On Sep 2, 2009, at 12:35 PM, Alan Rudy wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 12:16 PM, Shane Mage wrote:
>>
>> Except for one little thing--the twelve-tones of the chromatic scale
>> reflect the basic physics of sound. The interval of the fifth is
>> the second
>> overtone of the fundamental vibration and the twelve-tone series is
>> nothing
>> but the succession of fifths:C-G-D-A-E-B-F#-C#-G#-D#-A#-E#. That
>> is a law
>> of nature, and human intellectual progress consists of recognizing,
>> understanding, and utilizing the laws of nature--in music as in
>> everything
>> else.
>>
> I don't know musical theory, and I am not a physicist, can you tell
> me why
> C(?) is fundamental, what is it fundamental to and why it is more
> fundamental than some other vibration?
The "fundamental" vibration is the "note" you hear. That note is not a pure tone--it includes a series of secondary vibrations of which the strongest ("first") is the repetition of that tone (the "octave") at twice the frequency of the fundamental, and the "second" (second strongest) is the "fifth" at 1.5 times the frequency of the fundamental vibration. I could, of course, have started the example series with any value, but C is convenient because the six accidentals ("sharp" or "flat" notes) come at the second half of the series that way.
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos