186 
WEAD. 
sounds produced upon a particular instrument; while the 
most exact definition, but one applicable only where musical 
principles are well developed, is this: 
“A scale is an independently reproducible series of sounds 
arranged in order of pitch , recognized as a standard , and fitted 
for musical purposes. 
“While the last two definitions imply an instrument in 
which the scales are embodied, the limitation is in appearance 
only, for there is no evidence that any musicians do have a 
standard series of tones, unless they have one or more instru- 
ments embodying it, and have learned the series directly or 
indirectly from such an instrument. 
“In the development of musical scales four stages may be 
recognized : 
“1. The stage of primitive music, where there is no more 
indication of a scale than in the sounds of birds, animals, or 
of nature. Students of the origin of music may give free rein 
to their fancy in considering this period, and the uncertain 
musical utterances of living primitive peoples may be con- 
strued in accordance with almost any prepossession of the 
hearer. 
“2. The stage of instruments mechanically capable of fur- 
nishing a scale. This stage has been almost entirely over- 
looked by students. 
“3. The stage of theoretical melodic scales, — Greek, Arab, 
Chinese, Hindu, Medieval, etc. All the original treatises 
concerning these scales imply that a stage of development has 
been reached far in advance of the second. 
“4. The stage of the modern harmonic scale and its de- 
scended, the equally-tempered scale, which are alike depend- 
ent both on a theory and on the possibility of embodying it in 
instruments. 
“These four stages, of course, overlap even in the same 
locality; they correspond in a rough way to the recognized 
four culture-stages, namely: the savage, barbarous, civilized, 
and enlightened.” 
Finally, it should be remembered that the musical scale is 
analogous to the alphabet, out of which words, phrases, and 
