Ben Johnston's notation: Difference between revisions

Xenwolf (talk | contribs)
m recat
TallKite (talk | contribs)
See also: added color notation link
 
(25 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
...a JI notation by the composer [[wikipedia:Ben Johnston (composer)|Ben Johnston]]
{{Wikipedia| Ben Johnston (composer) #Staff notation}}


<ul>
'''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.
<li>[https://www.kylegann.com/BJNotation.html Kyle Gann - How to Use Ben Johnston's Just Intonation Notation]</li>
<li>[http://tonalsoft.com/enc/j/johnston.aspx Joe Monzo - Johnston notation]</li>
<li>[http://www.marcsabat.com/pdfs/EJItext.pdf Marc Sabat - On Ben Johnston’s Notation and the Performance Practice of Extended Just Intonation]</li>
</ul>


[http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Ben+Johnston%27s+notation%22 Google: "Ben Johnston's notation"]
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&ndash;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]] || &minus; || 80/81
|-
| &#x266F; || [[25/24]] || &#x266D; || 24/25
|-
| 7 || 35/36 || {{invert|7}} || [[36/35]]
|-
| &uarr; || [[33/32]] || &darr; || 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}}, &uarr;, &darr;, 13, {{invert|13}}, etc.) with sharps (&#x266F;) and flats (&#x266D;) if symbols from both categories are present.
 
A chain of just fifths is given by:
 
... {{dash|F&#x266D;<sup>&minus;&minus;</sup>, C&#x266D;<sup>&minus;&minus;</sup>, G&#x266D;<sup>&minus;&minus;</sup>, D&#x266D;<sup>&minus;&minus;</sup>, A&#x266D;<sup>&minus;</sup>, E&#x266D;<sup>&minus;</sup>, B&#x266D;<sup>&minus;</sup>, F, C, G, D, A<sup>+</sup>, E<sup>+</sup>, B<sup>+</sup>, F&#x266F;<sup>++</sup>, C&#x266F;<sup>++</sup>, G&#x266F;<sup>++</sup>, D&#x266F;<sup>++</sup>, A&#x266F;<sup>+++</sup>, E&#x266F;<sup>+++</sup>, B&#x266F;<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&#x266D;<sup>7</sup>, D, F&uarr;, A&#x266D;<sup>13</sup>, B, C&#x266F;<sup>17</sup>, E&#x266D;<sup>19</sup>, F<sup>7+</sup>, F&#x266F;<sup>23+</sup>, G&#x266F;, A<sup>+</sup>, B&#x266D;<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:Just intonation]]
[[Category:Notation]]
[[Category:Notation]]


[[Category:Todo:add definition]]
{{Todo| expand }}