Novamajor and novaminor
Novamajor intervals are an interval quality denoting tuning ranges close to or slightly flat of Pythagorean major intervals. They are sharper than pental major intervals and flatter than neogothic major intervals. Likewise, novaminor intervals are an interval quality denoting tuning ranges close to or slightly sharp of Pythagorean minor intervals. They are sharper than neogothic minor intervals and flatter than pental minor intervals. Novamajor intervals range from about 394 to 411 cents, and novaminor intervals range from about 291 to 308 cents.
Common novamajor and novaminor intervals can be found as Pythagorean intervals:
- 9/8 (204c), novamajor second
- 32/27 (294c), novaminor third
- 81/64 (408c), novamajor third
- 128/81 (792c), novaminor sixth
- 27/16 (906c), novamajor sixth
- 16/9 (996c), novaminor seventh
Novamajor and novaminor intervals are usually found in diatonic scales where the fifth is tuned roughly justly, such as in 12edo. For a given neutral interval k in cents, the novamajor quality ranges between about k+43 to k+60, and the novaminor quality ranges between about k-60 to k-43.
Optionally, the category of novamajor or novaminor may be split into two smaller categories, for which tuning ranges have been provided in terms of thirds:
- More precisely, novamajor and novaminor may refer to the range that is, for the case of thirds, between about 394 to 404 cents, or between 298 to 308 cents. Distinctly, these are the tunings provided by 12edo for thirds. As such, they may also be called dodecamajor and dodecaminor to distinguish them. For seconds, the dodeca/novamajor range is about 190 to 200 cents, which is flat of 12edo, but just because neutral intervals are assumed to be hemi-Pythagorean. For a given neutral interval k in cents, the corresponding dodecamajor interval is found at around k+50, and the corresponding dodecaminor interval is found at roughly k-50.
- Trimajor and triminor, for thirds, range between about 404-411 and 291-298 cents respectively. These are the regions containing Pythagorean intervals and are the tunings provided by schismic temperaments or 3-limit just intonation. Trimajor seconds range from 200 to 207 cents. For any given neutral interval k in cents, the corresponding trimajor interval is found at around k+57, and the corresponding triminor interval is found at roughly k-57.
See also
- Neutral (interval quality) - halfway between major and minor
- Submajor and supraminor - roughly 10 to 24 cents sharp or flat of neutral
- Pental major and minor - roughly 24 to 43 cents sharp or flat of neutral
- Neogothic major and minor - roughly 60 to 78 cents sharp or flat of neutral
- Supermajor and subminor - roughly 78 to 95 cents sharp or flat of neutral
- Ultramajor and inframinor - more extreme than 95 cents sharp or flat of neutral