[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 136, Issue 29

[JON KIP <jon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Dec 21, 2014, at 6:08 AM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Is it generally agreed that the earliest musical scale was pentatonic 5
> tones, evolved to 8 tones, then 12?
> Where and when did 1/4 tone scales emerge in the musical time line?
> (Arabic, East Indian)

I'm neither a musicologist nor a  musical historian, (ie  I can actually play an instrument), but I'd  think that the first question is not really answerable in any concrete way. People have played sounds and series of pitched sounds banging on, or blowing across, Things-Found-In-Nature, since the first cave man told his son to "be quiet, I'm going to take a nap".

So  the answer to  your first question depends upon knowing when the first person actually CALLED a group of notes  or sounds a "scale". I wasn't there. I'll ask my teacher.

The second question is more answerable. There's a good article on Wikipedia under "quarter tone" or "quarter tone scale" that was helpful. 

As it says, some of today's 'modern' woodwind and brass instruments can play quarter tone pitches, and even some scales using alternate fingerings (ALL of which, are "blow" notes!! "). This might mean that any diatonic harmonica player who can play accurately chromatically, is half way to being able to play quarter step scales. (Or already has done it unwittingly, on the path to half steps.) 

I'd think one would have to have really good ears to learn to hear that.

This is probably easier for those whose culture already includes quarter tones, as in that article; Iran, Armenia, Turkey, Assyria, Kurdistan are listed. Arizona is not listed, so quarter tones might not be natural for you to play, Robert.

My first recollection of being asked to play quarter steps was in high school when a "Composer in Residence" (Guggenheim had paid his way, as I remember), had written some quarter steps, just to prove that he was worthy of the Guggenheim award, and we figured it out while he drank heavily. 

The wikipedia article is pretty interesting, names like Heinrich Richter, Pierre Boulez, Miildred Couper and Kartheinz Stockhausen appear to have had the quarter-tone bug as well.

That said, the first time most of us heard quarter tones was at the first school concert we attended (or played) where the music called for clarinet players to play in "unison", but those quarter tones were most likely accidental.