to be much more
> a body of principles that can be applied to the 12-tone scale in any number
> of ways.

The breakthrough for me was to realize it as a circle, or (sometimes 
more useful) a spiral.  Things keep sliding and wrapping around.  as 
you move them.  Or maybe think of it like a compass--once you find 
North (the tonic) you slide the outer ring (chord demarcations) 
around so that they reflect the situation you're in.  ("So if the 
tonic's here, then the dominant's over there, and that's the 
subdominant...")

> I'll wager that major keys and minor keys are emphasized because
> they have the most pleasing and familiar sounds, but that other keys are
> (technically) just as valid.

I'm sure there are historical reasons for all of this, some of which 
Richard talks about in his lessons.  Harry Partch's _Genesis of a 
Music_ (I think that's the title) is also a fascinating explication 
of how scales and temperaments evolved.  Keep in mind that before 
keyboards got black keys, the major scale was always C, the minor 
scale was always A, etc.  Have a tune in G?  It's mixolydian.  Then 
think about how mind-blowing it must have been to be able to slide 
these relationships around and play, say, a G major scale, or Bb 
minor... And then there's the various different tempering systems. 
Under "equal" temperament, octaves, fourths, and fifths are good, and 
thirds and seconds less so, but at least it's generally 
consistent--you can play any tune in any key you like and it sounds 
essentially the same.  In other temperaments, there were some 
intervals you just couldn't play, because they were so far out of 
tune.  It was a necessary compromise to get the _other_ intervals in 
tune.  It's fascinating and kind of dizzying.

Fond of Just Intonation* myself,
Maurice

*ObRL, kind of: Just Intonation is the tuning system used by LaMonte 
Young, among others.  One of Young's ensemble, of course, was John 
Cale, who played drones in Just Intonation in the VU, possibly 
influencing...nah, too much of a stretch.  But Young's music (_The 
Well-Tuned Piano_ and _The Second Dream of the High-Tension Step-Down 
Transformer_--for eight trumpets) is pretty amazing stuff.
--
Maurice Rickard
http://mauricerickard.com/
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