On the seven scale notes

[davemarc]

At 01:19 PM 5/9/96 PST, John wrote:
>WillL notes:
>
>>Thing is, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW repeatedly deals with the idea that the seven 
>>tones
>>of the Western scale are a kind of "elect" oppressing the preterite (in C
major,
>>foax, that's them white keys lording it over the black keys). In the great
>>Beethoven/Rossinni debate, one of the arguments against Rossinni is that he
>>doesn't represent a democracy of the TWELVE tones in the chromatic scale, 
>>always
>>favoring those diatonic scale tones.  Our GR narrator, however, has a much
more
>>flexible sense of democracy, not willing to limit himself to a mere twelve
tone
>>octave, but favoring instruments that hardly favor any set tones -- most
notably
>>you kazoo (how do ya get a C on that?  Uh, just blow, man.) 
>
>Along these lines of a progressive--democratization--of acceptable musical
tones, 
>can we see the movement from seven diatonic tones being democratized by the 12 
>tone scale, further democratized by micro-tonists and the infinitely
variable tones 
>of electronic music (remember the 'Scope!) etc. culminating in John Cage's
dictum 
>that: "Any sound can become music by being placed in a musical context"?  Is 
>Cage's 4' 37" the ultimate national anthem?
>
To address the second question first, I think it's 4'33" (pun intended). 

I'm not sure that I'd want to call the challenge to diatonicism (or, to be
more precise, tonality) "democratization."  I think I understand the
intended meaning; I just wonder whether we could agree upon a better word.
Notes aren't people, after all; in addition, I'd say that "the people" still
tend to go for music that is tonal--though most of "the people" don't tear
their hair out when they sing off-key in the shower or RV and most of "the
people" readily accept departures from tonality used for expressive purposes
(say, when a harmonica player or jazz saxophonist "bends" notes).

davemarc