[Dixielandjazz] Circle of 5ths

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

Tom that's a great explanation of both the circle and Piano tuning which 
is also applied to all other instruments especially Guitar

you said: A piano, for example, can only be tuned perfectly in one key.  
In order for it to be useful in any key, equal temperament must be employed.

Same for guitar which needs to be tweaked to sound right and tuning 
meters can't do that.
Larry
St. Louis

Tom Belmessieri wrote:
> To anyone who is interested in this stuff:
>
> It is referred to as the circle of fifths because, as one goes around 
> the circle in either direction, a sharp or a flat is added to that 
> key, which is a fifth above or below the preceding key.
>
> i.e. Clockwise from C is G, D, A, E, B, F#, C#.  Each is a fifth above 
> the preceding key and a sharp is added to each successive key.  
> Counter-clockwise from C is F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb.  Each is a 
> fifth below the preceding key and a flat is added to each successive key.
>
> A key signature will not contain more than seven sharps or flats 
> because it's not necessary.  There are only 12 tones in a chromatic 
> scale, hence 12 tones in which a piece can be played, even though 
> there are more than 12 key signatures.  For the sake of ease or 
> convenience, a piece would probably be written in Db instead of C# 
> because it has 5 flats vs 7 sharps.  Same pitch, different key signature.
>
> Those who contributed references to equal temperament as applied to 
> this concept are correct.  We could not have the "circle" of fifths 
> without it, but a spiral indeed.  The chromatic scale of any key is 
> not perfect.  It cannot be.  A piano, for example, can only be tuned 
> perfectly in one key.  In order for it to be useful in any key, equal 
> temperament must be employed.  That means each note is the same 
> "relative" distance in frequency from the one next to it.  The fourths 
> become a little stretched, the fifths become a little narrowed, etc.  
> The variance is negligible to the ear but it makes enough of a 
> difference to render the instrument playable in any key.  The same 
> holds true for any musical instrument in the way it is made.
>
>
> Note to John Farrell: I guess tangents make these communication 
> strings more interesting.
>
>
> Tom B.
> -----------
>> From: "John Farrell" <stridepiano at tesco.net>
>> Reply-To: stridepiano at tesco.net
>> To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Circle of 5ths
>> Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 19:21:01 -0000
>>
>> Some of the responses to this thread have been interesting. One, Steve
>> Barbone's, suggested that if by now I did not know what a circle of 
>> 5ths was
>> then I must be suffering from arrested musical development - in fact my
>> original question to the list was not what it was, but why it was it so
>> called when the intervals employed were 4ths.
>>
>> Another suggestion was that "5ths" indicated the number of chromatically
>> ascending notes required to progress to the subdominant key (five).  
>> A novel
>> notion but I don't buy it.
>>
>> Several listmates have said that the circle of 5ths is also known as a
>> circle of fourths, the latter according with my contention. Others 
>> pointed
>> out that the 5th refers to the relationship of the dominant note, 
>> while this
>> has an authoritative ring it seems to me to be an unnecessarily clumsy
>> system of identifying a simple harmonic progression.
>>
>> Had the notorious Joe McCarthy been musically inclined he might have 
>> branded
>> some of his victims The Circle Of Fifths.
>>
>> John Farrell
>> http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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