Thermometer tonalities: one interesting observation ...

Do you know the so-called "thermometer of tonalities"? Cool name, right? Do not be alarmed; the musicians call one interesting scheme, similar to that of a quinte-quint circle, as a thermometer of keys.

The essence of this scheme is that each key occupies a certain mark on the scale depending on the number of key characters in it. For example, in G major one there is one sharp, in D major there are two, in A major there are three, etc. Accordingly, the more sharps in the tonality, the "hotter" its "temperature", and the higher position it occupies on the "thermometer" scale.

But flat keys are compared with "minus temperature", so in the case of flat stones, the opposite is true: the more flat there is in the tonality, the cooler it is and the lower its position on the scale of the tonality scale.

The thermometer of tonalities is both funny and visual!

As can be seen from the diagram, the key with the largest number of key characters is C-sharp major with A-minor minor parallel to it and C-major major with A flat minor parallel to it. They have seven sharps and seven bemoles. On the thermometer, they occupy the extreme positions on the scale: C sharp is the “hottest” tonality, and C flat is the coldest.

The key, in which there are no key signs - and this is in C major and A minor, is associated with a zero indicator of the thermometer scale: they have zero sharps and zero flat.

For all other keys, looking at our thermometer, you can easily set the number of characters in the key. At the same time, the higher the tonality on the scale is, the “hotter” and “sharper” it is, and, conversely, the lower the tonality is on the scale, the “cooler” and “more flat” it is.

For greater clarity, I decided to make the thermometer scale colored. All sharp tonalities are placed in circles of a reddish hue: the more signs in the tonality, the richer the color - from the subtle pinkish to dark cherry. All flat tonality - in circles with a blue tint: the more flat, the darker becomes a shade of blue - from pale blue to dark blue.

In the center, as you have already guessed, a circle for neutral builds is highlighted in turquoise - in C major and A minor - tonalities in which there are no signs at the key.

Practical application of the thermometer tonalities.

What is a thermometer for tonalities? Well, in the form in which I presented it to you, it can also become a small convenient cheat sheet for orientation in key signs, and an illustrative scheme that will help you to assimilate all these tones and remember.

But the true purpose of the thermometer, in fact, lies elsewhere! It is designed to easily calculate the difference in the number of key characters of two different keys. For example, between B major and G major, there is a four-sharp difference. A major differs from F major also by four signs. But how so ??? After all, there are three sharps in A major, and only one flat in F major, where did these four signs come from?

The answer to this question is given by our thermometer of tonalities: A major is in the "plus" part of the scale among the sharp keys, to "zero" in C major - just three signs; F major takes the first division of the "minus" scale, that is, is among the flat key, from C major to it - one flat; 3 + 1 = 4 - everything is simple ...

It is curious that the difference between the tonalities most distant in the thermometer (C sharp and C flat major) amounts to as many as 14 characters: 7 sharps + 7 flat.

How to find the key signs of the same tonality with the help of a thermometer of tonalities?

This is the promised interesting observation of this thermometer. The fact is that the keys of the same name differ by three signs. I remind you that the keys of the same name are those that have one and the same tonic but the opposite mood (well, for example, in F major and F minor, or E major and E minor, etc.).

So, in the eponymous minor, always three signs less than in the eponymous major. In the major major of the same name, in comparison with the minor minor of the same name, on the contrary, there are three more signs.

For example, if we know how many characters are in D major (and there are two sharps in it - fa and do), then we can easily calculate the signs in the major. To do this, we descend into three divisions of the thermometer below, and we get one flat (well, and if there is only one flat, then this will certainly be in b-flat). Like this!

A small afterword ...

To be honest, I have never used a thermometer of tonalities myself, although I have known about the existence of such a scheme for 7-8 years. And so, only a few days ago, I was again very interested by this very thermometer. Interest in him awakened in connection with a question that one of the readers sent me to the post office. For which she thanks a lot!

I also wanted to say that the thermometer of keys has an "inventor", that is, an author. That's just his name, I remember until I could. How to find - be sure to inform! Everything! Until!

Watch the video: Objects, Contexts, Canons and Experiments: Four Conversations on Theory and History, Part 4 (March 2024).

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