375. FULLY CHROMATIC OVERTONES FLUTES :REDESIGNING THE NEY TOWARDS THE NOTES LAYOUT IDEA OF TROMBONES AND VALVED TRUMPETS

FULLY CHROMATIC OVERTONES FLUTES  :REDESIGNING  THE NEY TOWARDS THE NOTES LAYOUT  IDEA OF  TROMBONES AND VALVED TRUMPETS

Normally an overtone flute plays a major chord with 7nth with the overtones

The overtones 2-3-4-5-6-7-8 are as steps in diatonic scale the

1-5-1'-3'-5'-7'-1''

Now by closing half the only end hole ofthe overtone flute we may get the 7 major chord 

7-4#-7'-2'#-4'#-7'b-7'' 

When closing fully the only one end hole we get the same notes of the initial major chord but with one octave lower. 

From a simple point of view the 1 major chord together with  and 7 major chord givea  hexatonic scale which is a subscale ofthe 7-notrs double harmonic minor scale! 

But there is also another insteresting complication. 

For some reason which is that the overones in the various octaves do not fall exactly upon the notes of the piano or bach scale, instead of 3 note with a close hole weget a 2 note . This in total

we get an 8-notes scale  the 

1-2-2#-3-4#-5-7b-7-1'  which isnothong else than the INVERSE SAMBA SCALE (8 notes scale) .

In semitones the Shambach scale is 2 1 1 3 1 2 1 1

Sabach (Sambah): Greece

See post 227

We may notice also some nice other scales the are derived by playing obnly one hole of this flute.

We may alsonotice that the 2nd 4th 5th holes are the holes of a corresponding Fujura flute whenthe other do not exist

Then if we play the tube hole with the 1st fujara hole which here is the 2nd front hole we can easilty calculate that the resulting scale is a 8-notes scale and no other than a Bebop scale ! E.g. if the flute is with roor C it is the  G/D Bebop dominant  8 notes scale.  (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop_scale)

If we play the tube hole with the 2nd Fujara hole or 4th hole in the chromatic overtones flute we get the augmented 6-tonic scale 

And if we play the tube hole with the 3rd Fujara hole or 5th chromatic overtones hole we get the Genus Secundum 6-tonic scale which is also called enharmonic 6-scale in the hexatonic harmonicas  in post 367.

Below we discuss how by opening 6+1 new holes we get all the 12-notes chrmatic scale! 

The Ney flute is very famous and loved my many, but also as it is rim-blowing and in a way different from the quena flutes or Chinese Xiao, or japanese Shakuhachi is considered quite difficult.

While an ordinary flute utilizes mainly only 2 overtones the first and 2nd, and it is diatonic, the idea of Ney isto utlize 5,6 overtones as the natural trumpet, and instead of having holes per note of diatonic scale to have notes per semitone. But at the time that the traditional Ney was designed the 12-semitones scale of the piano and Bach did not exist. 

So we need to redesign the ney as a flute with an ordinary fipple and as a chromatic overtones flute! 

Such a modern  version of the Ney or or chromatic overtone flute or chromatic fujara, or aerophone valved-like trumpet is the next in the picture at Eb4 root note, from PVC of 12mm external diameter, and mouthpiece from ordinary soprano whistles.

It has a  chromatic 6+1 fingering system as if of an ordinary whistle except  it is not in diatonic steps but steps of one semitone. The open hole of the tume gives  Eb when all else are closed , and the rest 6 front holes give correspondingly E4, F4, F#4 G4 G#4 A4 . There is also a 7nth hole and thump hole as in the 2nd photo, which is not really necessary but as in quenas it helps also by partial opening as registry key that helps triggering easier the 3rd overtone. It gives the note A4 (which also can be give if all front and thump hole are closed and we pass from the 2nd to the 3rd overtone). These holes when used for higher overtones are as correct as the valved in a trumpet or brass instrument.

No more not less correct.

The idea to derive a full chromatic scale with this 6+1 fingering system is excatly as the idea to derive all the chromatic scale with the 7 positions valves in a trumpet. Except that in the trumpet by each valve-step the pitch lowers by a semitone while here with each additional hole the pitch increases by one semitone. As with a  trombone or valved trumpet a fully chromatic non-repeating sequence of notes with the 1st 5 harmonics would require

2ND OVER TONE: ALL HOLES FROM TUBE BOTTOM HOLE   TILL  THE 6TH HIGHEST FRONT HOLE 

notes Eb4 E4 F4 Gb4 G4 Ab4 A4 . 

3RD OVERTONE: ALL HOLES FROM TUBE BOTTOM HOLE   TILL THE  5TH HIGHEST FRONT HOLE

notes Bb4 B4 C5 Db5 D5,

4TH OVERTONE: ALL HOLES FROM TUBE BOTTOM HOLE   TILL  THE  4TH HIGHEST FRONT HOLE

notes Eb5 E5 F5 Gb5 . 

5TH OVERTONE: ALL HOLES FROM TUBE BOTTOM HOLE   TILL  THE  3RD HIGHEST FRONT HOLE

notes G5 Ab5 A5 

As with a valved  trumpet or with the slided trombone, as we move from the 1st hole to the higher holes the required speed and pressure of  blowing increases, but when we reach at the  an appropriate higher  hole it is the same as with that of the next overtone at the bottom tube  hole of the fingering as above. If we layout the notes per overtone and hole it will be a triangular matrix over the 2 dimensions (overtones)x(holes)

At the end of the post is for comparison the essential rage of a valved trumpet

 I  have crafted one more such chromatic overtone flute at Bb4 with the 6+1 chromatic fingering system. It is in the range of the standard piccolo trumpet although it is about 7 cm long .

The difference with the fingering chart of such a chromatic  overtone flute from that of a trombone with its 7 positions or a valved trumpet is slight and is that while at the trombone and trumpet the slide and the valves create a chromatic extension lower  than the root note, in the above chromatic overtones flute the holes create a chromatic 5-notes scale higher than the root note. 

Besides this difference, the idea of the fingering is essentially the same. 

Such chromatic overtones flutes are perfect to improvise in jazz and folk music with chromatic tonality with similar advantages to that of a valved brass wind.

All diatonic scales are more or less fair in mutual favoring and by shifting in the overtones when playing and correcting chromatically as part of the improvisation melody itself, makes improvisation easier and charming!

374 THE MIRACULOUS TETRACHORD: HOW 3,4 AND 5 NOTES SUBSCALES OF THE DIATONIC SCALE IN THE MELODY COMBINE WITH CHORDS IN THE CHORD PROGRESSIONS

 HOW 3,4 AND 5 NOTES SUBSCALES COMBINE WITH CHORDS IN CHORD PROGRESSIONS

 If we want to correspond simple patterns of harmony with simple patterns of melody then

1) Threechords in other words 3 consecutive notes subscales correspond to triads of chords that have distance of roots an interval of 2nd. And there are so many such 3-scales as are the notes of each chord. Furthermore threechords  occur externally as linking bridges  to consecutive  chords of the chord progression, when the chord progression have roots that have a distance an interval of 3rd. 

2) 5-chords in other words 5 consecutive notes subscales with total length an interval of 5th  occur internally to each chord of the chord progression

3) tetra-chords in other words 4 consecutive notes subscales with total length an interval of 4th occur externally as linking bridges  to consecutive  chords of the chord progression, when the chord progression is an arc of the wheel by 4ths or more generally the roots of the consecutive chords differ by an interval at most of 4th. 

THE MIRACULOUS TETRACHORD:

The previous explains why when improvising over a diatonic scale and a chord progression by chords of it, each time the chord changes, it is at most within a tetrachord that contains the last "staying"  note (melodic center)  of the last chord that we find the next "staying" note (melodic center) of the next chord. 

373. FULL CHROMATIC TONALITY THROUGH THE TRIPLE TONALITY OF A TRIAD 3 RELATIVE (IN MELODIC RELATION) DIATONIC SCALES 6 major 1 major 3 major OR OF THE CYCLE OF 7 CHORDS IN THE WHEEL BY 4THS.

 As it is known in a diatonic scale there are 3 triads of chords

1) The triad of majors 1M-4M-5M

2) The  triad of minors  3m-6m-2m

3) The minors-diminished  triad  7d-3m-6m

By converting the latter 2 triads to majors we have  the 

2b) 3M-6M-2M which is also the triad of majors of 6 major

3b) 7M-3M-6M which is also the triad of majors of 3 major

By doing so we get also all the 5 chromatic notes relative to the original 1 major diatonic scale in other words the 1# , 2# 4#, 5#  except the  6# . But the 6#=7b can also be obtained by the  1M7  thus an  full chromatic tonality.

The final sequence of major chords set in the wheel by 4ths (or 5ths) is

7M7->3M7->6M7->2M7->5M7->1M7->4M7

THUS THE VERY WELL KNOWN CYCLE OF 7 CHORDS IN THE WHEEL BY 4THS!

A gradual covering of all these 7 chords can be so that at each of the 3 stages we always have one triad of majors and 2 triads of minors or diminsihed!

For example

1st phase [from 1 major scale]

(1M -4M-5M),  (3m-6m-2m),  (7d-3m-6m)

2nd phase [from 6 major scale)

(1m -4m-5m), (3m-6m-2m)  (7M7-3M-6M)

3rd phase [from 3 major scale]

(1m -4m-5m),  (3M7-6M7-2M7),  (7d-3m-6m)

Finally if we want to correspond simple patterns of harmony with simple patterns of melody then

1) Threechords in other words 3 consecutive notes subscales correspond to triads of chords that have distance of roots an interval of 2nd. And there are so many such 3-scales as are the notes of each chord. Furthermore threechords  occur externally as linking bridges  to consecutive  chords of the chord progression, when the chord progression have roots that have a distance an interval of 3rd. 

2) 5-chords in other words 5 consecutive notes subscales with total length an interval of 5th  occur internally to each chord of the chord progression

3) tetra-chords in other words 4 consecutive notes subscales with total length an interval of 4th occur externally as linking bridges  to consecutive  chords of the chord progression, when the chord progression is an arc of the wheel by 4ths or more generally the roots of the consecutive chords differ by an interval at most of 4th. This explains why when improvising over a diatonic scale and a chord progression by chords of it, each time the chord changes, it is at most within a tetrachord that contains the last "staying"  note (melodic center)  of the last chord that we find the next "staying" note (melodic center) of the next chord. 

372 . IMPROVISING WITH A HANDPAN OR TONGUE DRUM. THE CONSTANTS-VARYATINGS METHOD. THE 4 SOURCES OF REPETITION. RHYTHM, SHAPE OF A MELODIC THEME, BASS LOOP, 1,2 CHORDS.

 The basic idea here is to chose a source od simplicity and invarious degrees in time more complexity and returning to the simplicity.     Thus SIMPLICITY->COMPLEXITY->SIMPLICITY , ETC  and also by REPETITION , ASSIMILATION, INNOVATION . THE MAIN CONCEPTIS TO CREATE A "FLOW" AND REMAIN INTHE "FOW" A TERM OF PSYCHOLOGY THAT DESCRIBES THE FLOW OF ENERGY AND CREATIVE FORCE FROM THE IMMORTAL SOUL TO THE MORTAL PERSONALITY . The improvisation with such a melodic percusion instrument like a handpan or tongue drum (which is much like a metallophone) is the 1st type of improvisation (single instrument and unpredictable rhythm, unpredictable harmony, unpredictable melody ) as in post 295. 

We should not forget of course the 3 principles of improvisation as the post 295,

BASIC PRINCIPLE 1=HARMONY POLARITY 

BASIC PRINCIPLE 2: MELODIC MONOTONICITY-VARIATION POLARITY

BASIC PRINCIPLE 2: THE BIOWARE OVER THE HARDWARE.

For analysis of these 3 principles see post 295. 

THE 4 SOURCES OF SIMPLICITY AND CO9NSTANTS REPETITIONS ARE 

1) RHYTHM CONSTANTS(GROOVE) (We keep the rhythm invariant and we shift it over the musical notes and octaves)

2) ASCENDING-DESCENDING-STAYING  SHAPE OF A MELODIC THEME CONSTANTS (We keep the melodic theme shape invariant and we translate in the scale , or invert it or elongate it)

3) A BASS LOOP THAT REPEATS (OSTINATO CONSTANTS)  (We keep a bass loop invariant and we enhance it with melodic themes) 

4) ONE OR TWO CHORDS ALTERNATION (CHORDS CONSTANTS) (We keep the harmony of the 1or 2 chords invariant and we create parallel fitting melodic themes)

Here is a video by a nice girl and improviser who explains these 4 sources of simplicity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEuwaKR0cbY&ab_channel=AmyNaylor

371. THE MOST CHARACTERISTIC ADVANTAGES IN THE FLOW OF PLAYING MUSIC OF SOME OF INSRUMENTS.

 There are musicians that play 5-10 or 10-12 different types of instruments. An excellent example is Gunhild  Carling. This is not so much the result of a special irreplaceable inherent talent of a special artist as it is the result of a special talented way to learn  playing music.  It the result of a special  method of learning music and playing music. 

Each type of musical instrument is exceptionally good for some specific style or way of playing the music that no other type of musical instruments is as comparable good and capable of . 

Here si a list of examples

 

1) FLUTES-WHISTLES 

They  are particularly good for angelic sound, that because of the blowing makes the musician emotionally involved more that say just playing with the hands. Furthermore they are capable of easy trills and ornamentations , that other types of wind instruments are not capable.

 

2) HARMONICAS 

They are particularly good for creating easily melodic solos that are by default 50% intervals of 3rds and 50% intervals of 2nds. They are also very good in alternating solo with a locally fitting chord or pair of notes. Furthermore because of the blow and draw of breath they make the musician much emotionally involved. At low octaves the metal reeds are incorporated very well in the pipe organ which is a sound of better color than wooden reeds. 

 

3) CLARINETS, SAXOPHONES, OBOE,  CHALUMEAUX , DUDUK, XAPHOON ETC

They are particularly good in producing loud and non-breathy sound at the 4th octave compared e.g. to flutes. And as the flutes too  they are capable of easy trills and ornamentations ,

 

4) TROMBONES

They are exceptionally good in producing loud sound at the low 3rd and 2nd octave, and very close to the human voice. Furthermore, the slide of trombones gives a very pathetic and human-like glissandi of the sound of the musical notes which is unique among other instruments.

 

5) GUITARS, MANDOLINES, BOUZOUKI, UKULELE, CUATRO ETC

The guitars and ukulele-like tuned such instruments  are particularly good in playing easily fast harpisms (parts of arpeggios) over the strings of a chord , which gives a flowing harmonic solo or counter melody to a main melody.

6) FRETLESS GUITAR , OUD ETC

Here the main advantage is of course that can be played , all frequencies , even outside the  12-notes Bach-scale , like harmonics (overtones) and subharmonics (undertones). The glissandi that can be produced are magical.  But also one special characteristics is that because there are not metallic frets, when the string is pressed by the finger on the fingerboard, that sound is like a muted sound with a slight indeterminacy of the pitch, like a drop of water falling on a clay pitcher. 

7) BOWED STRING INSTRUMENTS

Here obviously the main characteristic advantage is not so much the continuous sound (which the winds have also), but the rhythm that bowing can give to a continuous note (which the winds cannot give so easily). Also that it is easier to sustain longer continuous notes compared to flutes. 

8) THE HARP, THE PANFLUTE

Here the main advantage are continuous up or down among the full scale and in many octaves of all the strings and notes ofthe scale. The main area of advantage and "flow" in the harpare diatonic solos and secondly chords and arpeggios of them. The sound of the harp due to the high impedance (because of small sounbox , the energy remains in the strings that pulsate longer) the sound is.....celestial. Furthermore in the harp there is great  easiness that we can alternate a solo with its locally fitting chord (as it is also done with harmonicas, that some times are also called harps). 

9) TONGUE DRUMS (HAND PANS, RAV VAST DRUMS ETC)

Here obviously the main characteristic advantage is to play melodic percussion rhythms.

10) When we shift to digital instruments in the tablet , or as special midi instruments etc, w get a whole space of different advantages. One of the most amazing examples is when the notes e.g. of a diatonic scale have a  2-dimenisonal layout (e.g. Vertically by 3rds and horizontally by 2nds) where we may play randomly horizontally inside say a 5-notes subscale of the diatonic and vertically in only 3 rows, thus temporarily inside one only chord.  This also can be done with string instruments like guitar, oud or cuatro, when the tuning is an overtone tuning, so that the chords of the default scale are played in one or at most 2 frets. 

 

 

370. THE TOOLS THAT SET SIMPLICITY IN PERCEIVING ANY MELODY

 As we have metioned efore inother posts, the 3 main tools to set simplicity in the perception of the melodies are 

A) PITCH STATICS : THE THREECHORDS AND TETRACHORDS (3 OR 4 NOTES Micro-subscales) in which the elementary melodic themes occur.In fast soloing ,they serve a s random-cloud palying aroun a note ofthem. 

B) RHYTM: The realization of an elementary melodic theme with a rhythmic patter, and the full melody by  a progression of rhythmic patterns

B) PITCH DYNAMICS : THE 3 POLARITIES , UP-MOVES, DOWN MOVES , STATIONARY  OSCILALTIONS

In other posts we have called the realizations of the 3 dynamics in the threechords and tetrachords, as far as abstract order-structure is concerned, as "Dolphin -Words". 

Synethesia (translating sounds to colors and shapes) plays also an important role in simplifying the perception of melodies 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVC3E16FCrk&ab_channel=TheRoyalInstitution

369. 3 OR 4 CHORDS HARMONICAS

 3 OR 4   CHORDS HARMONICAS

In this post we describe some (15 types ) of easy playing and good sounding 3-4 chods harmonicas. Of course we should remember that if we want all 7 chords of the diatonic scale in the harmonica we must utilize the cyclic tuning. The value of lesser number of chords in the harmonics is simply to focus on specific styles harmony simpe improvisations 

The rule for 2 or 3 or 4  chords-based  tunings is that 

1) horizontally either in the blow row or in the draw row are not allowed intervals other than 3rds, 4ths, 5ths for reasonsof harmony. 
2) But any inversion of the chord is allowed

3) And of course you try to put as many notes of the diatonic scale as possible and with the right pitch order, so that in cyclic  sequence they are in the smalest possible intervals

The way to play such harmonicas is  better not uniform distribution of time among the notes but to spend more time in the 3 zones (either blow or draw) of 3 consecutive notes that define the pattern of the 3 or 4 chords this  3+3 +3 holes.

The role of such 3 or 4 chords tuning of harmonicas is not to play all possible songs and melodies (this is best done by the cyclic tuning) but to improvise on melodies that are accompanied only with these 3 or 4 chords AND  to play easily only these 3 or 4 chords as it is

simple to know where to find them. This combination of solo playing and chord playing when estricted to 3 or 4 chords only is best done with such tunings and not with the universal cyclic tuning than can play of course the same thing but in a quite more difficult way requiring significant skill. If the improvisation melody in such 3-4 chords harmonicas requires passing notes  that exactly missing notes from the sequence ofthe diatonic scale, then bending of notes might apply. On the other hand the missing notes define subscales of the diatonic scale that are beautiful and fitting best with the chords

We remind the reader what the letters inthe next mean

M=major 

m=minor

d=diminished

The most obvious layout  of the 1M 4M 5M major chords ofthe diatonic scale that has 3 times the 1M

 2 times the 5M and one time the 4M is  the next for the Fmajor scale

The chord positions are as in the next table

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			4M			1M
draw	5M			1M			5M

with tuning table 

This pattern of 3 basic chords,of the Ionian mode (major),can apply also to all 7 modes, as  each mode

harmonically can be characterized by its 3 main chords A1 (root) A4 (on 4tth step) A5 (on the 5th step.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	A1			A4			A1
draw	A5			A1			A5

So all the modes are the next triads of chords

IONIAN= 1M-2M-5M

DORIAN=2m-5M-6m

FRYGIAN=3m-6m-7d

LYDIAN=4M-7d-1M

MIXOLYDIAN=5M-1M-2m

AEOLIAN=6m-2m-3m

LOCRIAN=7d-3m-4M

E.g. the FRYGIAN mode would be 

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	3m			6m			3m
draw	7d			3m			7d

with

A1=3m               A4=6m      A5= 7d

If we want to set the 3 basic major chords of a diatonic scale 1M, 4M, 5M at the blow row ,together with their closest from below diminished chords (that resolve to them) that is 7dim, 3dim, 4#dim , then this is possible with a bonus of two additional chords apearing in the draw row the 3m and 6m.
Here is how this can be done for the G major diatonic scale in the next table. The 3 basic major chords are Gmajor, Cmajor Dmajor in the blow row, and the 3 diminished chords that the resolve to them at the draw row are the  F#dim, Bdim, C#dim. The bonus chordss are the Bm and Em. The total 3 octaves scale has interval structure  2-2-1-2-4-1-4-1-2-2-1-4-4-1-2-2-1-2-2

The chord positions are as in the next table

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			4M			5M
draw	7d			3d			4#d

If someone does not want to utilize the resolving diminshed chords and wants to remain inside the diatonic scale on way to do it is as in the next table for the C major scale

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			4M			1M
draw	7d			5M			7d

Notice that the main goal of such a tuning is not to play all posible songs of the C major scale (this is done by the cyclic tuning) but to play songs and improvise over the 3 major chords of the scale 1M 4M 5M.

Still another version of the 1M 4M 5M that has 3 times the 1M 2 times the 5M and one time the 4M is  the next forthe Fmajor scale

The chord positions are as in the next table

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			4M			1M
draw	5M			1M			5M

And still another alternative is the

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			1M			4M
draw	7d			5M			1M

With tuning table at  the C major the one below

If on the other hand we want to substitute the 4M chord with the minor relative 6m , then a possible tuning for the F major scale would be the next table

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			6m			1M
draw	7d			5M			7d

While if we want as in the blues to substitute the 4M with the lower relative chord 2m, then a possible tuning would be as in the next table for the G major scale. IN MY OPINION THE RICHTER TUNINGI SNOT THE OPTIMAL TUNING TO PLAY IMPROVISATIONS OVER THE TRIAD OF CHORDS I  ii   V (or 1M 2m 5M) . The next tuning iS CLOSER TO THE OPTIMAL FOR IMPROVISATIONS OVER THE TRIAD I  ii   V.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			2m			1M
draw	7d			5M			7d

Stil another version o 1M , 2m 5M is the next for the C major scale

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			5M			1M
draw	7d			2m			7d

We may compare it with  the Richter tuning

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			1M			1M
draw	5M			2m			7d

For a minor chords triad like the iii, vi, ii, (3m , 6m, 2m) the next table of tuing is a way for the Bb diatonic scale

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	6m			2m			6m
draw	3m			6m			3m

The full 3-octaves scale in semitones for te abive harmonica is 2-1-4-3-2-3-2-1-4-2-1-4-3-2-2

Notice that there in it the inverse of the Greek-Richter pentatonic 2-1-4-3-2 (see post 117 ) which is maximal harmonic, and is repeating twice in the full 3-octaves scale. Also there is the 3-2-3-2 which is 4 notes part of the standard pentatonic scale 3-2-3-2-2.





For triads like  1M 4M 3m the next table is a  way for the G major diatonic scale

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			4M			1M
draw	7d			3m			7d

MORE TUNIGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH 4 CHORDS LIKE THE NEXT PATTERNS

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	4M			5M			4M
draw	1M			2m			1M

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	4M			5M			4M
draw	3m			1M			3m

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	1M			4M			1M
draw	7d			3m			7d

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
blow	4M			5M			4M
draw	1M			6m			1M