| From the time of Pythagoras in the 6th century B.C., the ancients Greeks were
fascinated by the integer relationships between the tones of the harmonic series. |
| They noticed that certain pairs of these tones, when played simultaneously, sounded more pleasing than others. |
| These pleasing combinations are referred to as consonant. |
|
| They devised various means for arranging the pitches of the seven most consonant tones (those that best complemented
each other) to occupy the same octave and thereby constructed a scale. |
| The notes obtained in this fashion are named according the first seven letters of the alphabet. |
| Because they represent integer relationships, each note in the scale can be defined relative to any starting note,
or tonic, by a simple ratio. |
| Here is an example of a harmonically derived scale showing the ratios between adjacent notes. |
 |
|
| The smallest distance between adjacent notes is called a semitone or half step. |
| There are 12 semitones in an octave. |
| A whole tone is equal to two semitones. |
| The collection of all twelve notes in the octave, played in sequence is called the chromatic scale. |
|