Enharmonic scale

Enharmonic scale

An enharmonic scale is a musical scale in which there is no exact equivalence between a sharpened note and the flattened note it is enharmonically related to.As an example, F sharp and G flat are generally equivalent in a chromatic scale, but they would be distinguished in an enharmonic scale.

Consider a scale constructed through Pythagorean tuning. A Pythagorean scale can be constructed "upwards" by wrapping a chain of perfect fifths around an octave, but it can also be constructed "downwards" by wrapping a chain of perfect fourths around the same octave. By juxtaposing these two slightly different scales, it is possible to create an enharmonic scale.

The following Pythagorean scale is enharmonic:

In the above scale the following pairs of notes are said to be enharmonic:
* C♯ and D♭
* D♯ and E♭
* F♯ and G♭
* G♯ and A♭
* A♯ and B♭

In this example, natural notes are sharpened by multiplying its frequency ratio by 256:243 (called a limma), and a natural note is flattened by multiplying its ratio by 243:256. A pair of enharmonic notes are separated by a Pythagorean comma, which is equal to 531441:524288 (about 23.46 cents).

The enharmonic genus is only loosely related to enharmonic scales, being a scale that has a pitch distinction too fine to accommodate with flat and sharp notation.

Musical keyboards which distinguish between enharmonic notes are called enharmonic keyboards.


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  • enharmonic — adjective Etymology: French enharmonique, from Middle French, of a scale employing quarter tones, from Greek enarmonios, from en in + harmonia harmony, scale Date: 1794 of, relating to, or being notes that are written differently (as A flat and G …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • enharmonic — en•har•mon•ic [[t]ˌɛn hɑrˈmɒn ɪk[/t]] adj. mad having the same pitch in the tempered scale but written in different notation, as G sharp and A flat • Etymology: 1590–1600; < LL enharmonicus < Gk enarmónios ( icus r. ios) = en I+harmónios… …   From formal English to slang

  • enharmonic — /ˌɛnhaˈmɒnɪk/ (say .enhah monik) adjective having the same pitch in the tempered scale but written in different notation, as G sharp and A flat. {Late Latin enharmonicus in accord, from Greek enarmonikos} –enharmonically, adverb …  

  • enharmonic — adj. Mus. of or having intervals smaller than a semitone (esp. such intervals as that between G sharp and A flat, these notes being made the same in a scale of equal temperament). Derivatives: enharmonically adv. Etymology: LL enharmonicus f. Gk… …   Useful english dictionary

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