The credit for developing that unified system typically goes to Pope Gregory, but he was just the "ideas man." It went through several permutations before a system developed by Guido D'Arezzo became the accepted system used by the Catholic Church (and thus widely disseminated throughout Europe). Before that we really have to guess, as western musicians did not have a unified system of notation. We can start to see modern tonality take shape as far back as the 9th century. I'd like to suggest some corrections for your timeline. Even today there are a few slightly different standards. That developed over time, like many other examples of standardization. How did we settle, for example, on a specific number of sonic hertz being a "C" The modern piano, being a totally fixed-pitch instrument, requires a system of tuning where all the differences between pitch centers are averaged out, yielding 12 equally spaced notes in each octave.
But all physical instruments have physical limitations, some more, some less. And without musical instruments, a singer may start on any of those infinite pitches. Since Western music favors consonant harmonies, these are the 12 most useful "notes" in any key.Įach of those frequencies (with some adjustments) also becomes the basis for its own key center.Īren't there an infinite number of possible pitches, and moreover, an infinite number of major scales
A sequence of 13 fifths will almost exactly match a sequence of 7 octaves, so discounting the slight mismatch in frequencies at the end of the sequence, there are 12 distinct frequencies derived from intervals of fifths. The octave is so fundamental that we perceive it as being the same "note". The most stable, and hence consonant, frequency interval is 2:1 (octave), followed by 3:2 (fifth). Why there are only 12 tones in the canon of Western music TL:DR: Why are there twelve keys in an octave on the piano, and how are the pitches assigned to these keys not completely arbitrary? 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.? Couldn't you construct major scales around any of these? How did we settle, for example, on a specific number of sonic hertz being a "C"? What I want to understand is, from a physical/acoustical perspective, why there are only 12 tones in the canon of Western music.
I understand how this gives rise to the chromatic scale. So I understand the formula for the major scale, and I understand the need for accidentals in order to preserve the formula for the major scale regardless of the tonic.
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