568 



AJJ ESSAY OX MUSIC. 



is rather detrimental than advantageous to an 

 iDteresting melody, in which ^true music 

 consists ; and it may easily be observed, that 

 an absolute solo, whether a passage or a 

 cadence, is universally received, even by cul- 

 tivated hearers, with more attention and ap- 

 plause, than the richest riiodulalions of a 

 powerful harmony. 



The minor scale being the most commonly 

 used by the ancients, it was natural for Pope 

 Gregory, who in the year 6()0 is said to have 

 marked the notes by the Roman letters, to 

 begin with A, the key note of that scale : al- 

 though if, as there is some reason to suppose, 

 the B was originally flat, A was not the key 

 note, but its fifth, until the B natural was 

 introdiieed, and denoted by a square b in- 

 stead of a round one. By degrees the chro- 

 matic scale was filled up, and the five added 

 intervals were denoted by the letter belonging- 

 to the note. abbve them, with the addition of 

 the round b, or by the note below, with the 

 addition of four lines crossing each other, im- 

 plying a half note, as composed of four 

 commas. A simple cross would, however, at 

 present, be much more convenient, as more 

 readily distinguishable from the square b, 

 which is used to signify a natural note, 

 in opposition to these ffotS; and siiarps. 

 This is the historical account of the 

 origin of the scale ; but, according to the 

 modern theory and practice of music, the 

 subject may be more easily understood, by 

 beginning with an explanation of the major 

 Bcale. 



III. PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE SCALES. 



The simplest proportions of two sounds to 

 each other, next to unison, is whenr the fre- 

 quency of their vibrations are related as one 

 to two : such sounds bear a very strong resem- 

 blance to each other, and when named, they 

 are denoted by the same letter, and are only 

 distinguished by the appellations in alt, in al- 

 tissimo, on the one side, and double, and 

 double double, on the other. The Germans, 

 with great propriety, make use of small let- 

 ters or capitals, with one, two, or more lines 

 over or under them. The note marked by 

 the tenor cliff is called ~, the octaves above, 



c, c, as far as six lines, which is, perhaps, 

 the highest note used in music : the octaves 

 below c, are c, C, C, C : C is probably not 



audible, vibrating but eight times in a se- 

 •cond. C with six lines below it, would denote 

 a sound, of which the complete vibrations 

 should last precisely a second. The series 

 of natural notes is this. A, B, C, D, E, F, G 

 A, B, c, d. . b, c, d. . .The subjoined table will 

 show the absolute frequency and the dimen- 

 sions of each vibration of the octaves of c 

 and the length of the simplest organ pipe 

 that produces it : but, according to the dif- 

 ferent temperature of the air, and the pitch 

 of the instruments, these numbers may vary 

 somewhat from perfect accuracy: and it 

 must be observed, that the usual pitch of con- 

 certs, in London, is somewhat higher than this 

 standard ; and in Germany, perhaps a httle 

 lower. 



