Kaleidophone: New Resources of Melody and Harmony. Pitch Scales in Relation to Chord Structures

Harwich Port: Clock & Rose Press, 2003. Book. New. Cloth. Reprint. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Reprint of the 1940 Revised Edition. 95 pp. Pitch scales in relation to chord structures. Schillinger was the legendary innovator, teacher and composer of music who taught many of the most famous names in American music, including George Gershwin, Glenn Miller and Carmine Coppola. Kaleidohphone is intended as an entirely practical approach to the age-old problem faced by almost all composers and arrangers, the relationship of chords and scales. "Kaleidohphone is intended as an entirely practical approach to the age-old problem faced by almost all composers and arrangers, the relationship of chords and scales. Simple mathematical techniques are applied to the parameters of pitch. Intervals are expressed as numbers representing a quantity of semitone units. For example, a major third is 4 (semitones) and a perfect fifth is 7. Chords are written as number patterns; the major triad is (4+3). Kaleidophone deals with chords consisting of up to five members (pentads). Any chord can be transcribed numerically and linked to its close relatives by a process of reordering; the intervals are arranged in ascending order and then located in Table 1. Table 2, shows chords grouped with their near relatives as members of families. Chords containing semitone intervals are excluded. This smallest interval is treated as arising through a process of melodic elaboration, one that involves the insertion of a 'directional unit' (a kind of leading note) between each of the principle chord tones. For example, in the case of the root and third of the major triad, the interval 4 (a major third) can be bisected in three ways; (1+3) C to D flat;(2+2) C to D; (3+1) C to E flat. By assigning directional units, a scale closely related to the underlying harmony is formed. Each chord yields many alternative scales and these are also listed with their parent chord in Table 1. Schillinger consistently, applies core mathematical procedures to all parameters of music and readers familiar with Schillinger System of Musical Composition or the Mathematical Basis of The Arts will recognise techniques originally applied to matters of rhythm: permutation reveals all the relatives of a particular chord and frequently suggests plausible chord progressions, while subdivision , a process of splitting the original intervals, accounts for the directional units that make up the complex scales. Schillinger's introduction to Kaleidophone is quite extensive and contains a number of illustrations as well as reference to Gershwin's approach to the technique. Kaleidophone describes a potent approach to the composition of melody and harmony. The real spirit of this book is not the promotion of mechanistic composition but a desire to enlighten and expand the reader's knowledge of musical materials. As Schillinger says, "It will open before you a new and fascinating world which is about us, yet remains unseen. It will stimulate your imagination beyond your own expectations because it will provide you with new and alluring experiences." (Jeremy Arden, Oxford 2008). New in new dustjacket..