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Diagram XI - The Twelve Minor Keynotes with the Six Note of Each

CHAPTER XIV .
DIAGRAM XI.—THE TWELVE MINOR KEY-NOTES, WITH THE SIX NOTES OF EACH, ARE AGAIN WRITTEN AS THEY VEER ROUND IN TRINITIES, AND THE SCALES ADDED.

"Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.
It is the little rift within the lute
That by-and-by will make the music mute,
And, ever widening, slowly silence all."—Tennyson.


THE same laws are followed here as in the development of the major scales. In that of A, F, the sixth note, has risen to F#, in order to meet B, which has previously sounded. In descending, the seventh note, B, falls to B♭, in order to meet F, which has also previously sounded. The notes, ascending or descending, always follow the harmony of their key-note, except when rising higher or falling lower to meet in fifths. We may here trace the twelve, the ascending scale sounding the fifth harmony higher than its key-note, and, in descending, sounding the fifth lower harmony. The four pairs of each scale are written at the end of the lines. If we strike the twelve scales as they follow in succession, the thirteenth note being the octave of the first, and leader of a higher twelve; having gained them six times, at the seventh they gradually rise (though beyond the power of a keyed instrument) into the higher series of seven octaves, and again, in descending, they fall lower, and are linked into the lower series of seven octaves. Nine notes of any ascending minor scale may be struck without the necessity of modulating beyond the fifth harmony. For example, in the scale of A, its tenth note, C#, rises to meet the sixth note, which has previously sounded. In descending, E♭, the eleventh note, meets B♭, the seventh note, which has previously sounded. The scale of A may be traced veering round by reference to Diagram IX., beginning with A, and carrying the four lowest notes an octave higher, F rising to F# in ascending, B falling to B♭ in descending.

page 36a


Hughes
The minor harmonies
—The eighteen tones repeated veering round, and in musical clef below, showing the twelve that develope minor harmonies
—The twelve minor key-notes as gained from the twelve major, . . . . . . . . . . 32 [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, Table of Contents3 - Harmonies]

The twelve major and the twelve minor keys written in musical clef
—First, the twelve major keys rising mingled as they develope seven times through seven octaves
—Second, one series of the twelve meeting by fifths, keys not mingled
—Third, the twelve minor keys mingled
—Fourth, the twelve minor key-notes and their trinities, the keys meeting by fifths in the line above the keys of the ascending scales, and in the line below the keys of the descending scales, 42 [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, Table of Contents3 - Harmonies]

Below the circular diagram are seen in musical clef the twelve minor key-notes, as gained from the majors. There is only one meeting of the same note in the seven of every major harmony. All the twelve follow the same plan; the lowest note of the seven of C is F, the highest note of the seven is E. The lowest tone sounded by E and the highest tone sounded by F is the same, A—leading the ear from C to its relative minor A. [Harmonies of Tones and Colours, The Minor Harmonies, page 33a]

Created by Dale Pond. Last Modification: Saturday March 20, 2021 04:57:17 MDT by Dale Pond.