{"id":10586,"date":"2015-11-26T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T08:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=10586"},"modified":"2024-10-19T16:29:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T00:29:39","slug":"devil-music-tritones-vs-augmented-4ths-diminished-5ths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/devil-music-tritones-vs-augmented-4ths-diminished-5ths\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Devil In Music” – Tritones vs Augmented 4ths & Diminished 5ths"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an element in music that has generated a lot of controversies over the years. <\/p>\n

In the Middle Ages (400AD \u2013 1400AD), it was called the “devil in music” (aka – “diabolus in musica”<\/em>) and in the eighteenth century, playing it could put you at the risk of being excommunicated. <\/p>\n

Over time, people discovered that this element was not really of the devil. They saw it in a new light and gradually, it grew in importance. In the 1940s, this interval became an integral part of Jazz Piano Harmony.<\/p>\n

Today, the devil in music<\/em> is pretty much an angel<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Here’s the controversial element:
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Many generations have called it different names. First, it was called the devil in music<\/em>. In contemporary times, you can hardly hang out around musicians who play Gospel and Jazz styles without hearing Tritones! Tritones!! Tritones!!! <\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more to the this controversial element and the goal of this article is to help you relate with the devil in music<\/em> either as a melodic progression<\/a> or as an interval<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This post is for you if:<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t know what a tritone is<\/strong> and you haven\u2019t heard of it before.<\/em><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t know what a tritone<\/strong> is but you\u2019ve heard of it before.<\/em><\/p>\n

You know what a tritone is<\/strong> (you spice up your playing with it), however, you aren\u2019t sure of what it is<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure this article will prove helpful to you if any of those applied to you.<\/p>\n

Two Perspectives to The Devil in Music<\/em><\/h2>\n

There are two ways to relate to the devil in music<\/em>. Either as a melodic progression or as an interval<\/a>. That gives us two perspectives.<\/p>\n

Here’s the first perspective.<\/p>\n

Perspective #1 – As a melodic progression.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The devil in music<\/em> can be seen as a melodic progression. In between F-B are three wholetone progressions:<\/p>\n

F-G
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

G-A
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

A-B
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Therefore, considering that there are three adjacent wholetone progressions, this melodic progression is known as the tritone. Tritone literally means three tones<\/em> or three adjacent wholetone progressions.<\/p>\n

The tritone is a melodic progression<\/a> and NOT an interval<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

However, because melodic progressions and intervals<\/a> are cousins, people often use the melodic progressions to describe distances. (The tritone is not alone in this; people also use semitone and tone to describe distances.) <\/p>\n

This may not be totally wrong, however, there are differences between melodic progressions and intervals that we can’t sweep under the carpet. Read this article (melodic progressions vs intervals<\/a>) to learn more about the similarities and differences.<\/p>\n

Just like other melodic progressions, the tritone is a melodic progression derived from the division of an octave into two parts. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Recall that an octave is naturally divisible into twelve parts. This is the smallest division and what we call “semitones.”
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Mathematically, a tritone is the division of an octave (12 parts) into two equal<\/strong> “buckets” (if you will).<\/p>\n

Therefore, each tritone progression will contain six semitones and will contain two of such in one octave. <\/p>\n

E.g. using F as a reference:<\/p>\n

The first melodic progression from F is B:
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The second melodic progression from B is F:
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

F to B and B to F are all tritone progressions of F (each containing six semitone progressions).<\/p>\n

F-B contains six semitone progressions<\/p>\n