FW: On the seven scale notes

[LBernier at tribune.com]

          JM writes (re:  juxtaposition of kazoo and violin)
          
          So what do I seem to be saying?   I guess it's that TRP's 
          conceit about the kazoo and harmonica being on the 
          subversive side of an "us" vs. "them" binary opposition due 
          to their capacity to play outside the authorized scale is 
          kind of clever but also kind of weak--unless you want the 
          entire string section playing in there with 'em.             
                 
          -jm                          
          
      Yes, but, I guess what he's getting at is the anarchical, "Sex 
      drugs and rock and roll" kind of rebellion symbolized by 
      instruments such as the blues harp, and the kazoo, or, heaven 
      forbid, the wax paper over comb treatment.  The instruments do 
      not take training, or even much talent - (just think Alanis 
      Morissette) so therefore, the preterite can jam their socks off. 
      Whereas, the violin takes years of training, and would never 
      induce a sweet young thing to wiggle out of her denims.  'Less 
      of course, it was playing Bolero :-)
      
      Scale as conspiracy, however?  I think not.  You'd have to say 
      that using whole numbers was a conspiracy as well.  (Slothrop 
      suddenly discovers Golly, gee, there's an INFINITE range of 
      numbers between 0 and 1!!!)  IMHO, the scale is a matter of 
      convenience, and what the typical human ear is capaple of 
      hearing.  There are an infinite number of tones between C and D 
      (C#, C##, C###, C####, etc) but very few could distinguish more 
      than an 8th tone.  A-and, this process of "bending" notes 
      generally results in at the least a quarter tone shift, or even 
      usually a full half note - WITHIN the SCALE! 
      
      And, (just to make this post annoyingly long) your brain will 
      actually adjust music into an ordered fashion (whether this 
      adjusting is cultural or organic, I will leave to the 
      intelligentsia on the list).  I saw a fascinating example of 
      this using a symphony (title escapes me) where there are 2 
      string sections, playing different tunes, but what the ear hears 
      is a third melody (the main theme of the piece) which does not 
      even exist as such, but is created by the brain rearranging the 
      2 tunes into an order which is more logical.  What was not 
      stated was whether this same phenoma would occur in a 
      non-western audience.
      
      Jean.