sixth – Untempered Music

The Power of the Seventh Chord

ByGary June 21, 2013August 25, 2017

The V chord, the major chord based on the 5, is a powerful compositional tool. It points, very clearly and with a lot of tension, directly at the tonic. If you want to lead the ear to the I, the V chord is the top-of-the-line triad. Why this is so is still a bit mysterious…

The Lattice | The Notes

Mixed Messages

ByGary November 21, 2012August 18, 2017

The harmonic lattice can be divided into four quadrants. Northeast is pure overtonal energy. All these notes are reached by multiplication alone. Powers of 3 and 5 are in the numerators, and the denominators are all powers of 2. Southwest is pure reciprocal energy. You get there by dividing. All the 3’s and 5’s are…