Synthetic scale

Class of musical scales

See also: Synthetic mode

In music, a synthetic scale is a scale that derives from a traditional diatonic major scale by altering of one degree by a semitone in either direction.[1] Composer Ferruccio Busoni originally explored these scales in his A New Esthetic of Music[2] and their number and variety were later clarified by J. Murray Barbour, who also proposed applying the procedure to scales of more or less than seven degrees, including pentatonic scales.[1]

These synthetic pitch collections may serve as basic melodic or harmonic material for a passage of music. However, the hundreds of available scales cause Murray Barbour to propose that, "The whole problem is of greater theoretical interest than of practical worth."[1]

Alexander Scriabin's mystic chord, when considered as a scale (the Prometheus scale), is an example of a synthetic chord—in that it is a whole tone scale with one degree altered. However, it was not the generating element to Scriabin's music, nor does his derivation of it from the whole tone scale necessarily indicate knowledge of Busoni's theories. Starting on C, the Prometheus scale is

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The semitone steps for this scale are 2, 2, 2, 3, 1, 2. By adding a G to the scale, one would end up with the Lydian♭VII, the fourth degree of the Melodic Minor scale.

The pitches of synthetic scales may duplicate pre-existing scales, though their derivation is different and their use is often quite different.

## See also

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* Harmonic major scale
* Jazz minor scale

## References

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1. ^ a b c "Synthetic Musical Scales". Author(s): J. Murray Barbour. Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 36, No. 3, (Mar., 1929), pp. 155-160.
2. ^ Busoni, Ferruccio (1907), translated Dr. Th. Baker (1911). Sketch Of A New Esthetic Of Music, p.29-39. ISBN 0-548-76595-2.

## Further reading

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* Yamaguchi, Masaya. 2006. The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales, revised edition. New York: Masaya Music Services. ISBN 0-9676353-0-6.

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Musical scales (list)

Main Western|

* Major
* Minor
* Pentatonic
* Diatonic
* Chromatic

Other types|

* Bebop
* Blues
* Diminished scale
* Distance model
* Double harmonic
* Enharmonic
* Enigmatic
* Flamenco mode
* Harmonic
* Harmonic major
* Harmonic minor
* Jazz
* Jazz minor
* Major Locrian
* Phrygian dominant
* Ptolemy's intense diatonic
* Scale of harmonics
* Symmetric
* Synthetic mode
* Synthetic scale
* Whole tone

Ethnic origin|

* Algerian
* Arabic
* Double harmonic
* Major Locrian
* Quarter tone
* 17 equal temperament
* Brazil
* Escala nordestina
* Gamelan
* Pelog
* Slendro
* Gypsy
* Hungarian major
* Hungarian minor
* Istrian
* Japanese
* Jewish nusach
* Neapolitan
* Persian
* Romanian major
* Ukrainian Dorian

Non-octave|

* Alpha
* Beta
* Gamma
* Delta
* Bohlen–Pierce

Modes|

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Modes in Western music

Gregorian|

| Authentic|

* Dorian
* Phrygian
* Lydian
* Mixolydian

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Plagal|

* Hypodorian
* Hypophrygian
* Hypolydian
* Hypomixolydian

Other|

* Ionian
* Hypoionian
* Aeolian
* Hypoaeolian
* Locrian
* Hypolocrian
* Pentatonic
* Reciting tone

Diatonic|

* Ionian (I) (natural major and ascending melodic major)
* Dorian (II)
* Phrygian (III)
* Lydian (IV)
* Mixolydian (V)
* Aeolian (VI) (natural minor and descending melodic minor)
* Locrian (VII)

Jazz minor|

* Jazz minor (I) (ascending melodic minor)
* Dorian ♭2 (II)
* Lydian augmented (III)
* Acoustic (IV)
* Aeolian dominant (V) (descending melodic major)
* Half diminished (VI)
* Altered (VII)

Harmonic minor|

* Harmonic minor (I)
* Ukrainian Dorian (IV)
* Phrygian dominant (V)
* Lydian ♯9 (VI)

Harmonic major|

* Harmonic major (I)

Double harmonic scale|

* Double harmonic (I)
* Hungarian minor (IV)
* Oriental (V)

Number of tones|

* Monotonic (1)
* Ditonic (2)
* Tritonic (3)
* Tetratonic (4)
* Pentatonic (5)
* Hexatonic (6)
* Heptatonic (7)
* Octatonic (8)
* Decatonic (10)
* Chromatic (12)

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