The math behind the circle of fifths
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- Опубліковано 13 бер 2021
- In this video, I explain why the circle of fifths is the only way to create a sequence that passes through every note equally, and why it is so important to western music.
Watch my other videos on music theory:
Negative Harmony: • Negative Harmony Expla...
Tuning Systems: • The Tuning Systems of ...
Voice Leading: • fastest voice leading ...
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#musictheory #harmony #circleoffifths #classicalmusic
This is exceptional, please keep making content like this its very interesting.
Indeed! This video is a gem 💎 of information. Concise, clear and perfect!
This is exactly the explanation I was looking for!! I wanted to know the different relationships between the notes and you have me an entire scale omg. it's all about the factors wow
I think this channel is going to blow up. Great video!
I say!
Oh my god, this has 944 views and you have 1,1k subscribers? Man - you're actually gonna blow up soon.
I'm terrible at math, but somehow managed to follow because you took the time to also provide a simpler explanation. Props to you for that!
In the language of group theory, the 12-tone system can be described as the cyclic group Z12. 1, 5, 7, & 11 are the generators of Z12.
This video is awesome! I love the combination of math and music. There are not many channels like this on UA-cam. Keep up the good work!
Never stop music math please ❤
Subscribing for the future success of this channel! These videos are very structured and concise, I can imagine a lot of people appreciating them.
The digital roots of these sets has me shook
That was a lot of info in 5 minutes! Perfect for a quick video. Great video
Indeed, I often watch videos in 1.25 speed because I can and I don't want to spend too much time. This was the first video I watched in 0.75 (and it was really interesting)!
You deserve more subs good vids man 👍
This is seriously amazing. Watched 10 dif explanations trying to find this exact breakdown using the math
I think you touch on this in the video, but I find it pretty interesting that in 24tet there's a circle of superfourths (otonal) and subfifths (utonal), instead of fifths (otonal) and fourths (utonal). It kinda strengthens the idea to me that 3-limit and 11-limit act somewhat like structural pillars
Please make a video on how John Coltrane really uses the circle of fifths/fourths. His mindset in his solos and composition. It's really good to start in the song Giant Steps. Please. Thank you! 🙏
Truly underrated channel
You absolutely have to go look at robert edward grants work on the precise temperament tuning systeme! You will be in awe!
ion even play music but I like watching these videos for fun music rlly is amazing
Very nice tq
okay I’ll need to watch it several times to get it clear on my brain🧠
I agree with the other comments here... If you keep making videos like this, I'm certain your channel will blow up.
Thanks for the spirograph art lesson. Lol, great observations.
melted my brain in a satisfying way
The mirror of 5ths/4ths decoding the circle after 300+ years and its universal mnemonic device is an alternative to the circle of 5ths for those who will find the latter a bit hard to memorize.
Get this man more subs guys.
Well there is a circle of thirds and it's pretty useful actually. Only the seven notes of the key. It switches between major and minor thirds.
/Group theory entered the chat
Great explanation! What I am wondering is why it happens that when we create major scales, moving along the circle of fifths we increase the amount of flats and sharps by exactly one per step? And why can we use the circle of fifths to find the order of the sharps/ flats (e.g. f# c# g# d#)?
Is that all a coincidence? What’s the math behind it here? Music is such magic man…
What do you use for making the animations?
Fucking brilliant!
Hello and greetings to the universe in which 19tet and 31tet are "popular". :)
Nice video!
RE the circle of 5th is the only Organization of 12TET possible: The circle of 2nds is the chromatic scale, and the circle of 7ths is just that but inverted. That's a function of n+1 or n+11 in mod 12. You visit everything. You touch on the chromatic scale later, a contradiction of your opening lol
Lo curioso es que el círculo de CUARTAS, es la reversa del círculo de QUINTAS.
I've been looking for this explanation for so long and it's so obvious 😳
By the way, I've been trying to set up kind of an arrangement of the circle of fifths but in a dodecahedron with no success. What I was trying was to organize them so they kept the same relations no matter where you place as start (in the way you can see any scale from any position in the circle or any step keep the same relation with each other). I'm pretty sure it wasn't possible but I could not prove it neither I could find anything on Google.
Would be great if you could give me some light on the matter!
I'm pretty sure it's not possible to take a route around a dodecahedron,
starting on one face, moving to a neighbouring face each step, visiting every face just once, and being able to make that final step that links back to the start.
You can with the 2D circle (of fifths.)
Dear your subjects are helpful but please treat them slowly to let us follow without replay.
Thank you
Whoa, I got dizzy with trying to look at the illustrations at the speed of light! Migraine time! (And I majored in math.)
Uh...Yeah. What he said.
What are smitones? Lol. This video was fun
Circle of thirds exists but only diatonically.
This treatment is valuable but incomplete, indeed silent on the most important point of all. It only describes the positional relationship between notes as an ordered set treated as a group.
It neglects the important point that musical notes are a notation for describing SOUNDS. Each note has a corresponding frequency and wavelength of physical vibration.
Most people know that two notes an octave apart are called by the same name, so for example A440 (known as "concert pitch" at 440Hz) and A880 (880 Hz) are both called A.
The reason why the fifth interval is so important musically (even neglecting the set-theoretic aspect) is that the fifth above a given note N of frequency f is that it has the frequency 3/2f. There is a physical harmonic resonance in this relationship between frequencies, just as there is for the octave of N at 2f.
This has two important physical consequences. A set of objects tuned to vibrate at these frequencies will tend to vibrate sympathetically when one of them is sounded. Also, we have reason to believe that within the complex neural structure of our brains is something equivalent to a phase lock loop, which is naturally reactive to harmonic intervals. This is the most fundamental reason why music "sounds good" to us, and it's the first step in understanding why music is MUSIC and not just some interesting features of ordered sets.
Taking a root note N at frequency f, the harmonic sequence begins f (root,) 2 f (octave,) 3/2 f (perfect fifth above root,) 4/2 f (octave,) 5/2 f (major third above root,) 6/2 f (perfect fifth above octave,) and then things start to sound a bit weird.
A similar effect happens if we follow around the circle of fifths from the root (f,) fifth (3/2 f,) fifth of fifth (3/2×3/2 f) and so on. The fifth of the fifth is a major second interval, almost.
The problem is that in a 12-tone even-tempered scale, each semitone frequency g is a factor of 2^(1/12) ~= 1.0594 greater than the previous one f, whereas the fifth interval by this method, f^(7g) ~= 1.498 f is not quite that of our harmonic method 1.500 f. If we only take a couple of steps, say the fifth of the fifth, it's close enough to fool the phase lock loop in our brain, but the further we carry it, the more audible the discrepancy becomes, hence effects such as the "wolf fifth."
In other words, we can only close the circle of fifths right around through all twelve notes if we use 2^(7/12) × f instead of 3/2 f at each step. Starting at A440 (440Hz) we would not use 3/2×440 = 660Hz for the E above concert A, but instead 2^(7/12) × 440 = 659.255.
I can understand why the video didn't get into these slightly hairy sound calculations, but hey, we're taking about music, and music is nothing without sound.
Is there no circle of 3rds/6ths?
Not in the chromatic sense. He kinda covered it in the video. Jumping by major thirds just makes an augmented chord and jumping by minor thirds just makes a diminished 7 chord.
BUT
If you alternate major and minor you can hit every note but thats still essentially following the circle of fifths.
Ok, Nice Job! Pssst, you need to hit the like button and subscribe.
I think you mean 'the mathssss behind the circle of fifths'.
Fascinating, but unfortunately the creator failed to allow us to hear these notes!! What matters the most in music 🎶 is SOUND!! Music without sound is not music 🎼'Nuff said!!
That's an embarrassing comment.
Ok but those other circles you said don't exist do. I was looking at them before coming here.
No thirds or fourth circle WTF
Typical of a nerd, he speaks quickly in order to demonstrate what he knows, rather than take his time, bringing the uninitiate along for a journey where they find themselves learning. I could listen to it on 0.75 perhaps but it seems it presupposes a knowledge of at least some music theory.
TL; DR I wish he had made for utter noobs
Lost me totally,
NOT very useful for making music though.
Terrible voice!