![]() ![]() ![]() Thanks for the info about the harmonic major scale (same as harmonic minor with a raised (maj) 3rd). Isn't the interval of 3 semi-tones equivalent to a minor 3rd (''a rose by any other name would smell as sweet'')? As such it would certainly be found in the diatonic major scale and of course, all the minors. It occurs only in the 6th mode of the harmonic major scale. It does not occur in any of the diatonic modes nor in the melodic or harmonic minor scales. It's being described diatonically but has a very undiatonic nature. The diatonic formula for the harmonic minor scale is: 1, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, prefect 5th, minor 6th, major 7th.Īn augmented 2nd (3 semitones) is interesting. Diatonic notation is also used to describe non-diatonic scales invented as modifications of the diatonic scale such as the melodic minor, harmonic minor and harmonic major scales. Western music theory is so dependent on the diatonic scale that diatonic notations have become a naming system for the chromatic intervals - 7 semitones will be usually be called a perfect 5th. The terms augmented 4th, perfect 4th, minor 3rd, etc are diatonic notations. The Lydian 4th is an augmented 4th (six semitones), while the Ionian 4th is a perfect 4th (five semitones). Since the pitch interval between a degree and the root varies between the modes of the diatonic scale, the terms minor, major, perfect, diminished, and augmented are used as descriptors to associate the degree with its actual pitch interval from the root. The nth degree or note of the mode is simply called the nth, e.g., the 4th note of the Lydian mode is called its 4th. Picking a root or starting point gives the seven diatonic modes of the diatonic scale: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. The Greeks invented the diatonic scale as a circular scale with no root (same as a linear major scale wrapped into a circle). Measuring an interval in semitones is also a chromatic concept. They identify pitch classes-no key is involved. One peculiar difference between chromatic and diatonic notation is that the numeral 1 chromatically denotes one semitone but diatonically denotes a unison or zero semitones.Ĭhromatic notes are simply the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G with their sharps and flats. Minor 7th - D to C or E to D or G to F or A to Gĭiminished 4th- is the same as a major 3rd so C to E or F to A or G to B.Ĭhromatic notation concerns the absolute while diatonic notation concerns the relative with a root or key in mind. To take your specific intervals, using C major again because its clear to see on the piano, all of them can be diatonic:Ĭompound augmented 3rd - I presume this is equivalent to an augmented 4th, so -F to B not part of a piece of music but played on their own in an aural test for example, then the phrase ''chromatic interval'' doesn't really mean anything because all intervals are made up of two notes that are a chromatic (semi-tonal) distance from each other. Strictly speaking, if you're talking about intervals in isolation,ie. ![]() So, in tonal music you have diatonic notes that are taken strictly from the prevailing key and you have non-diatonic notes (chromatic) so called because they do not belong to the prevailing key, they are ''chromatic'' to the key in question. I suppose you could call it a chromatic interval. So, take the key of C major (white notes on the piano-C to C) then, for example, the interval C-F, (perfect 4th) is a diatonicĪnd the interval C-Fsharp (augmented 4th) is not because the Fsharp is not in the key of C. Diatonic means notes that belong to a particular key and chromatic (in this sense) means notes that are outside that key. ![]()
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