Synthetic Musical Scales

Author(s): J. Murray Barbour

Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Mar., 1929), pp. 155-160
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2299681
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1929]

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155

to the firstquestion below. For several particular pairs of values of n and r,

we have taken b = m = 1 in (2) and obtained an affirmative
answer. All evidence
which we have collected also favors an affirmativeanswer to the last two
problems. We invitethe readerto answerthe followingquestions.
Problem1. If n > r, is the wn of (15d) the maximumnumberthat can appear
in a solutionof (2) ?

Problem2. If n>r, is W1W2 . . . Wn the maximumproductof any set

ofn numberswhichconstitutea solutionof (2)?
Problem3. If n>r, is Wl+W2+ - * * +Wn the maximumsum of any set
of n numberswhichconstitutea solutionof (2)?

SYNTHETIC
By J. MURRAY

MUSICAL
BARBOUR,

SCALES

WellsCollege

1. Busoni's problem. In his little book, A New Estheticoj Music,' Ferrucio

Busoni describes a method of formingmusical scales by raising or lowering
various tones of the scale of C major. By this method he has obtained 113
scales, the majority of which differfromthe ordinarymajor and minorscales
in having theirintervalsdifferently
arranged. Apparentlyhis resultshave not
been questioned since his book was published, for two rather recent works2
accept themas authoritative.
A serious objection to Busoni's scheme is that, in accordance with the uisual
methodof notationand withthe conceptionofa seven-tone scale on successive
alphabetical degrees,his octave contains twenty-onedifferenttones instead of
the twelve that belong to our systemof enharmonictemperamenton the piano.
This would seem to be an unnecessary complication-and restriction-in a
proposal that is otherwiseso novel.
The question also arises as to whetherit is proper to include all the cyclic
permutationsof any given scale or whethera certain arrangementof intervals
should be counted only once, irrespective of the point at which the series
begins. From the moderntonal view-point,all of the medieval church modes
are variants of the scale of C major. Should one look at these new scales accordingto the medieval or the modernstandard?
2. The harp, as basis. A good way to avoid both the difficultiesmentioned
above is to restate the problem in termsof the harp. The octave of the harp
contains the twenty-onetones, ofwhichonly seven can be used at any one time.
On the harp it is literally impossible to form a scale containing the tones
Ab, A, A#; on the piano thereis no practical reason why these tones should not
1 Ferrucio Busoni, Entwurf einer neuen Aesthetikder Tonkunst,(1907), translated by Dr.
Th. Baker, (1911), pp. 29-30.
2
George Dyson, The New Music, 2nd edition (1926), pp. 94-5-7. Albert A. Stanley, Greek
Themesin Modern Musical Settings,(1924), introduction,p. xiii.

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156

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[Mar.,

occur in a scale empiricallyformed,instead of the enharmonicallyequivalent

G#,A, Bb that would be writtenin one of Busoni's scales.
The difficultyof cyclic permutationsis also eliminated by confiningour
attentionto the harp. One simplyasks in how many ways a harp can be tuned.
The harp has seven pedals, each controllingall of the stringsof a particular
letter. The "natural" key of the harp is Cb major. The C pedal will raise
all of the Cb stringseithera semitoneor a tone to C or C#. The other pedals
operate similarly. Thus each stringmay produce one of threesounds, and the
total number of ways the harp may be tuned is 37 or 2187.
Although this answer is correct,the number given above includes many
tunings that, aurally considered,are not scales but chords. Often a composer
desires the glissando of the harp to sound like a seventh chord, arpeggiated
with extreme rapidity. Rimsky-Korsakow, for example, in his orchestral
suite "Scheherazade" uses the followingtunings: Cb,D, E#,F, G#,A b, B; C, D#,
Eb, F#,G#,Ab,B#;C,D#,Eb, F,G#,Ab,B#; C,Db,Eb, F#,G,A,Bb. Of these,
the firsttwo are chords of the diminishedseventh; the thirdis a chord of the
"added sixth"; and only the fourth,which, however,is typical of many in the
composition,mightproperlybe called a scale.
In accordance with the customarydefinitionof the term "scale" we must
rule out such a case of tonal duplication as G#-Ab' and the rarerones of tonal
obvious
overlapping,B#- b and ES - Fb. These restrictionsare sufficiently
and reasonable.
The ordinary major and minor scales contain minor seconds, (C-Db),
One of Busoni's
major seconds, (C-D), and augmented seconds, (C-D#).
examples contains the doubly augmentedsecond, Fb'-G#. In this paper, therefore,the intervalof foursemitonesis included with the morefamiliartypes.
3. Methodand results. The method used here to compute the number of
scale-tuningsis exemplifiedin Table 1. In it is found firstthe numberof twotone scales containing"inflections"(#,~, and b) of C and B-either 1 or 0 for
each of the 9 combinations, as determined by the given restrictions. For
example, C#-B#, C-B, Cb'-B ' are possible, but C-B#, Cb-B#, and Cb'-B
are not.
Then inflectionsof A are added to formthree-tonescales. These are cumulative. For example, A# may occur in a scale with B# or B, and the numbers
opposite A#are the sums of those opposite B#and B in each of the threerespective columns.
Generallyspeaking, if in any column the numbersopposite the threeinflections of a letterare a, b, and c, those opposite the inflectionsof the letterbelow,
If it is a tone lower, the
if it is a semitone lower, are a, a+b, and a+b+c.
The sole principle involved is the
numbers are a+b, a+b+c, and a+b+c.
avoidance of tonal duplication and overlapping. The totals are the sums of
the last three numbersin each column. The sum of the threecolumns, 363, is
the result which we are seeking; i.e., the number of ways the harp may be
tuned to form"scales."

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1929]

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157

SCALES

If we start with any letter other than C, the totals of the three columns
will differ,but theirsum will remain constant. Thereforethe numberof scales
that may be formedon all the twenty-onetones in the octave will be 7 X363
or 2541. One may wonder if there is much enharmonicduplication of entire
scales by this insistenceon the separate identityof tones a "diminishedsecond"
apart. Of the 363, however,thereare only foursuch pairs of scales, all of them
well-known. They are Db-C# maj., Gb-F# maj., Cb-B maj., and Db-C#
min., melodic form.
Table 1

C#

Cb

1
1

0
0
1

2
3
3

1
2
2

0
1
1

5
8
8

Table 2
Number of scale-tuningsfor each tone
Fl

E#

57
59

Gl

A#

81

Gl

D#

87

Dl

G#

105

Al,

5
5

2
2

C#

149

El

13
21
21

8
13
13

3
S
5

F#
B

153
153

Bb
F

13
34
55

8
21
34

3
8
13

155

177

189

47
102
0

29
63
63

11
24
24

149

155

59

Totals

B#

By a method similar to that illustrated in Table 1, the number of scales

that do not contain the doubly augmented second can be found forany tone.
For C it is 134. Thus Busoni's figureof 113 is somewhat less than the correct
number of scales without the uncommon interval and much less than the
number of scales (155) formed in accordance with his declared method.
Evidently he followedno scientificplan, but was contentwithwritingdown the
entire 113,-a task indeed. Oddly enough,this numberis not farfromone third
the sum of the threeinflectionsof any letter: 363 . 3 = 121.
4. Applications to numbertheory. If the numbers representingpossible
degreesare put in order,Table 2 results. It is interesting
scales forthe different
to observe that each number in it can be represented by the equation
s=lta+13b.
This table, to a musician, is the most remarkableand interestingfeatureof
the entire discussion. Each tone is a perfectfifthdistant fromthe tone next

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158

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[Mar.,

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above or below it in the table. Considered as the tonic or key-noteof a major

scale, B (at the top of the left-handcolumn) would have a key signatureof 12
sharps. For each tone below there would be one less sharp in the signature.
D has two sharps, C none, and each tone above C in the right-handcolumn
has a signature of one additional flat. The whole is often termed by musical
theorists"the circle of fifths"and it is then writtenin the formof a circle by
using the enharmoniccoincidence of Gb and F#and omittingthe tones beyond
them.
B#
E#
A#
D#
G#

C#

F#
B
E
A
D
G
C
F
Bb
Eb
Ab
DI
Gb
Cb
FL

8
8
8
6
6
8
8
8
8
8
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
3
3
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1

Table 3
39
21
37
15
37
15
39
15
39
15
55
21
39
21
39
21
37
15
37
15
39
15
39
15
34
13
13
24
24
13
22
9
22
9
18
7
18
7
13
5
9
5

Table 4
96
96
96
102
72
102
96
96
96
96
102
72
63
59
59
57
57
47
33
24
22

57
59
81
87
105
149
153
153
155
177
189
177
155
153
153
149
105
87
81
59
57

Number of
permutations

Combinations
of intervals

7!

1122222

!=

5!2!

21

1112223

7!
! = 140
3!3!

1111233

7!
4!2!= 105

1111224

7!
4!2!= 105

1111134

7! 42
5!=
413

Total

Table 3 is formedby adding by threesthe numbersin the columnsofTable 1,

for all the twenty-onetones,arrangedas in Table 2. It will be seen that Si (the
firsttermof a series) is 3 fromB#to C, 2 fromC to Cb, and 1 fromCb to the end

a semitone(as F to E),
of the table. In general,following
followinga whole tone (as G to F), Sn=3Sn_1-Sn2.

in the table, S6=285-3S4,

Sn-3(S,-,-S,-2);

Also, forthe first9 tones

aftera tone.

aftera semitone,and S6=285-S4,

We must assume SOto be 1 in everycase.

The series S. =3 (S,-, - Sn-2) is not of great interest, mathematically,
except forits fluctuationsand changes ofsign. If the firsttwo termsare a and b,
the series is:
.
a, b, 3b-3a, 6b-9a, 9b-18a, 9b-27a, -27a, -27b,
.

The entireseries will consist of repetitionsof the 6-termportiongiven above,

multipliedeach time by the constant factor (-27). The expression(-27) n/6
is a sortofsymbolof the series.
are a, b, 3b-a, 8b-3a,
The terms of the series Sn=3Sn_1-S4-2
is only necessaryto derive
it
in
term,
every
b
occur
a
and
21b -8a, * . Since
.

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1929]

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MUSICAL

a formula for the coefficientseries 1, 3, 8, 21,

written as follows: 1=1;

3=3;

8=32_1;

144 =35-4. 33+3 3; etc. By induction

Sn=

3n-1

(n-2)3n-3

2(n -

3)(n -

4)3n-5-

159

SCALES

These terms may be

21=33-2.3;
(n -

4)(n

55=34_3.32+1;

5)(n -

6)3n

The ath termofthe above seriesis

(-l)a-1(n

(a

1)! (n

a)!3n-2a+1

2a + 1)!

If n is even the last term is (-n)(n-2)'2(n/2)

l(n-1) /2.
t_

3. If n is odd the last term is

This series is ofthe greatestimportancein any generalizationofthe problem.

We have seen that in a singlecolumn it applies wheneverthereis a whole tone.
But when the totals of threecolumns are added it is necessaryto have at least
3 successive whole tones beforethe law of the seriesbecomes operative.
5. Permutationof intervals. Similar to Busoni's problem is that of finding
in an octave of 12 semitones the possible combinations of the given intervals
with all theirpermutations. This is a simple algebraic problemand its solution
is clearly shownin Table 4, wherethe numbersin the column headed "combinations of intervals" referto the size of the intervals: 1, minorsecond; 2, major
second; 3, augmentedsecond; 4, doubly augmentedsecond.
Since, under the conditions of the Busoni problem, no more than 4 semitones may occur in succession, the 14 permutationsin the fifthrow in which
all 5 semitones come togethershould be subtracted fromthe total in orderto
scale-formsactually occurringin the scale-tunings.
give the numberof different
With this change, it is an interestingfact that the numberof permutations
representingscales without an augmented second (21), those with a singly
augmented second (266), and those with a doubly augmented second (399) are
exactly the same as the cyclic permutationsof the scales containingB# or Fb,
using these intervals. The reason thereforhas not been found.
Since the figuresin Table 4 include cyclic permutations,dividing by 7 will
give numbersto be compared with the 363 scale-tunings. For example, there
are 15 major-scale-tunings(natural, 7 sharps,and 7 flats); but of the 3 permutations of major and minorseconds in the firstrow of Table 4, only one (2212221)
is called a major scale. At the other extremeis the 4th combination of this
table, with the intervals arranged as given. Only one such scale can be so
constructed;viz., C#,D, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bj$.
This shows very clearlythe limitationsof the Busoni method. On the piano
this last-mentioned permutation of intervals might begin on any white or
black key. Of course its 'notation would involve the use either of one letter
twice and the omission of another,or else of double sharps or flats.
6. Scales not heptatonic. In musical composition the whole-tonescale of 6
tones is common,pentatonicscales (as on the black keys of the piano) are used
in the folk-songsof certain countries,and the minorscale mightvery properly

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be said to contain 9 tones (in A minor, -A, B, C, D, E, F, F#,G, G#). Thereforeit is not makingthe question purely academic to pursue the line of inquiry
shown in Table 4 in respectto scales containingless or morethan 7 tones. The
methodis identical; the resultsappear in Table 5.
When we leave the heptatonic scale we leave also the troublesomequestion
of notation in alphabetical sequence. However, in the 2nd column of Table 5
the four-semitoneinterval is still the largest one used. Since this restrictionis
not in accordance with the freedomof this phase of the inquiry,the size of the
intervalsin the 3rd column is unrestricted,makingthe problemthe simplerone
of findingthe numberof permutationsof 11 things,taken (n -1) at a time.
Table 5
Number of tones
in scale
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Permutations including
doubly augmentedsecond
0
1
31
155
336
413
322
165
55
11

Permutations including
all intervals
11
55
165
330
462
462
330
165
55
11

One may well ask how profitableto the composer is the knowledgethat he
is free to select any one of thousands of hitherto unknown scales, as the
foundationforhis creativework. Unfortunately,the whole problemis ofgreater
theoretical interest than of practical worth. At present, there is the most
astounding license in composition; there seems to be an intuitive attempt to
obtain euphony (ifnot harmonyin the classical sense) by the combinationof the
most diverse tonalities; tonality itselfas applied to melodies is almost a thing
of the past. To compose on the basis of any artificiallycreated scale would be to
fastenon again the shackles that were slippingin Wagner's day and that were
thrownoffentirelyin the early years of this century. The composers of this
generation seem to have attained the ultimate freedom possible under the
systemof duodecuple division of the octave.

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