Ben Johnston's notation: Difference between revisions
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{{Wikipedia| Ben Johnston (composer) #Staff notation}} | |||
'''Ben Johnston's notation''' is a staff notation system for [[just intonation]] developed by composer [[Ben Johnston]], which supports prime harmonics up to and including 31. It is employed in his String Quartet No. 9, although intervals exceeding the [[13-limit]] are encountered only occasionally in his music. | |||
The base notes (white keys on the piano) are selected so that the chord {{dash|F, A, C, E, G, B, D|med}} consists of three stacked 4:5:6 chords, i.e. {{dash|F, A, C|med}}, {{dash|C, E, G|med}}, and {{dash|G, B, D|med}} are just major triads. This in turn makes {{dash|C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C|med}} a justly-intonated [[Zarlino|Ptolemy–Zarlino "intense" diatonic scale]]. Then the following accidentals are used for inflections, all of which denote [[superparticular ratio]]s or their reciprocals: | |||
{| class="wikitable center-all" | |||
& | |+ style="font-size: 105%;" | Accidentals in Johnston's notation | ||
& | |- | ||
! Symbol !! Ratio !! Symbol !! Ratio | |||
|- | |||
| + || [[81/80]] || − || 80/81 | |||
|- | |||
| ♯ || [[25/24]] || ♭ || 24/25 | |||
|- | |||
| 7 || 35/36 || {{invert|7}} || [[36/35]] | |||
|- | |||
| ↑ || [[33/32]] || ↓ || 32/33 | |||
|- | |||
| 13 || [[65/64]] || {{invert|13}} || 64/65 | |||
|- | |||
| 17 || [[51/50]] || {{invert|17}} || 50/51 | |||
|- | |||
| 19 || 95/96 || {{invert|19}} || [[96/95]] | |||
|- | |||
| 23 || [[46/45]] || {{invert|23}} || 45/46 | |||
|- | |||
| 29 || [[145/144]] || {{invert|29}} || 144/145 | |||
|- | |||
| 31 || [[31/30]] || {{invert|31}} || 30/31 | |||
|} | |||
Johnston combines numeric accidentals (7, {{invert|7}}, ↑, ↓, 13, {{invert|13}}, etc.) with sharps (♯) and flats (♭) if symbols from both categories are present. | |||
A chain of just fifths is given by: | |||
... {{dash|F♭<sup>−−</sup>, C♭<sup>−−</sup>, G♭<sup>−−</sup>, D♭<sup>−−</sup>, A♭<sup>−</sup>, E♭<sup>−</sup>, B♭<sup>−</sup>, F, C, G, D, A<sup>+</sup>, E<sup>+</sup>, B<sup>+</sup>, F♯<sup>++</sup>, C♯<sup>++</sup>, G♯<sup>++</sup>, D♯<sup>++</sup>, A♯<sup>+++</sup>, E♯<sup>+++</sup>, B♯<sup>+++</sup>|hair|long}} ... | |||
with a plus or minus added for every loop around the ends of the core {{dash|F, A, C, E, G, B, D|med}} sequence. | |||
The odd harmonic series up to 31 starting on C is given by: | |||
{{dash|C, G, E, B♭<sup>7</sup>, D, F↑, A♭<sup>13</sup>, B, C♯<sup>17</sup>, E♭<sup>19</sup>, F<sup>7+</sup>, F♯<sup>23+</sup>, G♯, A<sup>+</sup>, B♭<sup>29</sup>, B<sup>31</sup>|hair|long}}. | |||
Johnston's notation sacrifices some mathematical intuition compared to [[Helmholtz–Ellis notation]], as it bases the natural notes on 4:5:6 chords rather than [[Pythagorean tuning]]. This comes at the possible advantage of fewer accidentals needed for music that emphasizes the 5-limit. | |||
== See also == | |||
* [[Johnston–Copper notation]] | |||
* [[Helmholtz–Ellis notation]] | |||
* [[Functional Just System]] | |||
* [[Color notation]] | |||
== External links == | |||
* [https://www.kylegann.com/BJNotation.html Kyle Gann - How to Use Ben Johnston's Just Intonation Notation] | |||
* [http://tonalsoft.com/enc/j/johnston.aspx Johnston notation] on the [[Tonalsoft encyclopedia]] | |||
* [http://www.marcsabat.com/pdfs/EJItext.pdf Marc Sabat - On Ben Johnston’s Notation and the Performance Practice of Extended Just Intonation] | |||
{{Navbox notation}} | |||
[[Category:Just intonation]] | |||
[[Category:Notation]] | |||
{{Todo| expand }} |