Scribd
Upload
65 views1 page

Basic Axioms: Pitch Classes: Axiom 1: Octave Equivalence

This document introduces two basic axioms of pitch-class set analysis: 1. Octave equivalence - Pitches separated by one or more octaves are considered equivalent and belong to the same pitch class. This underlies the concept of pitch class. 2. Enharmonic equivalence - In non-tonal music, enharmonically paired pitch classes like A-sharp and B-flat are treated as equivalent. This reduces the number of pitch classes from 21 to 12. Integer notation is introduced to label pitch classes without tonal biases.

Uploaded by

Ann Fee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
65 views1 page

Basic Axioms: Pitch Classes: Axiom 1: Octave Equivalence

This document introduces two basic axioms of pitch-class set analysis: 1. Octave equivalence - Pitches separated by one or more octaves are considered equivalent and belong to the same pitch class. This underlies the concept of pitch class. 2. Enharmonic equivalence - In non-tonal music, enharmonically paired pitch classes like A-sharp and B-flat are treated as equivalent. This reduces the number of pitch classes from 21 to 12. Integer notation is introduced to label pitch classes without tonal biases.

Uploaded by

Ann Fee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

1.

Basic axioms: pitch classes

Systems of musical analysis are always built upon certain axioms. An axiom is a "given": a
statement accepted as true -- in this case for the purpose of developing an analytical method.
(Of course, we can always try not accepting an axiom, to see what different analytical
insights might result.)

Our introduction to pitch-class set analysis can begin with two underlying axioms.

Axiom 1: Octave equivalence


As in tonal music, the octave seems to play a special role in non-tonal music. Pitches distant
from each other by one or more octaves can be treated as equivalent.

We must be clear about what the word "equivalent" means. It does not mean "identical";
pitches an octave apart are different pitches, and a composer would never use one when he
means the other. Rather, "equivalent" means "conceptually equal to each other" for the
purpose of our analysis.

The axiom of octave equivalence underlies the concept of pitch class (pc): all pitches that
are separated by one or more octaves are given the same name and are considered to
belong to the same class. This is a familiar concept among musicians. When we speak, for
instance, about a piece of music in D major, it's not any particular pitch D that we think of as
the tonal centre, but the pitch class D. Notice that pitch class is not itself a primary musical
experience -- we hear pitches, not pitch classes -- but a concept abstracted from that
experience.

Axiom 2: Enharmonic equivalence


In tonal music, pc A-sharp is not equivalent to pc B-flat; pitches belonging to these two
classes appear in different tonal contexts and with different structural meanings. In non-tonal
music, however, such differences no longer seem to matter. Here, enharmonically paired pcs
usually seem equivalent, and we shall assume such equivalence from now on. Enharmonic
equivalence reduces the number of pcs from at least twenty-one (actually more, counting
double-sharps and double-flats) to just twelve.

To reflect enharmonic equivalence, we shall give the pcs new names, ones that carry no
tonal biases. Using integer notation, we shall simply number the pcs from 0 to 11. You may
find that the new names take a bit of getting used to, but they will simplify some of the
operations we shall later use in analysis.

In Example 1-1 this integer notation is used to label the pitch classes represented in a
passage from a song by Webern.

Example 1-1. Anton Webern, "Dies ist ein Lied für dich allein," op. 3, no. 1, mm. 4-6. Pitch
classes

Exercise 1-1. The integer names of pitch classes

Key concepts on this page:

axiom
equivalence
octave equivalence
pitch class
enharmonic equivalence
integer notation

Page last modified 10 July 2001 / GRT

You might also like