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Why do we have 12 pitches in an octave?

Posted on August 27, 2022 by Author

Why do we have 12 pitches in an octave?

The idea behind twelve is to build up a collection of notes using just one ratio. The advantage to doing so is that it allows a uniformity that makes modulating between keys possible.

What are the 12 pitches in music?

In Western music, there are a total of twelve notes per octave, named A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G and G#. The sharp notes, or ‘accidentals’, fall on the black keys, while the regular or ‘natural’ notes fall on the white keys.

Are there an infinite number of pitches?

Technically, yes. Pitch can get higher and lower forever. There is no theoretical highest or lowest note. In practice, however, the range of musical notes is as it is on a piano.

Are musical possibilities infinite?

If one hundred writers each created one new melody every second, this would exhaust every possible melody in 248 years. So music is not infinite, but has a finite number of possibilities. Having said that, there is a lot of music that sounds familiar and we don’t tend to move too far away from familiar patterns.

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What’s between a semitone?

Technically, there are an infinite number of pitches in between each two successive semitones. In practice, quarter tones have been used more than most other intermediate pitches. These are pitches that are “halfway” between two successive semi-tones, or 50 cents away their lower and upper neighbors.

Does every sound have a pitch?

Because pitch is a property of sound and not just music, any sound can have a pitch. For example, when you speak your voice has a pitch, but you wouldn’t say you are making music. Same when you clap your hands or clink a fork to a glass of water, you are producing a tone with a pitch, but it is not necessarily a note.

Why are there only 12 tones in music?

The reason there are only 12 tones is because of the Harmonic series. In ELI5 terms, the ratios of these 12 notes are approximately the most harmonious. An octave is the most harmonious interval. In fact, an octave is so harmonious, it sounds to us like the same note.

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Is there an infinite number of possible pitches?

Since pitch is really wave frequency, aren’t there an infinite number of possible pitches, and moreover, an infinite number of major scales that could be constructed from any of these? For example, between E and F, though they’re only a half-step apart, aren’t there, acoustically speaking, E and 1/2, E and 1/4, E and 3/4, etc.?

What is the relationship between pitch and frequency in music?

The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch and vice versa, the lower the frequency, the lower the pitch. So, a note sounds “higher” or “lower” than another note if it has a higher or lower frequency than that note.

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