The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    So this thread has two purposes really: I'd like to explain what it is that I've been working on lately, and I'd like to get all of your opinions on whether or not this chord progression sounds good. Because this is very theory-heavy, I decided that the theory forum would be the best place to put it. If you believe that I am mistaken in this judgement, please let me know.

    I've been using a 31-tet keyboard recently, which is a keyboard whose octave is divided into 31 equal parts, rather than the usual 12. (If you have any questions about this tuning, I'd be happy to answer them.) I'm kind of a chord fanatic, so microtonality excites me because with it I am granted access to all sorts of new harmonies that aren't available in the 12 tone system. There's always more to explore in 12-tet, but 31-tet opens your brain up to a ton of unconventional possibilities.

    With this system I've been exploring chords that approximate segments of the harmonic series. The trouble with the harmonic series is: the higher up you go, the more difficult it is to legitimize the overtones. For a while, I've been rather afraid of the 11th harmonic, as it lies smack-dab in the center between a perfect fourth and an augmented fourth. The most obvious usage for it is as an extension on a harmonic 7th chord (that is, a chord with the formula 1-3-5-db7). The voicing I've been using for such a chord is 1-3-5-db7-1-t11. I've tried to incorporate this into a progression, and I can't decide if I like the result. If you have 9 seconds, this is the result of my experiment:


    To me, it's consonant, but it shifts in such an unconventional way that it may end up just sounding out of tune. I'm already too deep into this microtonal stuff to truly decide whether or not such a progression would be palatable for others, so I'm asking for all of your opinions on this. I assume there are many among you who have not had your ears warped by microtones as much as I have.

    Thank you for your time.

    EDIT: Here's a transcription of what I played:
    Last edited by cfwoodland; 06-08-2022 at 10:20 AM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    have you listened to Specralist composers like Tristain Murail, Gerard Grisey or Hora?iu R?dulescu? They explored music based on high upper partials beginning in the 70s




  4. #3

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    I 'm not fan of this progression especially the last two chords where the "dissonance" is too obvious and not good to my ears but that's me !

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by BWV
    have you listened to Specralist composers like Tristain Murail, Gerard Grisey or Hora?iu R?dulescu? They explored music based on high upper partials beginning in the 70s



    Interesting! I haven't listened to their works yet, but thank you for introducing them to me.

  6. #5

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    An old microtonal keyboard instrument is the calliope which used steam in which the temperature variations in individual pipes determined the degree of pitch variation.

    At first this may sound way off, but as you listen for a while you'll hear nice and sometimes unintended wonderful things.