[Harp-L] Re: Enharmonics

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Iceman wrote:

"I should have stated Equal Temperament in my comment - after all,  
that is
the evolved system used for our Western (as opposed to Eastern) music  
these
days. "


Except that it's not.  It is the most common system, used by many if  
not most instruments in Western formal music ("classical", jazz), but  
by no means all.  The strings are the biggest example of where 12TET  
is not necessary and so not always/often used.  Even on keyboards  
while it is overwhelmingly the most common, it is once again no  
longer an exclusive by any means.  Moist importantly, the enharmonics  
imposed by 12TET are not the basis of Western formal music theory, so  
to me learning and understanding theory includes learning why and how  
Cb and B differ, for example--and why they are only the "same  
frequency" in certain tuning systems.

Perhaps the most germane point is the one Tim made, that 12TET is not  
the traditional tuning for diatonic harmonicas, and while a common  
one today, still not the majority.



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()
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