The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales by Yamaguchi, Masaya M.A.Copyright © 1999 by Yamaguchi, Masaya ALl rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, International Copyright Secured Printed in the United States of America Yamaguchi, Masaya. ‘The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales / Yamaguchi, Masaya, Originally entitled “The Subset Concept” ISBN 0-9676353-0-6 1. Musical intervals and scales. 2. Composition (Music) 3. Improvisation (Music) Non-Exclusive Distributed by: Charles Colin Publications 315 West 53rd Street New York, N.Y. 10019 Telephone (212) 581-1480 Fax (212) 489-5186 www. charlescolin. com Dedicated to the friendship between Dr. Yusef Lateef and John Coltrane Special Thanks to: My family Dean David Bushier (CCNY) Dr. Todd Coolman Prof. Kaise, Chiaki (Meikai Univ. ) Dr. Yusef Lateef Meikai University City University of New York i t i i . i q \ \ i 4 \ ( i \ \ 1CONTENTS Basic Concepts and Definitions Preface Some Suggestions for the Use of This Book . Definition . “The Subsets of Limited Transposition” “Chromatic Palette” List of Subsets (= Grouped-Notes) ‘Three-Note Subsets : + The 19 Three-Note Subsets .. + Order by Normal Form . + The Complete List of Three-Note Subsets . + Derivatives Reference ... + The Interval Vector Grouping Four-Note Subsets ..... Ee + The 43 Four-Note Subsets. + Order by Normal Form .... : + The Complete List of Four-Note Subsets... + Derivatives Reference ... + The Interval Vector Grouping . Five-Note Subsets ......... + The 66 Five-Note Subsets. + Order by Normal Form .... + The Complete List of Five-Note Subsets + Derivatives Reference ...... + The Interval Vector Grouping - Six-Note Subsets . + The 80 Six-Note Subsets + Order by Normal Form 5 + The Complete List of Six-Note Subsets . + Derivatives Reference . + The Interval Vector Grouping - 34 Seven-Note Subsets ...... : + The 66 Seven-Note Subsets |. + Order by Normal Form + The Complete List of Seven-Note Subsets - + Derivatives Reference .. + The Interval Vector Grouping .. MUSIC hla b Ve 13 20 32 a7Eight-Note Subsets ..... ceeeeee Peed 7 The 43 Eight-Note Subsets : ses 62 Order by Normal Form... 63 + The Complete List of Eight-Note Subsets ........ 64 + Derivatives Reference ceeeee 12 + The Interval Vector Grouping ...... ve 78 Nine-Note Subsets coe + The 19 Nine-Note Subsets .. : + Order by Normal Form . : : + The Complete List of Nine-Note Subsets + Derivatives Reference .. - + The Interval Vector Grouping . 79 Ten-Note Subsets ...... + The 6 Ten-Note Subsets . + Order by Normal Form .. + The Complete List of Ten-Note Subsets Derivatives Reference ........... + The Interval Vector Grouping 89 Eleven-Note Subsets .... : + The 1 Eleven-Note Subset + The Complete List of Eleven-Note Subset + Derivatives Reference ..... + The Interval Vector Grouping 95, Work-Cited 4 Appendixes Work-Cited .... Appendix I Allen Forte's “The Structure of Atonal Music” ........ 100 Appendix fl “The 49 Pentatonic Scales by Nicolas Slonimsky” 105 Appendix Ml “Scales for Jazz Improvisation” . 107 i i ell ll elle el el ETE h Llti—e.Dhlt—__ |”The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales by Yamaguchi, Masaya MAL 1999 Preface This book is intended to be a research reference book for all the musicians. In other words, this is a complete dictionary of all the possible scales. As its subject covers all the grouped-notes (from 2-note to 11-note) in the chromatic scale, I refrained from using the term “scale” in this book. Instead of the “scale”, I paraphrased it in a plain term “subset.” In the concept, only the chromatic scale should be called as a “superset.* That is to say, from any 2-note to any 1l-note can be described as “subsets"(extracted from the “superset,” that is, the chromatic scale) by the concept. Surprisingly few studies have so far been made at the possibility in musical scales. I should like to explore a further possibility, which to the best of my knowledge has never been examined: This is the first of its kind which established the complete system of all the possible scales. The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven: Yale University Press) by Allen Forte has established terminology and the set-type (= grouped-note) labels which are widely used in the field of (classical) atonal music. Though it is also a valuable research book, much basic theory in his book is designed for the entire atonal music theoretical community of the twentieth century. On the other hand, the Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales is intended to serve the needs of a variety of readers who are interested in the imaginative formation of musical Scales. Of course, this book can be also used as a powerful analytical method in the field of the modern atonal music. Since the Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales contains all the possible scales, it may be assumed to be a “taxonomy” in musical scales. We can classify any of ethnomusical scales into unified symbols (= subset-code) by the method in this book. For instance, 1 2 3 5 6 is called as “Major Pentatonic” in Western music but it has various names among different races. As the result of the method, 1 2 35 6 can be classified as *5N(3)a.” I am hoping that this book will help the integration in any music on this planet for our mutual respects and understandings. wie he Yamaguchi, Masaya (Mr. ) :NOTE: The reference conversion table of Allen Forte’s set types labels in The Structure of Atonal Music into the subset-code in this book are given in Appendix ISOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE USE OF THIS BOOK First of all, every musician should have a basic understanding of scales. Though it is a little advanced, Appendix M should be acknowledged as the basic scale syllabus. Having made this distinction, we may further explore the world of unusual scales. Don’t be afraid to experiment with “dissonant” or “outside” scale patterns. Experiment familiarizes yourself with them. In other words, the users of this book have already realized that the value judgment of dissonance/consonance has been always changing in music history. Now is the time to make your own voyage! Basically, non-diatonic scales will sound “exotic” or “mathematical”: If you need to know the “exotic” aspect of unusual scales, you should go to the field of ethnomusicology. If you want to know the “mathematical” aspect of unusual scales, it would be advisable for you to study the modern atonal music in the twentieth century. The following annotated bibliography suggests a few avenues to your future travels: Jazz / Rock: Holdsworth, Allan. Just for the Curious. Miami: CPP/Belwin, Inc., 1994. A Gramay nominated fusion guitarist suggests his own established system of unusual scales. lateef, Yusef. Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns. Amherst: Fana Music, 1981. This work amounts to over fifty years of research by Dr. Yusef Lateef. The book is designed for musicians, composers and music teachers to stimulate their creative urges. The book is also designed for musicians who perform “autophysiopsychic” music. Liebman, David. Chromaticisa/ Non-Diatonic Scales. New Albany: Janey Aebersold, 1988. This is the best book which will guide you to explore the imaginative formation of unusual scales in jazz improvisation. Classics Forte, Allen. The Structure of | Press, 1973. A widely-accepted research book in the field of modern music. Messiaen, Olivier. The Technique of My Musical Language. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1944. The symmetric scales, ‘Modes of Limited Transposition” are exemplified by a distinguished French composer. Slonimsky, Nicolas. Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns Scribner, 1947. a ‘This book is famous for the adoption by the legendary jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane; however, this is not so practical except to do “keyboard exercises.” Straus, N. Joseph. Introduction to Post Tonal Theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990. This book is the most intelligible one which gives an overview of some recent developments in pc set theory (in modern music). Since most ethnomusical books contain misinformation in some aspects, T do hot recommend anything. It would be more advisable to go to the recordings by reliable sources than to go by books. this book aims to activate your knowledge of the imaginative formation of settee, [R short, I compiled a definitive encyclopedia of all the possible scales, By this ook, you became a painter with a palette of full possible colors, ime Recommended books aight suggest you to learn “HOW TO" paint. BUT no one can eesen You “MAT TO" paint: Ask not what books can do for you, BUT ask yourself anat you can do for your own music by the Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scale tonal lusic. New Haven: Yale University New York: * Definition: “Autophysiopsychic music” is music from one’s physical mental and spiritual self (by Dr. Yusef Lateef).0 a Definition Chromatic Palette The Chromatic Palette chart is a governing idea of this book and is intended to elucidate the formation of the whole musical scales (= subsets) systematically. In the formation of subsets, the number of semitones (in a row) in the subsets is an important factor to establish the classification system of the concept: The Chromatic Palette is relevant to the chromaticism in all the possible subsets. For example, 1 }3 4}5 5 $7 has three semitones (4 }5 5) in a row and its status can be clarified in the Chromatic Palette chart. Since 1 }3 4 }5 5 }7 consists of 6 notes, look at the left side of the chart and go to “6-note.” Then, move on to the above for “3 S.T.* (which means three semitones): The 6-note, 1 3 45 5 }7 is classified in “33 possibilities 6N(27)-(59).” And if you go to the section of “derivatives reference (for 6-note),” you will figure it out as “6N(52)f." It is noteworthy that 6N(52) is within “33 possibilities 6N(27)-(59)” in the Chromatic Palette chart. To say the least, we could explore further possibilities in the 6-note subsets (three semitones in a row) than calling it as “Blues Scale or Minor Pentatonic with 5.” Enharmonic Equivalence In the tonal system, an E} is not the same as a Df; however, due to the nature of the subject in this book, the distinction is mostly ignored. It depends on whether a musician treats a subset of notes tonally or not. For the sake of this thesis, I unified all the possible subsets in the notation. The Interval Vector Grouping The sonority of a grouped-note can be labeled by listing all the intervals it contains. For example, a major triad, 1 3 5 can be broken down into three intervals: Perfect Sth (= Perfect 4th) —_—s 1 305 Lies Major 3rd minor 3rd We should not overlook that all the intervals can be broken into the following six categories minor 2nd = Major 7th (due to its inversion) Major 2nd = minor 7th minor 3rd = Major 6th Major 3rd = minor 6th Perfect 4th = Perfect Sth Dim5: Diminished Sth = Augmented 4th We can then summarize the interval content of the major triad as follows: m2 M2 m3 M3 PA Dims no. of occurrences: 0 0 1 1 1 0 Though Allen Forte’s book adopts the integer notation like123456789. for the interval vector, this book does not use the notation because of the nature of Thesaurus style book which covers a variety of readers (who are interested in the imaginative formation of musical scales). To keep things simple, the order system, m2-M2-m3-M3-P4-DimS is utilized in this book: The interval vector of the major triad is, therefore, labeled, 0-0-1-1-1-0. :NOTE: For detailed arguments for this subject, you may refer to three widely used books (though the books present different criteria severally). Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973); John Rahn, Basic Atonal Theory (New York: Schirmer, 1980); and Joseph N. Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990).SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE USE OF THIS BOOK First of all, every musician should have a basic understanding of scales. ‘Though it is a little advanced, Appendix M should be acknowledged as the basic scale syllabus. Having made this distinction, we may further explore the world of unusual scales. Don’t be afraid to experiment with “dissonant” or “outside” scale patterns. Experiment familiarizes yourself with them. In other words, the users of this book have already realized that the value judgment of dissonance/consonance has been always changing in music history. Now is the time to make your own voyage! Basically, non-diatonic scales will sound “exotic” or “mathematical”: If you need to know the “exotic” aspect of unusual scales, you should go to the field of ethnomusicology. If you want to know the “mathematical” aspect of unusual scales, it would be advisable for you to study the modern atonal music in the twentieth century. The following annotated bibliography suggests a few avenues to your future travels: Jazz / Rock: Holdsworth, Allan. Just for the Curious. Miami: CPP/Belwin, Inc., 1994. A Grammy nominated fusion guitarist suggests his own established system of unusual scales. Lateef, Yusef. Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns. Amherst: Fana Music, 1981. This work amounts to over fifty years of research by Dr. Yusef Lateef. The book is designed for musicians, composers and music teachers to stimulate their creative urges. The book is also designed for musicians who perform “autophysiopsychic” music. Liebman, David. Chromaticism/ Non-Diatonic Scales. New Albany: Jamey Aebersold, 1988. ‘This is the best book which will guide you to explore the imaginative formation of unusual scales in jazz improvisation. Classics: Forte, Allen. The Press, 1973. A widely-accepted research book in the field of modern music. Messiaen, Olivier. The Technique of My Musical Language. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1944. ‘The symmetric scales, “Modes of Limited Transposition” are exemplified by a distinguished French composer. Slonimsky, Nicolas. Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. New York: Scribner, 1947. ‘This book is famous for the adoption by the legendary jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane; however, this is not so practical except to do “keyboard exercises. * Straus, N. Joseph. Introduction to Post Tonal Theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990. This book is the most intelligible one which gives an overview of some recent developments in pc set theory (in modern music) Since most ethnomusical books contain misinformation in some aspects, I do Hot recommend anything. It would be more advisable to go to the recordings by reliable sources than to go by books. This book aims to activate your knowledge of the imaginative formation of scales. In short, I compiled a definitive encyclopedia of all the possible scales. By this book, you became a painter with a palette of full possible colors. The recommended books might suggest you to learn “HOW TO” paint. BUT no one can teach you “WHAT TO” paint: Ask not what books can do for you, BUT ask yourself what you can do for your own music by the Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales, tructure of Atonal Music. New Haven: Yale University * Definition: “Autophysiopsychic music” is music from spiritual self (by Dr. Yusef Lateef}. one’s physical mental andTS Definition Chromatic Palette The Chromatic Palette chart is a governing idea of this book and is intended to elucidate the formation of the whole musical scales (- subsets) systematically. In the formation of subsets, the number of semitones (in a row) in the subsets is an important factor to establish the classification system of the concept: The Chromatic Palette is relevant to the chromaticism in all the possible subsets. For example, 1 }3 45 5 }7 has three semitones (4 }5 5) in a row and its status can be clarified in the Chromatic Palette chart. Since 1 }3 4 }5 5 }7 consists of 6 notes, look at the left side of the chart and go to “6-note.” Then, move on to the above for “3 S.T.” (which means three semitones): The 6-note, 1 }3 4 }5 5 57 is classified in “33 possibilities 6N(27)-(59)." And if you go to the section of ‘derivatives reference (for 6-note),* you will figure it out as “6N(52)£." It is noteworthy that 6N(52) is within “33 possibilities 6N(27)-(59)" in the Chromatic Palette chart. To say the least, ve could explore further possibilities in the S-note subsets (three semitones in a row) than calling it as “Blues Scale or Minor Pentatonic with )5.” Enharmonic Equivalence In the tonal system, an E} is not the same as a D¥; however, due to the nature of the subject in this book, the distinction is mostly ignored. It depends on whether a musician treats a subset of notes tonally or not. For the sake of this thesis, I unified all the possible subsets in the notation. The Interval Vector Grouping The sonority of a grouped-note can be labeled by listing all the intervals it contains. For example, a major triad, 1 3 5 can be broken down into three intervals: Perfect Sth ——— 10305 Lies Major 3rd minor 3rd We should not overlook that all the intervals can be broken into the following six categories: Perfect 4th) minor 2nd = Major 7th (due to its inversion) M2: Major 2nd = minor 7th minor 3rd = Major 6th Major 3rd = minor 6th Perfect 4th = Perfect Sth Dim5: Diminished Sth + Augmented 4th We can then summarize the interval content of the major triad as follows: m2 M2 m3 M3 PA DimS no. of occurrence: oo 1 1 10 Though Allen Forte's book adopts the integer notation like 123456789. for the interval vector, this book does not use the notation because of the nature of Thesaurus style book which covers a variety of readers (who are interested in the imaginative formation of musical scales). To keep things simple, the order system, m2-M2-m3-M3-P4-DimS is utilized in this book: The interval vector of the major triad is, therefore, labeled, 0-0-1-1-1-0. :NOTE: For detailed arguments for this subject, you may refer to three widely used books (though the books present different criteria severally) Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973); John Rahn, Basic Atonal Theory (New York: Schirmer, 1980); and Joseph N. Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990).