Pain free guide to Sagittal: Difference between revisions

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[[Sagittal]] is one of the best systems for microtonal [[notation]]. It allows virtually any [[tuning]] to be notated with ease and it's pretty easy to get the hang of if you're good with standard notation already. If you are not then this will not be much use to you as it only adds to the complexity that [[12edo]] normally has. ~~Anyway, let's check it out!~~

[[Sagittal]] is one of the best systems for microtonal [[notation]]. It allows virtually any [[tuning]] to be notated with ease and it's pretty easy to get the hang of if you're good with standard notation already. If you are not then this will not be much use to you as it only adds to the complexity that [[12edo]] normally has.

== Basics ==

Sagittal is basically a way to notate ANY tuning practically with regular old notation you learned since Miss Betty Jo sat you down to read your first music in piano lessons when you were little.

Sagittal is basically a way to notate ANY tuning practically with regular old notation you learned since Miss Betty Jo sat you down to read your first music in piano lessons when you were little. Sagittal is a sort of extension of regular notation, but it's designed so that it can accommodate almost any tuning (at least, most practical tunings can be notated in it). “How does it do this?”, you may ask. Well, first of all, in sagittal, the normal lines and spaces that have no accidental signs (naturals) change depending on the tuning we are in. You see, normal notation works by a chain of seven fifths producing the scale natural notes or white keys on the piano: C D E F G A B C. This works well because of technical and historical reasons that are beyond the scope of this article–you can read about it more on [[Chain of fifths]] and [[5L 2s]]. The point is, the chain of fifths is important. Chains of fifths make logical sense when building a notation system, and sagittal always corresponds the natural notes on the staff with the closest possible equivalent to a chain of fifths in the tuning.

Sagittal is a sort of extension of regular notation, but it's designed so that it can accommodate almost any tuning (at least, most practical tunings can be notated in it). “How does it do this?”, you may ask. Well, first of all, in sagittal, the normal lines and spaces that have no accidental signs (naturals) change depending on the tuning we are in. You see, normal notation works by a chain of seven fifths producing the scale natural notes or white keys on the piano: C D E F G A B C. This works well because of technical and historical reasons that are beyond the scope of this article–you can read about it more on [[Chain of fifths]] and [[5L 2s]]. The point is, the chain of fifths is important. Chains of fifths make logical sense when building a notation system, and sagittal always corresponds the natural notes on the staff with the closest possible equivalent to a chain of fifths in the tuning.

It doesn't matter if the fifth in your tuning is really inaccurate, it still forms a chain corresponding to the naturals on the staff. [[5edo]] (dividing the [[octave]] into 5 equal parts tuning) for example, has 3\5, a 720 cent interval, which is the closest possible interval to a fifth in 5edo. Therefore, the notes correspond to the chain of five fifths… "BUT WAIT A MINUTE! THAT MAKES NO SENSE, THERE HAVE TO BE SEVEN PITCHES!” Exactly, that's why with 5edo, we only need to use five of the pitches on the staff which end up LOOKING like this if we write out 5edo:

It doesn't matter if the fifth in your tuning ~~totally sucks~~, it still forms a chain corresponding to the naturals on the staff.

[[5edo]] (dividing the [[octave]] into 5 equal parts tuning) for example, has 3\5, a 720 cent interval, which is the closest possible interval to a fifth in 5edo. Therefore, the notes correspond to the chain of five fifths… "BUT WAIT A MINUTE! THAT MAKES NO SENSE, THERE HAVE TO BE SEVEN PITCHES!” Exactly, that's why with 5edo, we only need to use five of the pitches on the staff which end up LOOKING like this if we write out 5edo:

[[File:Screen_Shot_2015-07-30_at_10.23.01_PM.png|alt=Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 10.23.01 PM.png|400x147px|Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 10.23.01 PM.png]] To the left you can see that it corresponds to the normal pentatonic major scale (C D E G A C) that most people are familiar with in music.

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-[[Sagittal]] is one of the best systems for microtonal [[notation]]. It allows virtually any [[tuning]] to be notated with ease and it's pretty easy to get the hang of if you're good with standard notation already. If you are not then this will not be much use to you as it only adds to the complexity that [[12edo]] normally has. Anyway, let's check it out!
+[[Sagittal]] is one of the best systems for microtonal [[notation]]. It allows virtually any [[tuning]] to be notated with ease and it's pretty easy to get the hang of if you're good with standard notation already. If you are not then this will not be much use to you as it only adds to the complexity that [[12edo]] normally has.
 == Basics ==
-Sagittal is basically a way to notate ANY tuning practically with regular old notation you learned since Miss Betty Jo sat you down to read your first music in piano lessons when you were little.
+Sagittal is basically a way to notate ANY tuning practically with regular old notation you learned since Miss Betty Jo sat you down to read your first music in piano lessons when you were little. Sagittal is a sort of extension of regular notation, but it's designed so that it can accommodate almost any tuning (at least, most practical tunings can be notated in it). “How does it do this?”, you may ask. Well, first of all, in sagittal, the normal lines and spaces that have no accidental signs (naturals) change depending on the tuning we are in. You see, normal notation works by a chain of seven fifths producing the scale natural notes or white keys on the piano: C D E F G A B C. This works well because of technical and historical reasons that are beyond the scope of this article–you can read about it more on [[Chain of fifths]] and [[5L 2s]]. The point is, the chain of fifths is important. Chains of fifths make logical sense when building a notation system, and sagittal always corresponds the natural notes on the staff with the closest possible equivalent to a chain of fifths in the tuning.
-Sagittal is a sort of extension of regular notation, but it's designed so that it can accommodate almost any tuning (at least, most practical tunings can be notated in it). “How does it do this?”, you may ask. Well, first of all, in sagittal, the normal lines and spaces that have no accidental signs (naturals) change depending on the tuning we are in. You see, normal notation works by a chain of seven fifths producing the scale natural notes or white keys on the piano: C D E F G A B C. This works well because of technical and historical reasons that are beyond the scope of this article–you can read about it more on [[Chain of fifths]] and [[5L 2s]]. The point is, the chain of fifths is important. Chains of fifths make logical sense when building a notation system, and sagittal always corresponds the natural notes on the staff with the closest possible equivalent to a chain of fifths in the tuning.
+It doesn't matter if the fifth in your tuning is really inaccurate, it still forms a chain corresponding to the naturals on the staff. [[5edo]] (dividing the [[octave]] into 5 equal parts tuning) for example, has 3\5, a 720 cent interval, which is the closest possible interval to a fifth in 5edo. Therefore, the notes correspond to the chain of five fifths… "BUT WAIT A MINUTE! THAT MAKES NO SENSE, THERE HAVE TO BE SEVEN PITCHES!” Exactly, that's why with 5edo, we only need to use five of the pitches on the staff which end up LOOKING like this if we write out 5edo:
-It doesn't matter if the fifth in your tuning totally sucks, it still forms a chain corresponding to the naturals on the staff.
-[[5edo]] (dividing the [[octave]] into 5 equal parts tuning) for example, has 3\5, a 720 cent interval, which is the closest possible interval to a fifth in 5edo. Therefore, the notes correspond to the chain of five fifths… "BUT WAIT A MINUTE! THAT MAKES NO SENSE, THERE HAVE TO BE SEVEN PITCHES!” Exactly, that's why with 5edo, we only need to use five of the pitches on the staff which end up LOOKING like this if we write out 5edo:
 [[File:Screen_Shot_2015-07-30_at_10.23.01_PM.png|alt=Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 10.23.01 PM.png|400x147px|Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 10.23.01 PM.png]] To the left you can see that it corresponds to the normal pentatonic major scale (C D E G A C) that most people are familiar with in music.