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Introductory Dialogue
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Courses in Music Theory and Composition
Power Spelling for Musicians
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Sitting under the Bodhi tree one summer afternoon, Pantha looked up and saw the Master of Music walking down the path. There was so much that she wanted to ask the Master, so much that she didn't understand about why music is written the way it is. Every time she did try asking a question, it seemed that the Master would launch into a long and complicated lecture, and when it was over, she wasn't always sure that he had actually answered her question. It was very frustrating.
Nevertheless, Pantha was an inquisitive soul. And, by the time the Master approached, she could hear her own voice, almost against her will, saying hello and asking, "What do you call a 'c, e-flat, f-sharp, a' chord? Cdim6? When I was practicing my violin yesterday, I got to wondering: in the key of c minor, why does Carl Flesch spell it with an f-sharp and not a g-flat? Don't laugh if this seems too ignorant to believe!"
"Ignorance is relative, my dear," replied the Master. "However, you have probably been moved to ask this very intelligent question by the subconscious inkling that there can be no musical understanding without a grasp of musical spelling. Why, without proper spelling, one couldn't tell the bore that talks one to death, from the boar that does it by trampling." With this the Master erupted in a swirl of guffaws.
Pantha had an almost irresistible urge to say that she'd just considered both alternatives and had decided to opt for the bloody one. But she knew that she'd regret it, and so, when the Master at last began again, she concentrated with all her might on opening her eyes as wide as they would go.
"You see," he said, "every chord has a name, and every name has a proper spelling. Take for example the chord you have made the subject of this inquiry: it is, of course, the diminished 7th chord.
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"There are only 3 diminished 7th chords, though it may seem that there are more because they are spelled in a variety of different ways. The proper spelling of the diminished chord in an actual musical context is not very complicated, but it is part of a larger issue. Pop and jazz musicians, incidentally, are practically oblivious to the matter."
The Master's voice had become grim. "They are content to spell their music in any haphazard way. You will notice, on the other hand, that classical composers absolutely never make a spelling mistake."
Pantha was unimpressed. The Master continued.
"What do I mean by this? Simply, that the harmonic context always determines the enharmonic choices made in the notation of any musical passage, and classical composers always use the spelling of their chords as a way of making that context absolutely clear. When the spelling of a pitch contradicts its function in the harmonic context, the composer is demonstrating ignorance of what his own music is saying. Intentional misspellings would defy reason. After all, the score is a tool, especially for the performer. If the composer mis-spells a chord, he is confusing the performing musician who reads the score about what is happening in the music and how it should be interpreted.
"The general rule is to make the spelling of every chord consistent with the tonal relationships unfolding in the music. This applies not only to chords, but to unaccompanied scales also, and if you think about the simplest case of the scale, you will understand the principle involved. You already know, for example, that the G scale is spelled with an F-sharp and not a G-flat. And, you remember what I have told you a hundred times about how to play the leading tone of the scale."
At this, the Master looked at Pantha as if she had only just now materialized before his eyes. "Don't you?" he asked, with the emphasis on "Don't." Pantha simply smiled, and the lesson registered an awkward pause.
As his eyes refocused on a distantly vanishing point that only he could see, the Master took up the thread undaunted. "Well, as I was saying, think about when you play a simple major scale, spelled with an F-sharp in the key of G.
"The F-sharp is a Leading Tone, by which we mean that it must resolve itself, or give way, in the course of time to a G, the so-called Tonic Tone. (You can see for yourself what this means if you play the scale without the final G. Notice how unfinished it seems.) It is a so-called tendency tone, leading in an upward melodic direction; and as such, some theorists have surmised that it may be played very slightly more sharp, with reference to the equal-tempered piano tuning, than one would play a G-flat that was moving downward to an F. Whether or not we can accept this radical proposal, we can say with absolute certainty that an F-sharp in the key of G must absolutely never be played to any degree flat, for we might thereby introduce into the listener's mind the suspicion that we are indeed playing a G-flat, which would be a nonsensical note that does not even exist in the key of G. This, my dear, would be like a melodic paradox, folded within a harmonic mystery, and wrapped in an musical enigma."
Very pleased with himself, the Master drew a long breath, and released a world-weary sigh. It is safe to say that, had Pantha recognized the Churcillian rhetoric, she would have pretended that she did not. Her mind, in any case, had begun to wander. She was anticipating that inevitable moment in every one of the Master's lectures when he would sum up a long list of absolutely obvious and self-evident facts with a conclusion that was entirely incomprehensible.
"Now, then, it is evident that a similar relationship between the tendency of a note and its spelling occurs on the sixth tone of the minor scale, where the movement is in a descending rather than an ascending direction. Let us take the very same pitch of our previous example, which was spelled as an F-sharp in the key of G. Clearly, in the key of b-flat minor, we would not write an F-sharp because F-sharp does not exist in that key. Moreover, when we play the minor scale in a descending direction, this note has a tendency to move down, or give way to an F, the so-called Dominant tone.
"Indeed, in the key of B-flat, the G-flat has sometimes been called the Descending Leading Tone, (just as A is the Ascending Leading Tone). As such, some theorists might claim that it may be played slightly flat with reference to equal-tempered tuning.
"Of course, music in one key may always borrow notes from another key. But this complicates the matter less than one might think. The idea to remember is that if one encounters an F-sharp in the key of b-flat minor, one knows with certainty that the F-sharp is leading in an ascending direction to a G. If, on the other hand, one encounters a G-flat in the key of G major, one knows that it is leading in a descending direction to an F. If you're going up you need an F-sharp, and if you're going down you need a G-flat. These are not identical entities even if one does play them with one and the same note on the piano keyboard."
Pantha gave the sudden appearance of having had a great revelation.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Master, but aren't you making it seem that there are 24 rather than 12 notes in the chromatic scale." She was sure she'd caught him up there.
"Quite right, my dear," replied the Master, and without the slightest pause, he continued.
"Not only is it possible to borrow notes from a foreign key: most music consists of notes taken from a multitude of keys in succession. In fact, all melodic and harmonic motives and themes are moved through successions of different keys in much the same way that physical bodies are moved through space: that is, they are motivated as if by particles of energy, which we are calling tendency tones.
"Follow me closely here, child, and you shall never again stray from the path of good musical spelling. In fact, all you need do to find your way through the thicket of scales and keys is to ask yourself where, and in what direction, the music is taking you harmonically. And, as I say, this is very much like knowing what direction the Leading Tone is taking when you play the seventh note of the scale.
"We are touching here on the one of the fundamental elements out of which our music is created, and you have probably noticed that the concept of the Leading Tone as I am using it is somewhat synonymous with the idea of dissonance as opposed to consonance. As the immortal Charles Burney once said: 'Music is an innocent luxury, unnecessary, indeed, to our existence, but a great improvement and gratification of the sense of hearing. It consists, at present, of MELODY, TIME, CONSONANCE, and DISSONANCE.'
"The dynamic relationship between dissonance and consonance is the engine of musical movement in time, and it will do you well to remember this point, my dear, for an understanding of the laws of this mechanism will make you a musician. Nothing less is able, and nothing more is needed."
Pantha looked on unmoved.
"Let us approach this in a slightly different way. Going back to the specific question you were asking: How do you spell that particular diminished 7th chord?
"First of all, keep in mind that the diminished 7th chord is a dissonant chord. This is the same as saying that it has a tendency to move forward or resolve itself into a consonant chord, much like the Leading Tone in a scale, which has a similar dissonant tendency to resolve itself into the Tonic.
"You no doubt already know that every diminished 7th chord can resolve itself in any one of four possible ways."
As a matter of fact, Pantha did not know this. She made a mental note to count the number of possible resolutions after her prayers that night. It would help her to drift off to sleep. For the present, however, she was amazed to discover that she had become quite content to let the Master go on and on about her silly question. "If the Master can talk," she thought, "I can listen. Let's just see who gives up first."
"The spelling of the diminished 7th chord depends, therefore, on which of these four possible resolutions the composer chooses. It depends on which harmonic direction the music is taking at that moment. In other words, it depends on which consonance will follow the dissonance of the diminished 7th chord.
"For example, the diminished chord that consists of the notes "C, E-flat, F-sharp/G-flat, A" may resolve itself into a G major or g minor harmony. In this case we need to choose the F-sharp, since F-sharp is the Ascending Leading Tone of the G major or g minor scale, not G-flat. The composer writes an F-sharp to indicate that he has chosen to move in the direction of G major or g minor.
"Alternatively, this diminished chord may resolve itself into a B-flat major or b-flat minor harmony. And in this case we must choose the G-flat, since G-flat is the Descending Leading Tone, resolving into an F in the B-flat triad. The composer uses this spelling if he is going in the direction of B-flat.
"Well then," the Master concluded, "I defy you to find a single spelling error in any of the works of the great masters. It is not that they were so careful, although of course they were, but that it all becomes quite obvious after a while, or second-nature, as we say. For the fact is, whether or not we play the F-sharp higher than the G-flat, the sense of these two enharmonic equivalents is unmistakably different. They are, in essence, different notes or pitches, just as you yourself realized while I was speaking. Whether or not we are conscious of it, we do not hear an F-sharp in the same way as a G-flat. They sound differently because of their different harmonic tendencies. We should not go entirely wrong should we consider them distinct notes in their own right.
"We may reflect, in this regard, that the even tempered tuning that makes this simple fact seem unlikely is of relatively recent musical vintage. And there can be no doubt that the human comprehension of the natural harmonic series that registers a measurable difference between an F-sharp and a G-flat may claim a vastly greater antiquity than equal temperament or any other tuning of the chromatic scale. But this is another matter we must consider on another occasion, since, as it happens, I am very, very late."
The Master had taken an old watch out of his ragged vest pocket and scanned it with a scowl.
"And, so, to sum up, the choices you make between enharmonic equivalents depend on the harmonic context. It's really very simple, isn't it, my child."
"You'd really better hurry," said Pantha. The Master took her hand, kissed it gently, and went hurriedly on his way.
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