In article <dbv7qu$mgq$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Albert Silverman <slvrmn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>The Tortoise:
>
> Can anyone tell me how I can tell what key a piece is simply by
> listening to it?
>
>The Hatter:
>
> Certainly, Gentleman-with-the-Shell.
>
> It is probable that some tones will appear more frequently than
other
> tones. Therefore, all you have to do is listen for those tones which
> appear most frequently. Then discard the remaining tones and see if
> you can fit the tones which appear most frequently into a particular
> major or harmonic minor scale.
>
> Locate the first degree of this scale. This is your tonic. Then get
a
> bottle of gin and use it to wash down the tonic. Now close your eyes
> and, after a few minutes, you won't *care* what key the piece is in.
>
>The Tortoise:
>
> Should we use sloe gin?
>
>Alice:
>
> Nonsense! The particular tones that are used in a chord-based
> composition have nothing at all to do with the identity of the
> tonal center, which is the most vital piece of information in a
> "tonal" composition. In a tightly-knit composition (i.e., where
> the identity of the tonal center is strong throughout the entire
> piece), the tonal center is determined by departure-and-return,
> synchronized with the melodic phrasing.
>
> Everyone knows that.
>
>The Tortoise:
>
> I don't know that, my dear--whatever it was that you just said; I
> wasn't fast enough to catch it.
>
> But it really isn't important. What *is* important is that I just
> love gin and tonic. How do you think that I ever got interested in
> music in the first place?
>
>The Frog:
>
> I'm with you, Gentleman-with-the-Shell.
>
> Gin and tonic are a helluva lot better than formaldehyde!
>
>
>-----------------------------
>Albert Silverman
>(Al is in Wonderland!)
>where relevance is irrelevant
>(12)
--
Matthew H. Fields http://www.umich.edu/~fields
Music: Splendor in Sound
To be great, do better and better. Don't wait for talent: no such thing.
Brights have a naturalistic world-view. http://www.the-brights.net/
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