Re: [Harp-L] Re: Half-tone harmonica and music terminology

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

John -

You are right that "half note" is a measure of time and not one of pitch.

However, "half tone" is entirely correct. The smallest interval in the chromatic scale is properly called a semitone. "Half tone" means exactly the same thing. Both relate directly to "whole tone" which is an interval made up up two semitones.

The word "step"  and its derivations "half step" and "whole step," while also correct, are secondary usages.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Wed, 12/31/08, MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx <MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx> wrote:
From: MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx <MilwHarmonica@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Half-tone harmonica
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 10:37 AM

Hello, Harp-L members.
 
In western music (indigenous music of Europe, the Americas, Australia,  
Russia, popular music scales are based on a 12-tone music scale (12 equally  
distant notes within an octave ).
 
The numeric distance from one tone to the next nearest tone in the 12 tone  
(chromatic) scale is called an interval (distance) of a half step.
 
Musicians, often erroneously interchange the use of the words " half
tone,"  
or "half note," when they actually intend to say "half
step."
 
It's a guess that Borrah Minevitch meant to say, "half-step
harmonica,"  
instead of "half-tone harmonica."
 
The half-step harmonica is also known as a chromatic harmonica. When  Borrah 
referred to the half-tone harmonica, he probably meant the slide  chromatic 
harmonica.
 
Other chromatic (12 equidistant scale notes per octave) harmonicas include  
the 2-deck bass harps, the 
glissando harps (slideless chromatics), chromatic pitch pipes and 48-chord  
harmonicas.
 
Happy New Year
 
John Broecker
 
 
**************New year...new news.  Be the first to know what is making 
headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l