On May 22, 2007, at 10:00 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
message: 6
date: Mon, 21 May 2007 22:24:46 EDT
from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
subject: [Hornlist] Question on playing melodies in a tonality
When one plays a melody, does he hear it tonally, i.e. thirds
sixths are
played where they are suppose to be harmonically, or is it played
piano tempered
since that's what we've heard a lot. _PRACTICALLY speaking, what
do we
hear? What about say major scales and arpeggios, lowered third?
I asked one
competent player which he played, he said I don't know I just play
them.
Hi,
This reminds me of a story about Charles Kavalosky, the former
principal of the Boston Symphony, who was also a physics professor
before he decided to go for a big time horn career. When he got to
Boston, he questioned a lot of the players about their intonation
theories and practice and found that most of them had little or no
knowledge of types of intonation. Specifically, except for some
string players, they did not consciously move thirds or sixths with
any intent, among other things (like paying attention to chord
changes under held notes). He was rather amazed at that, so I don't
think we should be too surprised at the discussion at hand. I think
that the fact that this was the Boston Symphony, a great orchestra,
shows that people do what they need to do to be good, whether they
understand it or not.
It's hard to say, in general terms, what we do about melodies and
harmonies from a "just" point of view, except to say that the
subjective intervals (non perfect intervals) had to evolve from
somewhere, and considering the lack of physics experts and machines
to calculate cycles per second at the time, i would have to guess
that more natural means were used to calculate intervals, like ears,
harps and things (plus a few mathematical formulas, I'm sure). A
major third, even in a song without accompaniment, would need to
fulfill the mood of the song, as would a minor one- especially a
minor one. Great masters of singing and other musical instruments
probably set the tone. As more people played together and notation
came to pass, there had to be conventions established over time. The
measuring and establishing of "exact" values for those intervals came
later- much later.
I agree with others that we, as human beings, have musical wiring
built in and things like subjective intervals such as major and minor
thirds evolved from what was pleasing or "right" for the mood of the
song, or scale, at hand. I'm also sure that there was more to it than
that as the Greeks and their counterparts in other cultures were, as
we would say, pretty sharp cats. But since most of our western music
evolved from song and singing, telling stories, dancing and religious
applications, I think it is safe to say that the "piano tuning" came
later.
So the short answer to your question of how we hear melodies is yes,
we do hear them tonally, if you must attach a name to it. I don't
think any amount of aural influence can change our inside wiring
completely (although i am sure it has some effect). We, as brass
players, for example, tend to hear the notes on our instruments where
they come out rather than where they should be, at times. We depend
on the fingerings and the instrument to make life easy for us. Many
players play first and second valve combinations sharp so often that
they start to sound "in tune" to them. So the ear can be influenced
in everyday life.
As has been stated, a tempered scale is NOT natural to us. What is
"natural" in musical tonality may vary from culture to culture, but
the ability to reproduce pitches is definitely a given- our languages
depend on it. A child can mimic a song in a second. How do THEY hear
it? It has to sound right.
A tempered scale is a mathematical construct, NOT a natural part of
our being. Our real world success, i think, comes from a combination
of study of the theory and practice of intonation- from the hearing
and singing of intervals on up- mixed with a very healthy dose of
musical experience and the trust in ourselves that we do know what to
do if we learn our craft and pay attention. Compromises and
adjustments are made. Just like life itself. All bets are off if you
are tone deaf- except playing the piano. : )
Sincerely,
Wendell Rider
For information about my book, "Real World Horn Playing", the Summer
Seminar and Internet Horn Lessons go to my website: http://
www.wendellworld.com
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