Non-Western scales

Non-Western scales


In Western music, scale notes are often separated by equally tempered tones or semitones, creating twelve pitches per octave. Many other musical traditions employ scales that include other intervals or a different number of pitches. The origin within these scales lies within the derivation of the harmonic series. Musical intervals are complementary values of the harmonic overtones series. Many musical scales in the world are based on this system, except most of the musical scales from Indonesia and the Indochina Peninsulae, based on inharmonic resonance of the dominant metalophone and xylophone instruments. A common scale in Eastern music is the pentatonic scale, consisting of five tones. In the Middle Eastern Hejaz scale, there are some intervals of three semitones. Gamelan music uses a small variety of scales including Pélog and Sléndro, none including equally tempered nor harmonic intervals. Ragas in Indian classical music often employ intervals smaller than a semitone . Arabic music maqamat may use quarter tone intervals. In both ragas and maqamat, the distance between a note and an inflection (e.g., sruti) of that same note may be less than a semitone.








The term microtonal music usually refers to music with roots in traditional Western music that employs non-standard scales or scale intervals. Mexican composer Julián Carrillo created in the late 1800s one of the first microtonal scales which he called "Sonido 13", The composer Harry Partch made custom musical instruments to play compositions that employed a 43-note scale system, and the American jazz vibraphonist Emil Richards experimented with such scales in his 'Microtonal Blues Band' in the 1970s. Easley Blackwood has written compositions in all equal-tempered scales from 13 to 24 notes. John Cage, the American experimental composer, also created works for prepared piano which use varied, sometimes random, scales. Erv Wilson introduced concepts such as Combination Product Sets (Hexany), Moments of Symmetry and golden horagrams, used by many modern composers. Microtonal scales are also used in traditional Indian Raga music, which has a variety of modes which are used not only as modes or scales but also as defining elements of the song, or raga.