An Introduction To PC Set Analysis

An Introduction to Pc Set Analysis
A Brief Introduction to Pitch-Class Set Analysis

Introduction
I. Gathering Sets
1. Basic axioms: pitch classes

2. Intervals and interval classes
3. Analysis and segmentation
4. Pitch-class sets and normal form
5. Pitch-class set classes and prime form
6. Set classes and interval-class content
7. Sizes of sets
8. Set-class tables; Forte's set-class names
9. Quick review: levels of abstraction
II. Interpreting Sets
10. The uses of pc-set analysis

11. Invariance relations and set symmetry
12. Inclusion relations: subsets and supersets
13. Z-relations
14. Complement relations
15. Similarity relations, complexes, and genera
16. Referential pcs, centricity, and tonality
17. Ordered sets; serial music
Pc-Set Calculator, by David Walters

Table of pc-set classes
Other sources
Page last modified 3 October 2001 / GRT
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Introduction
Introduction
When we analyze tonal music, the basic principle of tonality -- that a single pitch class (pc) is the gravitational centre for a work's
pitch structure -- generates most of the terms of reference for our analysis. For instance, in analyses of "common-practice" tonal
music (much of the music written between c.1650 and c.1900), such concepts as scale steps, chord functions, and
tonicization help to describe a system -- an evolving system, to be sure -- of pitch relations.
Some twentieth-century music, however, is not tonal. Not only does such music avoid the conventions of common-practice
tonality; it avoids projecting any clear sense of a central pitch class. Analyzing this music is challenging. There appears to be no
generalized system of non-tonal pitch structure; instead, each piece seems to create its own contextual structure. And it may
be unclear just what the bases of such a contextual structure might be.
An approach that has gained favour with musicians intrigued by non-tonal music is pitch-class set analysis. Like other
analytical methods, pc set analysis has a few essential features:
● basic axioms, assumptions upon which the analytical method is founded,

● abstract concepts used for classifying and interpreting musical events,
● common analytical operations with which to probe the music, and
● conventions for describing the relationships and patterns the analysis discovers.
Just what use we make of pc set analysis depends on our interests and skills. The music of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern,
Stravinsky, Bartók, Debussy, Scriabin, and their contemporaries has formed the core repertory to which pc set analysis has been
applied, but it has also been used to examine later and earlier music, including tonal music. Indeed, studying pc set analysis
doesn't just give us a new toolbox for probing many pieces of music; it can give us a new way of thinking about pitch design in
general.
Pc set analysis builds upon the observation that, in the absence of tonality's centralizing force, pitch structure often seems to be
grounded in the intervallic relationships among pitches. At times these relationships also throw certain pitches or pitch classes
into prominence. Some intervallic relationships may be obvious to the listener. Many others may not be, and pc set analysis has
proved useful at uncovering and categorizing these relationships.
The present guide is in two parts.
I. Gathering Sets This part introduces the primary axioms and concepts of pc set analysis, including the
notions of pitch class, interval class, pc set, pc set class and interval
vector.
II. Interpreting Sets This part defines the kinds of relationships and patterns among sets and set classes
for which analysts usually look. Uncovering these relationships and patterns is the aim
of pc set analysis.
Note: At present (September 2001), Part II is still under construction.
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Introduction
This guide includes some exercises, some of which you are guided through, with answers, to give you practice in dealing with
analytical concepts and operations. In addition, the guide includes a pc set-class table and an annotated bibliography of basic
printed and on-line resources in pc set analysis.
Acknowledgements
This guide in its present form has principally been developed over two summers, with the financial support of two grants and with
the much appreciated assistance of two of my students. A grant from Mount Allison University's Innovative Teaching Fund
supported the work of Jordan Fleming In the summer of 1999, and one from Mount Allison's Purdy Crawford Centre for Teaching
allowed me to work with David Walters in the summer of 2001. I extend my thanks to the University and especially to Jordan and
David. Their computer (and especially JavaScript) knowledge and their rapid assimilation of pc set analysis and of my aims made
working with both of them a pleasure and an education. In addition to his many valuable insights throughout this guide, David is
wholly responsible for the excellent JavaScript set calculator that accompanies it. I am solely responsible, of course, for any
mistakes remaining in this guide.
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1. Basic axioms: pitch classes
Systems of musical analysis are always built upon certain axioms. An axiom is a "given": a statement accepted as true -- in this
case for the purpose of developing an analytical method. (Of course, we can always try not accepting an axiom, to see what
different analytical insights might result.)
Our introduction to pitch-class set analysis can begin with two underlying axioms.
Axiom 1: Octave equivalence
As in tonal music, the octave seems to play a special role in non-tonal music. Pitches distant from each other by one or more
octaves can be treated as equivalent.
We must be clear about what the word "equivalent" means. It does not mean "identical"; pitches an octave apart are different
pitches, and a composer would never use one when he means the other. Rather, "equivalent" means "conceptually equal to each
other" for the purpose of our analysis.
The axiom of octave equivalence underlies the concept of pitch class (pc): all pitches that are separated by one or more
octaves are given the same name and are considered to belong to the same class. This is a familiar concept among musicians.
When we speak, for instance, about a piece of music in D major, it's not any particular pitch D that we think of as the tonal centre,
but the pitch class D. Notice that pitch class is not itself a primary musical experience -- we hear pitches, not pitch classes -- but a
concept abstracted from that experience.
Axiom 2: Enharmonic equivalence
In tonal music, pc A-sharp is not equivalent to pc B-flat; pitches belonging to these two classes appear in different tonal contexts
and with different structural meanings. In non-tonal music, however, such differences no longer seem to matter. Here,
enharmonically paired pcs usually seem equivalent, and we shall assume such equivalence from now on. Enharmonic
equivalence reduces the number of pcs from at least twenty-one (actually more, counting double-sharps and double-flats) to just
twelve.
To reflect enharmonic equivalence, we shall give the pcs new names, ones that carry no tonal biases. Using integer
notation, we shall simply number the pcs from 0 to 11. You may find that the new names take a bit of getting used to, but they
will simplify some of the operations we shall later use in analysis.
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In Example 1-1 this integer notation is used to label the pitch classes represented in a passage from a song by Webern.
Example 1-1. Anton Webern, "Dies ist ein Lied für dich allein," op. 3, no. 1, mm. 4-6. Pitch classes
Exercise 1-1. The integer names of pitch classes
Key concepts on this page:
● axiom
● equivalence
● octave equivalence
● pitch class
● enharmonic equivalence
● integer notation
Page last modified 10 July 2001 / GRT

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2. Intervals and interval classes
Like the traditional pitch-class names, the traditional names of intervals are also biased by notions of tonal context; for instance,
in tonal music, a minor 7th (say, C up to B-flat) and an augmented 6th (C up to A-sharp) are different intervals. Since such
contexts are absent in non-tonal music, however, enharmonically paired intervals are also now equivalent: both a minor 7th and
an augmented 6th are simply counted as an interval of 10 semitones. In all of our discussions of intervals, we shall use this
system of semitone counts, again written with integers.
When we speak of intervals, we often use a few subtle levels of abstraction. In fact, we can think of four such levels, two when
we measure the distance between pitches and two when we measure the distance between pitch classes.
Pitch intervals
Closest to our aural experience is the concept of ordered pitch intervals: we hear intervals of a particular size and
direction between successive pitches. One pitch, for instance, might be 9 semitones above the previous one, or 15 semitones
below. In Example 2-1, the ascending intervals between the pitches in Webern's melody are named with a "plus" (+) sign,
descending intervals with a "minus" (-) sign.
Example 2-1. Webern, op. 3, no. 1, mm. 4-6. Pitch intervals
At times we may be concerned only with a pitch interval's size, not its direction. Then we speak of unordered pitch
intervals. Removing the + and - signs from the interval names in Example 2-1 leaves only information about their size in
semitones. Though this is a slight abstraction from our aural experience of melodic intervals, unordered pitch intervals are indeed
a part of that experience when pitches are sounded harmonically. Then we hear intervals neither up nor down, just "between."
Pitch-class intervals
More important to our analysis will be two ways of thinking about the distance between pitch classes. We must understand a
crucial difference between pitch classes and pitches: one pc isn't really "higher" or "lower" than another. Rather, the twelve pcs

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form a closed modulo 12 system, like the numbers on a clock face. We can think of measuring intervals between pcs like
measuring clock time (see Example 2-2 below). What, for instance, is the interval between pc 4 and pc 11? There are two
possibilities: "ascending" -- going clockwise -- it's 7 semitones; "descending" -- counterclockwise -- it's 5 semitones. Taking these
two directions into account, we can measure pitch-class intervals.
Example 2-2. The pitch-class clock face In measuring pc intervals we use modulo 12
arithmetic. The "ascending" clockwise interval from pc 4
to pc 11 is 7 semitones: 4 + 7 = 11.
The "descending" counterclockwise interval is 5 semitones:

4 - 5 = 11.
In modulo 12 arithmetic any addition or subtraction that

goes past 12 or below 0 takes into account that 12 = 0 on
the clock face.
In Example 2-3 the intervals between the adjacent pcs represented by Webern's pitches are measured both "ascending" and
"descending." Notice that the pairs of pc intervals are complementary: their integers always add up to 12.
Example 2-3. Webern, op. 3, no. 1, mm. 4-6. Pc intervals
We also use modulo 12 arithmetic to calculate intervals when we transpose pcs and groups of pcs. Though, as we've just seen,
each calculation could be done in two directions, by convention pc transposition levels are calculated only in the "ascending"
direction. In Example 2-4, the first five-note gesture of the Webern melody we've been considering is presented along with two
other gestures, one that occurs earlier in the same song and one that occurs later.
Example 2-4. from Webern op. 3, no. 1. Pc transposition

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The three gestures are clearly related: they are transpositions of each other. In terms of pc intervals, gesture a (pcs 1 5 4 7 2)
may be transposed by 2 semitones (T2) to yield gesture b (pcs 3 7 6 9 4). In turn, gesture b may be transposed by 9 semitones
(T9) to produce gesture c (pcs 0 4 3 6 1). We could easily work out the other transposition relationships among these sets, taking
care to calculate clockwise.
Exercise 2-1. Modulo 12 arithmetic and pc intervals
Interval classes
In tonal theory, the axiom of octave equivalence underlies another familiar notion, that of interval "inversion". The perfect 4th and
perfect 5th are said to be "inverses" of each other, as are the minor 3rd and major 6th, the major 2nd and minor 7th, and so on.
This is also true of their atonal counterparts: the complementary pc intervals of 7 and 5 semitones, of 3 and 9 semitones, of 2 and
10 semitones, etc. We shall use this relationship to propose that the pc intervals of each pair are equivalent, that they each
belong to a single interval class (ic). In the following table, we can see how pc interval equivalence produces just seven
interval classes, each named, by convention, for the smaller of its two pc intervals. (Ic 0 will not affect our analysis, so we'll be
ignoring it).
pc intervals: 0 / 12 1 / 11 2 / 10 3 / 9 4 / 8 5 / 7 6
interval classes: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

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The concept of interval classes is an abstraction that will prove useful when we begin to consider the properties of pc sets.
Summary
The table below summarizes the four levels at which we consider intervals. The example illustrates how the progressively more
abstract concepts we apply have the effect of collapsing the distinct pitch interval types we hear into a small number of classes.
Conversely, we can say that the few interval classes are each represented in actual music by several types of intervals. Ic 5, for
instance, encompasses the eight ordered pitch intervals listed below, along with many more.
Example 2-5. Table of interval levels
Exercise 2-2. Pitch intervals and interval classes
● pitch interval (ordered and unordered)

● pitch-class interval
● modulo 12 arithmetic
● interval class

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3. Analysis and segmentation
"Analysis" means "taking apart." Nearly all pieces of music provide such complex experiences that, if we are to study them, we
must dissect them. One immediate strategy in this regard is to focus our attention separately on the elements that make up
music. In pc set analysis, for instance, we investigate musics pitch organization, leaving as secondary issues of rhythm,
texture, timbre, and the other elements with which pitches are bound up in our musical experience.
Another necessary strategy is segmentation: we partition the music into analyzable fragments. Two familiar types of
fragments are chords, units whose pitches sound together; and motives, units whose pitch, contour, and/or rhythmic designs
are used repeatedly. In pc set analysis, the principal unit is the pitch-class set. A pc set is a (usually) unordered collection of
(usually) between three and nine pitch classes. (The term "set" is a mathematical one. It betrays the fact that the axioms and
operations of this analysis can be viewed as -- mostly rudimentary -- applications of mathematical set theory.)
Pc sets can be abstracted from the pitches in melodic, in harmonic, and in mixed musical segments. Deciding upon these
segments -- segmentation -- is the first step when when we analyze a piece of music. Analysts usually base their decisions on
"common-sense" contextual clues gained from careful score reading and listening. Sometimes, however, the intricacies of atonal
music can make segmentation difficult. It is a process in which the skill, experience, and aims of the analyst all influence
decisions.
In Example 3-1 the first six measures of Weberns op 3., no. 1 song have been given sample segmentations.
Example 3-1. Webern, song op. 3, no. 1, mm. 1-6

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This example illustrates several common segmentation strategies, and it suggests a few ways of indicating segments.
● Each instrument's material, considered separately. Here melodic segments in the voice are indicated by brackets.
Segments in the pianos more harmonic material are mostly enclosed by boxes. Naturally, segments can also encompass
more than one instrument; the thick brackets of segments j, k, and l, for instance, are meant to embrace material above

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them for both piano and voice. (In many other places here the voice adds nothing new to the piano's pitch class material.)
● The works motivic gestures. This song happens to feature much varied imitation of short melodic gestures, and all
appearances of these gestures might be considered segments. The material in vocal segments b, c, m, and n, for
instance, recurs in several other segments.
● Gestures bounded by rests or grouped by beams or slurs. These criteria suggest segmenting the four overall phrases of
the vocal part as well as several gestures in the pianos material.
● In vocal music, gestures spanning textual units. Here the first two lines of text ("Dies ist ein Lied / für dich allein") suggest
breaking segment a into segments b and c.
● Vertical sonorities chords with or without adjacent "non-harmonic" pitches. In common-practice harmonic analysis, there
are secure criteria for omitting non-harmonic tones from harmonic segments. The analyst may or may not wish to apply --
and defend! -- these or similar criteria in pc set analysis.
● Inclusive segments. In measure 4, for instance, the separate segments formed by materials in the pianos two staves are
also combined into larger segments; and in measure 1, segment e adds a bass note to segment f.
● Overlapping segments. In measure 2, segments g, h and i overlap in the piano part. In measures 5-6, the final vocal
phrase has been subjected to a similar technique, called imbrication. Its first four notes suggest themselves as a
segment, n, since they present a retrograde version of the pcs in segment b. The remainder of this phrase, however, is
then systematically parsed in overalapping groups of four notes: 2-5, 3-6, and 4-7.
● Non-contiguous segments. Nearly all the segments presented here feature adjacent notes, notes that we might expect to
be related to each other somehow. Grouping non-adjacent pitches into segments is a less secure enterprise, and the
analyst should have some defensible criterion for relating pitches distant from each other. One possibility is exemplified
by segment d, which comprises the opening notes of the four vocal phrases; the notes are stemmed and linked by a
beam. The discovery that these notes mirror the pitches of segment b, suggests their status as a viable segment.
The segmentations presented above are certainly not exhaustive, and it's likely that not all of them will yield analytically useful
results. They illustrate, however, that you should be both open to trying alternatives in your segmentation and able to defend the
choices you make. One ideal for segmentation is that -- since you will be looking for pitch-class content in these segments -- the
criteria for segmentation should be non-pitch based. In practice, however, the analyst usually tempers this ideal as patterns
and relationships among pc sets emerge during the analysis.
● segmentation
● pitch-class set

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4. Pitch-class sets and normal form
Pitch-class sets
Suppose we are analyzing Webern's "Dies ist ein Lied für dich allein," and we come upon the two segments presented in
Example 4-1.
Example 4-1. from Webern op. 3, no. 1. a: m. 2, piano; b: mm. 5-6 voice
These two five-note segments share only one notated pitch, and they don't project any clear tonal design. Might they nonetheless
be related in pitch structure?
If we apply the axioms of octave and enharmonic equivalence, we see that segments a and b are indeed related in a basic way:
they comprise the same pitch classes: 2, 1, 3, 7, and 6. We can say, then, that these segments represent the same pitch-
class set, and we can invent a set name for both segments that expresses their equivalent status. It could be any name, as
long as it's the same one for both segments. We'll use a name that simply lists the set's pc content: "[1,2,3,6,7]." Labeling any
future segments that have the same pc content "[1,2,3,6,7]" would express our perception that all such segments are equivalent
according to our two basic axioms.
(By the way, we're used to segment equivalence in tonal analysis. Applying just the octave equivalence axiom, we routinely judge
any segment that embodies pitch classes C, E, and G to be a "C-major triad." This includes the four different segments in
Example 4-2, as well as countless others. The label "C-major triad" is a pc set name, isn't it?)
Example 4-2. Some C-major triads
Naming sets: normal form

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One of the abstractions of pc sets is that they are unordered, that is, the pcs may be embodied in any order in the musical
segments. Segments in which pcs 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 appear in the order 2, 1, 3, 7, 6 or 6, 3, 1, 2, 7 or 3, 1, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, 2, or
indeed simultaneously are all classified as belonging to the same set. Since we usually name a set by citing its pc content, it will
help to have a standard order for listing the pcs; then all examples of the set will have the same name.
This standard order is called normal form. By convention, the normal form is the one that lists the pcs in ascending order
and in the intervallically most compact form. Here are the steps for finding a set's normal form.
1. Examining your segment, list its pc content, eliminating all pc repetitions.
2. Arrange the pc integers in "ascending" (clockwise) orders. Remember: these integers form a modulo 12 number group.
Not only can you "ascend" from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 6, and 6 to 7; you can also "ascend" from 7 to 1 (7 + 6 = 1). There are
always as many possible "ascending" orders as the set has pcs. For pcs 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7, for example, the five orders are
12367 23671 36712 67123 71236
3. Now choose the most compact of the "ascending" orders: the one whose interval span between the first and last pcs is
smallest. Do this by subtracting the first integer from the last.
"ascending" overall span

orders
12367 7 - 1 = 6 semitones
23671 1 - 2 = 11 semitones
36712 2 - 3 = 11 semitones
67123 3 - 6 = 9 semitones
71236 6 - 7 = 11 semitones
Here the most compact "ascending"ordering is 1 2 3 6 7. This is the set's normal form, and the conventional name of the
set will be [1,2,3,6,7]. The square brackets, commas, and lack of spaces between digits are also a convention in naming
unordered sets (though some analysts use other conventions).
4. The above steps are often enough to find a set's normal form. With some sets, however two or more orders tie for overall
compactness. The rule then is to choose the set that is most compact towards the left. Measure the intervals
from first to second-last note. Still tied? Measure from first to third-last note. Keep going until one set wins in
compactness. For example, name the set made up of pcs 1, 4, 7, 8, and 10.
"ascending" overall span span

orders span 1st to 2nd-last pc 1st to 3rd-last pc
1 4 7 8 10 10 - 1 = 9 8-1=7
4 7 8 10 1 1-4=9 10 - 4 = 6 8-4=4
7 8 10 1 4 4-7=9 1-7=6 10 - 7 = 3

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8 10 1 4 7 7 - 8 = 11
10 1 4 7 8 8 - 10 = 10
As you can see, three of the five ascending orders are equally compact overall, spanning 9 semitones. Two of these still
tie for compactness when we compare first to second-last pcs. Only when we compare first to third-last pcs does order 7
8 10 1 4 emerge as this set's normal form, the one most compact towards the left. We shall call this set [7,8,10,1,4].
5. With sets of great intervallic regularity, no amount of interval measuring will break the tie. Then choose the ordering that
begins with the lowest number. For example, name the set comprising pcs 2, 4, 8, and 10
"ascending" overall span span

orders span 1st to 2nd-last pc 1st to 3rd-last pc
2 4 8 10 10 - 2 = 8 8-2=6 4-2=2
4 8 10 2 2 - 4= 10
8 10 2 4 4-8=8 2-8=6 10 - 8 = 2
10 2 4 8 8 - 10= 10
Since interval measurement here doesn't produce a single most compact order, we simply choose [2,4,8,10] rather than
[8,10,2,4] as the set's name.
Exercise 4-1. Naming sets using normal form
● pitch-class set
● normal form
● steps for determining normal form

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5. Pitch-class set classes and prime form
When our analysis uncovered musical segments a and b, cited again in Example 5-1 below, we found that these segments are
related in a basic way: their pitch-class content is identical. We say they represent the same pc set, which we've named
[1,2,3,6,7]. Suppose now that, in continuing to analyse Webern's song, we find two more segments, c and d, which we'll
consider in turn.
Example 5-1. from Webern op. 3, no. 1
Axiom 3: Transpositional equivalence of sets
Now, even without pc set analysis, it's clear that segment c is quite similar to b: it repeats the same melodic gesture, just
transposed. In pc set terms, however, c is considered to be related to both a and b: its pc set, named [2,3,4,7,8], is a
transpositional equivalent of set [1,2,3,6,7]. If we were to take this new set and transpose each of its pcs by 11
semitones (T11), its pc content would be
2 3 4 7 8

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+ 11 11 11 11 11
= 1 2 3 6 7 set [1,2,3,6,7]
Theorists say that set [2,3,4,7,8] would "map onto" set [1,2,3,6,7] by operation T11. (And, of course, [1,2,3,6,7] maps onto
[2,3,4,7,8] by operation T1.) Accepting an axiom of transpositional equivalence, we are going to to say that sets [2,3,4,7,8] and
[1,2,3,6,7] belong to the same "type of set"; or, put another way, they are members of the same pc set class.
A moment's reflection will confirm that there are twelve pc sets like the two we've just met. Here they all are, listed in "ascending"
order beginning on 0:
[0,1,2,5,6] [3,4,5,8,9] [6,7,8,11,0] [9,10,11,2,3]

[1,2,3,6,7] [4,5,6,9,10] [7,8,9,0,1] [10,11,0,3,4]
[2,3,4,7,8] [5,6,7,10,11] [8,9,10,1,2] [11,0,1,4,5]
They could all be mapped onto each other by transposition, so they are all sets of the same type -- all members of the same pc
set class. We're going to need a label for this class, again to help us express our sense of set relatedness if we come upon more
sets of this same class. Adopting one common convention, we'll call it class "(01256)". So, to sum up our analysis so far,
segments a, b, and c in Example 5-1 embody two different sets, [1,2,3,6,7] and [2,3,4,7,8], but these two sets belong to the
same set class, (01256).
(Again, by the way, we're used to transpositional set equivalence and pc set classes in tonal music. A C-major triad (containing
pcs C, E, G) and an F#-major triad (F#, A#, C#) are transpositionally equivalent. They, and all the other major triads, are
members of a pc set class whose class name is "major triad".)
Exercise 5-1. Set transposition and transpositional equivalence of sets
Axiom 4: Inversional equivalence of sets
Finally, what about segment d in Example 5-1? Its pc content makes it an example of yet another set, [10,11,2,3,4], but one that
cannot be mapped onto [1,2,3,6,7] or [2,3,4,7,8] by transposition (Notice that it's not in the list of 12 transpositionally equivalent
sets above). It could be made to map, however, if we inverted it -- turned it upside down -- intervallically before transposing it
(an operation called TnI).
Let's see what would happen if we inverted this set. The common convention is to invert sets using 0 as an "axis of inversion" --
the central point around which the inversion takes place. To invert a set around 0, simply subtract each of its pcs from 0 (= 12). In
such an inversion, pc 1 always maps to 11 (and vice versa), pc 10 to 2, pc 3 to 9, pc 4 to 8, pc 5 to 7 and both pcs 6 and 0 to
themselves. So, set [10,11,2,3,4] inverts as follows:
pc: 10 11 2 3 4

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inverts to pc: 2 1 10 9 8 normal form: [8,9,10,1,2]
Here's a graphical representation of the same inversion operation, in which the pcs are "flipped" around the 0 axis:
By doing this inversion, we have produced a new set, [8,9,10,1,2], and it happens that this is a set we could transpose to map
onto the others (it is in the list above). Acording to a final axiom, Webern's set [10,11,2,3,4] is inversionally equivalent to
sets [1,2,3,6,7] and [2,3,4,7,8]. Because of this, we shall classify it also as belonging to the same type of set -- as a member of
set class (01256).
Of course, there are twelve sets that are transpositionally equivalent to [10,11,2,3,4] also. Here they are.
[0,1,4,5,6] [3,4,7,8,9] [6,7,10,11,0] [9,10,1,2,3]

[1,2,5,6,7] [4,5,8,9,10] [7,8,11,0,1] [10,11,2,3,4]
[2,3,6,7,8] [5,6,9,10,11] [8,9,0,1,2] [11,0,3,4,5]
These are all inversionally equivalent to all the 12 sets of our first list, so we now have a total of 24 sets that, through axioms of
transpositional and inversional set equivalence, are considered to be members of the same set class: (01256).
Exercise 5-2. Set inversion and inversional equivalence of sets
Briefly to recap: what is a pc set class? You can think of it as family of pc sets whose members -- according to axiom or
convention -- are all related to each other by transposition (Tn) or by inversion (TnI). Some authors refer to pc set classes as "Tn /
TnI types." If two sets can be mapped onto each other through one of these two operations they are classified as equivalent: they
are held to belong to the same class. If not, they belong to different classes. Normally, a set class will have 24 member sets, as
we've found class (01256) to have.
Naming set classes: prime form
As with naming sets, we need a conventional naming scheme for set classes, so that all sets we assign to the same class -- as
we've done with [1,2,3,6,7], [2,3,4,7,8], and [10,11,2,3,4] for instance -- will be class-labeled identically. Since classes are defined
by axioms of transpositional and inversional set equivalence, the conventional class name is one that reduces the (usually 24)
normal form names of all the sets in the class to one supra-normal form called prime form. We cite the prime form of a set by
putting it in a normal form, most compact towards the left, that begins on pc 0.
Here are the steps for finding the prime form of a set:

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1. Make sure your set is in normal form.

2. Now invert this set, and place the result also in normal form.
3. Now, transpose both normal forms to begin on 0.
4. Finally, compare the two 0-transposed sets. Which is more compact towards the left? That one is taken as the prime form
-- and the name of the class to which your original set belongs.
The tricky part can come in step 2. Normally if you invert a set, subtracting each of its integers from 0, the result will appear in
"reverse-normal" order. You simply have to re-reverse this order to place your inversion in its own normal form. You can then
proceed to steps 3 and 4. For example, here's the procedure for finding the prime form of set [2,3,4,7,8]:
However, the intervallic makeup of some classes of sets means that the normal form of a set and of its inversion are not always
simply reverses of each other! For example, look what happens if we try to find the prime form of set [8,10,11,1,2,5]:
It turns out that the normal form of a set with pcs 4, 2, 1, 11, 10, and 7 is [10,11,1,2,4,7] -- something you should be able to verify
for yourself by now. In this case, if you were to carry out Step 2 carelessly, merely reversing the digits of your inversion, the
normal form -- and then the prime form -- you end up with would be incorrect! Since you can never tell when you'll face a set of
this sort, you must always take care when normalizing sets.
Finally, some sets are inversionally symmetrical. As the example below shows, making your final choice of prime form is
easy here: the original set, and its inversion produce the same result when transposed to 0. Let's try set [4,7,8,11].

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Exercise 5-3. Classifying sets using prime form
● transpositional equivalence
● pc set class
● inversional equivalence
● prime form
● steps in finding prime form

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6. Set classes and interval-class content
What relates all the pc sets in a set class is that they are transpositional and/or inversional equivalents of each other. These, we must
remember, are the two axiomatic properties that define a set class. There is also, however, another attribute that all sets in the same
class share: they all have the same interval-class content. A set's interval class content is the complete inventory of the interval
classes that the set contains.
Let's consider sets [1,2,3,6,7] and [10,11,2,3,4] from class (01256) again and take inventory of their interval classes. Each pc in a set
forms an interval with every other pc, so a set with five pcs will have ten such intervals. In the tables below, we subtract the first integer
from the second to measure the interval. We then list the classes to which these intervals belong.
[1, 2, 3, 6, 7] ic [10, 11, 2, 3, 4] ic We see that both of these sets have the same interval-
1 2 1 10 11 1 class profile: each set features three instances of ic 1, two
instances of ics 4 and 5, and one instance of ics 2, 3, and
1 3 2 10 2 4
6. These same interval classes are also found among the
1 6 5 10 3 5 pcs of the other twenty-two sets in class (01256).
1 7 6 10 4 6
2 3 1 11 2 3
2 6 4 11 3 4
2 7 5 11 4 5
3 6 3 2 3 1
3 7 4 2 4 2
6 7 1 3 4 1
This shared ic profile is not quite as abstract as it might seem. A set's ic content tends to give the set a particular sound quality no
matter how the set is disposed in the music. It gives all the sets in a class a similar quality. (Again, we know this from our experience
with tonal music. What is it that makes all major triads sound much alike? Their interval-class content, which features single intervals of
a m3/M6, M3/m6, and P4/P5 (ics 3, 4, and 5) and lacks any m2/M7, M2/m7, and tritone intervals (ics 1, 2, and 6). Diminished triads
have a different ic profile and sound markedly different.)
Interval-class vectors
All sets in the same class have the same ic content (and hence the same sound quality). Sets in different classes usually have
different ic contents (and different sound qualities). To compare ic profiles easily, we need a standard way of writing them, and for this
purpose we use the interval-class vector. The ic vector is a simple array of the interval classes from 1 to 6, with a listing of how
often each class is represented. For example, we've just seen that, in all sets of class (01256), there are three instances of ic 1, two
instances of ics 4 and 5, and one instance of ics 2, 3, and 6. When we array these in an ic vector we get
ics: 1 2 3 4 5 6

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number of occurrences: 3 1 1 2 2 1
We commonly say, then, that set class (01256) has an interval-class vector of 311221. The digits represent occurrances of the ics from
1 to 6. The vector for the major triad mentioned above, which features only single intervals of ics 3, 4, and 5, and none of ics 1, 2, and
6, is 001110.
Exercise 6-1. Interval-class content and ic vectors
The Z-relation
Now here's one of the curious facts about the world of pc set classes. What generally distinguishes sets of a particular class is a
unique interval-class profile. In several cases, however, sets which cannot be mapped onto each other by transposition or inversion
-- that is, sets of different classes -- nonetheless display the same profile! The sets of class (0123479) and those of class (0123568), for
instance, all share a particular ic profile, 444342. Despite the fact that sets of these classes cannot be mapped onto each other, they do
share the same sound quality. (By the way, you should already have found a pair of sets in Exercise 6-1 that share the same ic vector--
and a curious vector at that!)
In the conventions of pc set analysis, these set classes are considered distinct (not equivalent), but closely related. For lack of a better
label, the relation is called the Z-relation; sets classes (0123479) and (0123568) are said to be "Z-related". Remarkably, what seems
to be a pretty abstract level of relatedness sometimes yields surprising concrete embodiments in atonal music.
● interval-class content
● interval-class vector
● Z-relation
Page last modified 8 August 2001 / GRT

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7. Sizes of sets
How many notes we group into a segment is a decision we make in analyzing music. The number of different pcs in a set is
another matter. The maximum number is, of course, twelve -- and there is obviously only one set containing all twelve pcs. Since
some composers liked to avoid hinting at tonality by using all the pcs democratically, the aggregate, as the 12-pc set is called,
can play a central role in atonal pitch structure. (It's also the set used in 12-tone music, where the order in which the pcs
appear becomes important.)
Sets containing just 2 different pcs and those containing 10 or 11 also can be significant in pc set analysis, but most attention is
usually given to sets with from 3 to 9 pcs. This is partly because there are enough different set classes with these numbers of pcs
that classifying the sets we find becomes analytically worthwhile.
The number of pcs a set contains is called its cardinality. Below are listed the usual names for the sets of various
cardinalities, along with the number of different set classes there are for each cardinality.
cardinality name number of distinct set classes

2 dyad 6 (the interval classes from 1 to 6)
3 trichord 12
4 tetrachord 29 (including one Z-related pair)
5 pentachord 38 (including three Z-related pairs)
6 hexachord 50 (including fifteen Z-related pairs)
7 septachord 38 (including three Z-related pairs)
8 octachord 29 (including one Z-related pair)
9 nonachord 12
10 decachord 6
11 undecachord 1
12 the aggregate 1
In all there are 208 distinct set classes of cardinalities 3 to 9.
You've probably noticed that the list above has a pattern. The number of trichord and nonachord classes, the number of
tetrachord and octachord classes, and the number of pentachord and septachord classes is the same. This is not an accident but
is a natural property of the 12-pc universe.

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● the aggregate set

● cardinality
● names for set cardinalities
Page last modified 8 August 2001 / GRT

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8. Set-class tables; Forte's set-class names
There is a limited number of set classes: 208 classes of sets with between 3 and 9 pcs. While gathering set data, analysts often
keep a table of the classes handy. Such a table is included with this guide. Each entry in this table has up to five columns of
information:
1. Forte's set-class names. Though prime forms are often used as class names, these alternative names have also
become quite popular among theorists since they were first proposed in Allen Forte's The Structure of Atonal
Music (1973), one of the pioneering texts of pc set analysis. In Forte's list, each set class has a hyphenated name (for
example, 4-27). The first number is the cardinality of the set class (so trichords all begin with 3-, tetrachords with 4-, and
so on). The second number is simply a listing number: the first class in Forte's list of tetrachords (0123) is "4-1," the next
(0124) is "4-2", and so on. (The order in which Forte assigned his names is a bit different from the one used in our table.
That's why some Forte numbers appear out of order in this table.) A convenient name for class (01256), then, is "class 5-
6".
2. Prime forms. Within each of the cardinality groups, the table lists classes in ascending order of pc content [Note]. In
some of the larger classes, letter "T" stands for pc 10.
3. Interval-class vector.One of the shared characteristics of all sets in a class is an identical interval-class content.
The ic vector is a way of listing this content. The six number positions in the vector stand for ics 1 to 6. The numbers
filling those positions show how many times that ic is represented in any set in the class.
4. Invariance. We normally expect twenty-four distinct sets in any set class: twelve that are equivalent under
transposition (Tn) and twelve more that are equivalent to the first twelve under inversion-plus-transposition (TnI). With 81
of the 208 classes, however, some of these twenty-four sets duplicate each other: they have the same (invariant) pc
content. This column lists the number of invariant sets under Tn and under TnI. The former number is always at least 1,
since T0 of a set is naturally invariant. Those classes with entries higher than 1 / 0 display some degree of intervallic
symmetry; the greater the symmetry, the greater the amount of invariance among sets.
5. "Z-mates" While most set classes have unique interval-class vectors, some pairs of classes happen to share their ic
profiles. By convention, these pairs are called "Z-related" classes, and their Forte names include the "Z". So hexachords
6-Z6 and 6-Z38 are distinct classes, but both share ic vector 421242. It's useful to have the Z-mate of such classes listed
in the table, because one sometimes finds concrete embodiments of this seemingly abstract relation in atonal music.
EXERCISE 8-1. The Pc set-class table (not yet

available)

buttons_top.gif
● The pc set-class table

● Forte's set-class names
Page last modified 25 September 2004 / GRT

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9. Quick review: levels of abstraction
Our aim in using pitch-class set analysis is to explore the pitch structure of (usually) atonal music. Music analysis always invokes
abstract concepts that help us to classify and make sense of our concrete musical experience. As you have discovered, pc set
analysis deals in a few levels of abstraction, some of which we have been routinely using on tonal music -- perhaps without
considering them consciously. We'll quickly review these levels.
1. The pitch material of music consists of pitches. These pitches are separated in pitch-space by pitch intervals:
ordered (directed) ones between melodic pitches, unordered ones between harmonic pitches.
2. We classify the pitches we hear into pitch classes (pcs) using axioms of octave and enharmonic
equivalence. There are 12 pitch classes.
3. We then consider groups or sets of pitch classes, abstracted from the musical segments we analyze, for example, sets
[1,2,3,6,7], [2,3,4,7,8], and [10,11,2,3,4]. We usually use the normal form names for these sets. We are mostly
interested in sets of between three and nine pcs.
4. Using axioms of transpositional and inversional set equivalence, we can classify sets into pc set
classes. We usually name set classes by citing either their prime forms, for example, (01256), or their Forte set-
class names, for example, 5-6.
5. With the growing abstraction of pitch-related concepts, concepts of interval also grow abstract. We measure the distance
between pitch classes -- pitch-class intervals -- using modulo 12 arithmetic. As with tonal pc intervals,
interval pairs which add together to make an octave are considered "inverses" of each other. We classify such pairs as
equivalent, grouping them into interval classes (ics). Pc set classes are usually characterized by unique ic contents
(conveniently written as ic vectors), though some pairs of classes ("Z-related" classes) happen to share their ic
profile.
Each of these levels of abstraction and of classification tells us something about the relatedness of concrete pitches and groups
of pitches to each other.
We can say that the process of analyzing an atonal work is a three-stage one, though in real analysis we likely interweave these
stages:
1. segmenting the music

2. gathering and classifying the pc sets that we find in the segments, and
3. interpretating the set data we've gathered.
The last, interpretive, stage is, of course, the real point of any analysis. The first stage lays the crucial (if at times problematical)
groundwork for the analysis. The second stage is the one involving the basic mechanics of pc set analysis, mechanics we have
been practising. Happily, many of these sometimes tedious mechanics can be computerized, leaving us more time to spend on
interpretation. This guide is accompanied, for instance, by an excellent Web-based pc-set calculator, written by David Walters.

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(See the list of Other Sources for some other on-line set calculators.) As with arithmetic and the hand-held calculator, however,
we must learn the mechanics and their rationale before we can sense how the data we gather might be interpreted.

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10. The uses of pc-set analysis.
What use you make of the set and set-class data you gather depends on your interests, analytical skill, and imagination. The
interests of musicians using pc set analysis vary from the concrete to the abstract. On the concrete end, you can analyze a single
work, exploring the structural and expressive aspects of the work's pitch organization. Broadening out, you can attempt to
characterize the pitch-structural "language" found in a repertoire, perhaps the works of a single composer like Bartók or of a
cultural milieu like the Second Viennese School. At the most abstract, you can explore the inherent properties of set classes,
gaining insights into the 12-pc universe on which almost all of our western music is built. Such insights can be of interest to
composers as well as to those who are just intellectually intrigued by the world of tones.
A basic concern for most music analysis is that the analyzed segments of the music be shown to relate to each other. It's
usually felt that most pieces demonstrate coherence among their parts. Unity may also be a hallmark of many works -- a
sense that their coherence is governed by one central force or principle. (To be sure, twentieth-century music does offer
examples of works whose apparent aims are multiplicity rather than unity and fractured rather than coherent experience.)
A search for coherence clearly animates the basic operations of pc set analysis: the grouping of pitches into just twelve pitch
classes, the categorizing of pc sets into a limited number of set classes. The same search also drives most of the terms by which
pc set data are analyzed. Most are concern with relations among pcs, pc sets, and pc set classes. Again, which relations an
analyst chooses to focus on is up to the analyst. There is, however, a number of standard relations whose investigation forms a
common thread in many pc set analyses. Pc set theory has developed mathematical operations to handle some of these
relations. In the present guide we shall touch, at least briefly, on the main types of set and set-class relations.
http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts-letters/music/pc-set_project/pc-set_new/pages/page10/page10.html [3/15/2008 8:00:59 PM]

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11. Invariance relations and set symmetry.
When sets are transposed (Tn) or inverted and transposed (TnI), their pc content may
● Completely change. Transposing set [3,5,6,9] up by 5 semitones (T5) yields set [8,10,11,2]. This new set shares
none of its pcs with [3,5,6,9]; it is wholly variant from [3,5,6,9]. Likewise T1I of [3,5,6,9] yields set [4,7,8,10], also
completely variant from the original set.
● Partly change. T3 of [3,5,6,9] yields set [6,8,9,0], preserving pcs 6 and 9. T10I of [3,5,6,9] yields set [1,4,5,7], this time
preserving just pc 5. Both of these new sets are partly invariant from the original set (though they vary completely from
each other).
● Remain completely the same. Both T0 (of course) and T6 of set [2,3,8,9] yield [2,3,8,9] again. And both T5I and
T11I of [2,3,8,9] return those same four pcs. Set [2,3,8,9] happens to remain wholly invariant under these four
operations.
Composers often appear to make use of variance and invariance properties among sets of the same class. For instance, partial
pc invariance among sets can be a marker that certain pcs (the invariant ones) are being stressed or made salient or that these
pcs are acting as links among different sets. Conversely, a composer can avoid unwanted stress on pcs by making sure that pc
content changes among different sets.
(You've long ago experienced the concrete effects of controlled pc invariance. Sets of class 7-35 (013568T)--the diatonic scale
class--preserve 6 of their 7 pcs under T5 and T7, that is, when transposed by a perfect 4th or perfect 5th. That's why in tonal
music the subdominant and dominant keys are so closely related to the tonic key.)
Symmetry
Complete invariance among sets is a marker of a set class's inherent symmetry: the more aspects of symmetry a set's
intervallic arrangement possesses, the more times it will display complete invariance when transposed or inverted. We can
illustrate this fact by looking at some sets on the 12-pc clockface. In Example 9-1 are displayed (in red) sets representing classes
3-9 (027) and two tetrachords, 4-9 (0167) and 4-28 (0369).
Example 9-1.
a. set 3-9 [0,2,7] b. set 4-9 [0,1,6,7]) c. set 4-28 [0,3,6,9]

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a. Notice the interval pattern of trichord [0,2,7] as we travel fully around the clockface. If we begin and end at pc 7, we can
arrange this pattern symmetrically: 5 - 2 - 5. Now, this pattern does not allow set [0,2,7] to be transposed (rotated about
the clock) and still comprise pcs 0, 2, and 7. So it's only invariant under the static case of transposition T0. The red line,
however, reveals that this set does has an axis of inversional symmetry; notice that the line splits the clockface into
two mirror images. The set can be inverted ("flipped") about this axis and retain the same pcs. Sure enough, T2I of [0,2,7]
is [0,2,7]. Since any set in class 3-9 will be invariant with an inverted version of itself, there are only twelve, instead of
twenty-four, distinct sets in this class.
b. Sets of class 4-9 show more symmetry. First of all, its repeated interval pattern around the clockface, 1 - 5 - 1 - 5,
means that it can be transposed invariantly. We can see that if set [0,1,6,7] is rotated half-way around the clockface (that
is, operation T6), it will remain invariant. Furthermore, its two axes of inversional symmetry indicate that at two inverted
levels, (T1I and T7I), the set will again be [0,1,6,7]. With four invariant versions of this pretty symmetrical set, there are but
six, rather than twenty-four, distinct sets in class 4-9 (0167).
c. Tetrachord 4-28 (familiar as the diminished-seventh chord) is more symmetrical still. It has an extremely regular interval
pattern around the clockface: 3 - 3 - 3 - 3. Four different rotations of [0,3,6,9]--T0, T3, T6, and T9--will return the same
pcs. And the four inversional-axis lines tell us that four inverted forms--T0I, T3I, T6I, and T9I--are also invariant. So we
have eight invariant versions and only three distinct sets in class 4-28, a fact that you probably already knew about the
diminished-seventh chord.
Remember that the fourth column in our table of pc set classes cites information about the number of Tn levels (always at least
T0) and TnI levels at which sets in each class remain invariant. Any number above "1, 0" in this column indicates some degree of
intervallic symmetry.
It is clear that, as they grappled with composing outside of the systematic underpinnings of tonality, many early 20th-century
composers gravitated towards symmetrical properties (and not just in pitch structure) to give coherence to their compositions.
Hence the popularity with these composers of such highly symmetrical set classes as the whole-tone scale, class 6-35 (02468T),
and the octatonic scale, class 8-28 (0134679T).
Determining invariance

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You may need at times to find out just how many pcs in a set will remain invariant under different levels of transposition or
inversion. Here are some math shortcuts to help you. These shortcuts are based on the intervallic relations within and among
sets. To save space, we'll just learn the shortcuts; later you can try figuring out their rationale (it's a great cure for insomnia).
Invariance under Tn
This one is simple: just use a set's interval-class vector, available in the table of pc set-classes. The number of pcs that will
remain invariant when a set is transposed by n semitones is the same as the entry for n's interval class in the vector, except for
ic 6, where it is double the entry. For example, let's try set [3,5,6,9] a set of class 4-12 (0236). The table tells us that the ic vector
for this class is 112101.
● Notice that this set contains just one interval of ic 1. If, then, you transpose [3.5.6.9] by either T1 or T11, just one pc
should remain invariant. Well, T1 of [3,5,6,9] is [4,6,7,10]. T11 of [3,5,6,9] is [2,4,5,8].
● The ic vector contains no entries for ic 5. T5 of [3,5,6,9] is the wholly variant [8,10,11,2]. T7 of [3,5,6,9] is [10,0,1,4].
● The ic vector entury again contains just one entry for ic 6. T6 of [3,5,6,9] is [9,11,0,3] as pcs 3 and 9 map onto each other.
So we can use the ic vector for any set to determine how it will behave when transposed.
Invariance under TnI

It's possible to construct vectors that can tell us about invariance under TnI levels, but they are a bother to use. Much easier is to
construct an invariance matrix for the set you're examining. Below is such a matrix for set [3,5,6,9].
3 5 6 9
3 6 8 9 0
5 8 10 11 2
6 9 11 0 3
9 0 2 3 6
As in the example, we construct a matrix by
● writing out the set along the top and along the left side.
● adding all the pairs of numbers (in mod 12) to fill in the matrix.
The number of times any number n appears inside the matrix is the number of pcs that remain invariant under TnI. Moreover,
following each matrix number back to the sides tell us which numbers map onto each other in the TnI operation.

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In our matrix, for example, number 10 appears just once in the matrix, as the sum of 5+5. T10I of [3,5,6,9] is set [1,4,5,7],
retaining just pc 5. However, number 11 appears twice in the matrix, as the sum of 5+6 and of 6+5. T11I of [3,5,6,9] is [2,5,6,8],
mapping pcs 5 and 6 onto each other.
3 5 6 9 3 5 6 9
3 6 8 9 0 3 6 8 9 0
5 8 10 11 2 5 8 10 11 2
6 9 11 0 3 6 9 11 0 3
9 0 2 3 6 9 0 2 3 6
Even constructing matrixes is a bit tedious, of course, so you can let the computer do it for you. Jay Tomlin's set calculator, listed
on the Other Sources page of this guide, will construct invariance matrixes for inversion as well as for transposition.
Exercise 11-1. Invariance under Tn
Exercise 11-2. Invariance under TnI
Exercise 11-3. Set symmetry
● variance and invariance under Tn and TnI

● set symmetry
● axis of inversional symmetry
● determining invariance under Tn
● determining invariance under TnI

Page 12
12. Inclusion relations: subsets and supersets.
Suppose in our analysis of a piece we have identified the sets given in Example 10-1 below. Can we perceive any relationships
among the sets of segments a), b) and c)?
Example 12-1
The relationship of the overall set of segment a) to that of segment b) is a close and obvious one: b) is a subset of a), and a) is
a superset of b). That is, set [10,1,2,4], is wholly included within the larger set [1,2,4,7,10]. We can also see that the upper
voice of both segments features a shared subset, trichord [10,1,2]. Both [10,1,2,4] and [1,2,4,7,10] are supersets of [10,1,2]. This
subset-superset relation is sometimes called the inclusion relation.
Now set c), [5,7,8,11], is clearly not a subset of set a); the two only share a single pitch class. It has, however, a more abstract
class inclusion relation. That is, set class 4-12, of which [5,7,8,11] is a member, is a subset of class 5-31, of which [1,2,4,7,10]
is a member. (Of course, [5,7,8,11] is also a class equivalent of [10,1,2,4]; both are members of class 4-12. The same can be
said of their trichordal subsets, [7,8,11] and [10,1,2], both members of class 3-3.)
Both sets and set classes obviously have many possible subsets and supersets--for example, any pentachord has five
tetrachordal and ten trichordal subsets--and most will probably not be musically significant in any given piece of music. At the set
level, you should be sure that your segmentations make sense, that any subset-superset relations you identify have real, not
contrived, musical importance.
Class inclusion relations might seem too abstract ever to have concrete musical importance. However, class subsets and
supersets do share a familial resemblance based on interval-class content. We may be able to group some or many of the sets
we find in a piece into families based on inclusion ties. For instance, we might find with more analysis that the piece from which
the above segments are taken uses the octatonic scale as its basis for pitch structure. After all, classes 3-3, 4-12, and 5-31 are
all subsets of the octatonic class 8-28. (In fact, the combined pc material of sets a), b) and c) is set 8-28 [1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11].)
At other times, shared class subsets may be used to associate two or more families of material. In some of Stravinsky's music,
for example, octatonic (class 8-28) and diatonic (class 7-35) materials appear to be linked through shared subsets like the tonal
triad (class 3-11), and dominant-seventh-type tetrachord (class 4-27). In fact, the prominence of subsets traditionally associated
with diatonicism is one feature that made the octatonic scale attractive to several twentieth-century composers.

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● inclusion relations
● subsets and supersets
● class inclusion

Page 13
13. Z-relations.
We know (from page 6) that two sets are "Z-related" if--despite belonging to different classes--they share the same interval-class
content. Since the "sound" of a set depends on this intervallic content, sets of Z-related classes will sound similar. Apart from this
fact, the Z-relation, like other class-based relations, might seem abstract. Analysis, however, sometimes reveals the musical
association of sets belonging to Z-related classes.
Exercise 13-1. Z-relations (Not yet available)
● Z-relations

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14. Complement relations.
The overall pc universe in which sets operate is the chromatic scale, the aggregate of twelve pcs. The complement of a set
comprises whichever pcs in the aggregate that set excludes. The set complement of tetrachord 4-12 [3,5,6,9], for example, is
octachord 8-12 [7,8,10,11,0,1,2,4]; together, these two sets make up the aggregate.
More abstractly, class 4-12 and class 8-12 are said to be complementary classes, because these classes include the above two
complementary sets. If we take different sets in these same classes--for instance, 4-12 [0,3,4,6] and 8-12, [9,10,0,1,2,3,4,6]--
such sets are considered to be "class complements" or "non-literal" complements. They no longer combine to make up the
aggregate--in fact, in this example the tetrachord is also a subset of the octachord--but they do belong to the complementary
classes 4-12 and 8-12.
By the way, these examples demonstrate a valuable aspect of Forte's set-class names: classes and their complements are given
the same ordinal numbers in his list. Classes 4-12 and 8-12 are complements, for example, as are classes 3-10 and 9-10, and
classes 5-Z38 and 7-Z38. Because there are twelve pcs in the aggregate, trichords will be complements of nonachords,
tetrachords of octachords, and pentachords of heptachords.
What about hexachords, which contain half the aggregate? They form a special case. "Non-Z" hexachord classes are always
complements of themselves. For example, the complement of the whole-tone hexachord 6-35 [0,2,4,6,8,10] is another whole-
tone hexachord 6-35, [1,3,5,7,9,11]. Z-related hexachord classes, however, are complements of their Z-mates. For example, the
complement of hexachord 6-Z6 [1,2,3,6,7,8] is hexachord 6-Z38 [9,10,11,0,4,5].
Complementary sets can be an important feature of 12-tone music and of other music where the full chromatic aggregate is
repeatedly used. While certainly more abstract, class complement relations can also be of value. For one thing, class
complements sometimes seem to pop up in formally important junctures in atonal music. For another, there is a family
resemblance between sets of complementary classes, based on similarities of their interval-class profiles. For example, the ic
vector set class 4-12 is 112101; that of class 8-12 is 556543. Notice that in the octachord, there are four more copies of each
interval class, except just two more of ic 6. All complementary sets are related in this way:
The difference in ic vector entries is equal to the difference in the sets' cardinalities
(and to half that difference in the case of ic 6).
So ic vector entries will differ by 6 (3 for ic 6) between a trichord and its nonachord complement. They will differ by 4 (2) between
tetrachord and octachord complements. They will differ by 2 (1) between pentachord and heptachord complements. And they will
differ not at all between complementary hexachords--which is why hexachords form the "special case" outlined above.

Page 14
It's also noteworthy that almost all sets larger than hexachords are capable of embedding their class complements as subsets.
Composers may make use of such a combination of inclusion and complement relations. We may, for instance, find Stravinsky
embedding sets of one of his favourite types, tetrachord 4-23 (0257) within passages based on the "diatonic octad" class 8-23
(0123578T).
Finally, you may find it useful, when calculating the prime forms of large sets, to deal with their complements instead. What, for
instance, is the prime form of nonachord [7,8,9,10,0,1,2,3,4]? Well, the pcs it omits form set [5,6,11]. With a bit of experience, you
can probably figure out in your head that the prime form of this trichord is (016) and that it belongs to class 3-5, so our nonachord
must belong to class 9-5 (012346789).
Exercise 14-1. Complement relations
● complementary sets
● class complements
● ic profile relationships between complements

Page 15
15. Similarity relations, complexes, and genera.
We are used to the fact that in tonal music, motives and harmonies sometimes appear in variant guises, for instance, with one or
two pitches or intervals changed. Generally we still regard these variants as variants, not as wholly unrelated musical
segments. With its emphasis on pc and ic exactitude for classifying sets as equivalent, pc set analysis might be unable to
address our perception of similar but non-equivalent sets. And, given the abstract nature of set classes, determining similarity
among classes is not as intuitive as perceiving it among motives.
Some theorists have devised means to discuss the similarity of sets and classes according to shared pc and ic content. The
conventions of naming pcs and ics with numbers has helped these theorists to formalize and quantify measurements of similarity
in a mathematical way. In The Structure of Atonal Music, for instance, Allen Forte recognizes similarity relations of a few
degrees between sets of equal size, based on their sharing all but one pc and on their having maximally or minimally similar ic
contents (Forte 1973, 46-60). Other theorists have proposed their own criteria for determining similarity between sets, as well as
ways to quantify degrees of similarity numerically.
The desire to express relatedness among sets in a work--and set classes in the abstract--has also led to theorizing--especially,
again, by Allen Forte--about set complexes and set genera, super-classifications to which set classes can belong. In both, a
single class or a small group of classes may be held to serve as a "nexus" or to have "generated" a whole web of classes,
principally through inclusion relations (but also through complement and Z relations). Forte's theory of set complexes occupies
the second part of The Structure of Atonal Music, pp. 93-177. His theory of set genera appeared in "Pitch-Class Set
Genera and the Origin of Modern Harmonic Species," Journal of Music Theory 32 (1988): 187-271.

Page 16
16. Referential pcs, centricity and tonality.
Almost all the relations discussed above make no reference to the possibility that--even in the absence of common-practice tonal
conventions--works may project a focus on certain pcs, privileging them above other members of the aggregate. It is clear,
however, that a good deal of 20th-century music does indeed project what is sometimes called pc centricity; the music of
Stravinsky, Bartók, and Debussy comes easily to mind here. This focus of certain pcs can be addressed with pc set analysis, for
example, by noting pc invariance among different sets.
Analysts also learn to keep their eyes (ears!) open for certain referential set classes with "tonal" associations. For instance, the
diatonic scale (class 7-35 (013568T)), the diatonic octachord (8-23 (0123578T)) and the octatonic scale (8-28 (0134679T)), as
well their subsets, are all prominently represented in Stravinsky's music. They have associations with common-practice pitch
structures. The ways in which these materials are used sometimes reproduce features of common-practice music, while also
projecting differences. For instance, the dominant-seventh-type arpeggios heard at the beginning of Stravinsky's Symphony of
Psalms may sound familiar, but analysis suggests that Stravinsky is using these sets of class 4-27 (0258) in an octatonic rather
than diatonic context. Conversely, the opening of Petrushka is recognizably diatonic in context, though the set of class 4-23
(0257) Stravinsky uses here is not a common structure in traditional Western tonal music.
One of the most explored aspects of music early 20th-century music is whether or not music that projects pc salience or centricity
is "tonal". Tonality has been defined in too many ways to answer this question definitively. Exploring the issue, however, has led
to several attempts to combine pc set analysis with other analytical tools, especially with traditional harmonic analysis and with
Schenkerian analysis.

Page 17
17. Ordered sets; serial music.
In analyzing atonal music, we often pay no attention to the sequence in which pcs are represented in the analyzed segments; we
deal with unordered pc sets. At times, however, we may notice that the order in which pcs appear is itself a structural feature.
For example, this order may be subject to patterned manipulation. If so, we would likely want to draw attention to any patterns we
perceive. Although the word "set" is sometimes used for such ordered patterns, they are more often referred to as series (or
rows); and music in which series are a prominent structural aspect is serial music.
Sets of any size can be manipulated serially, but the most significant kind of serial music has been twelve-tone music, in
which the 12-pc aggregate set is so treated There is, of course, only one 12-pc set class, so structural designs cannot be
created here on the basis of pc-content or ic-content alone. Only order manipulations can distinguish one use of the aggregate
from another (and hence relate one to another). It was Arnold Schoenberg who, in the early 1920s, developed the basic
operations used in 12-tone composition: the common order permutations of retrograde, inversion, and retrograde-inversion; and
such secondary features as complement relations among serial subsets. Analysis of 12-tone music is beyond the scope of the
present guide. In recent years, however, pc set analysis has proved quite useful in revealing structural aspects of serial music
other than those dealt with by serial analysis alone.

PC Set Calculator
PC Set Calculator Normal form:
Prime form:
ic vector:
Z-Mate:
n values for Tn
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
invariance:
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ reset
n values for TnI
Type your set here:
invariance:
submit
Subsets: Supersets:
Forte name:
submit
Subset: Superset:
cardinality cardinality
Complement Invert
Matrix:
T0 T0I
Matrix
How to use this Calculator

© 2001 David Walters
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PC Set Calculator
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Exercise
Table of pc set classes
3/9 4/8 5/7 6

Trichords Nonachords
Forte Prime Ic vector Invariance Z-mate Forte Prime Ic vector Invariance Z-mate
name form Tn, TnI name form Tn, TnI
3-1 012 210000 1, 1 9-1 012345678 876663 1, 1
3-2 013 111000 1, 0 9-2 012345679 777663 1, 0
3-3 014 101100 1, 0 9-3 012345689 767763 1, 0
3-4 015 100110 1, 0 9-6 01234568T 686763 1, 1
3-5 016 100011 1, 0 9-4 012345789 766773 1, 0
3-6 024 020100 1, 1 9-7 01234578T 677673 1, 0
3-7 025 011010 1, 0 9-5 012346789 766674 1, 0
3-8 026 010101 1, 0 9-8 01234678T 676764 1, 0
3-9 027 010020 1, 1 9-10 01234679T 668664 1, 1
3-10 036 002001 1, 1 9-9 01235678T 676683 1, 1
3-11 037 001110 1, 0 9-11 01235679T 667773 1, 0
3-12 048 000300 3, 3 9-12 01245689T 666963 3, 3
3/9 4/8 5/7 6

Tetrachords Octachords
4-1 0123 321000 1, 1 8-1 01234567 765442 1, 1
4-2 0124 221100 1, 0 8-2 01234568 665542 1, 0
4-4 0125 211110 1, 0 8-3 01234569 656542 1, 1
4-5 0126 210111 1, 0 8-4 01234578 655552 1, 0
4-6 0127 210021 1, 1 8-11 01234579 565552 1, 0
4-3 0134 212100 1, 1 8-7 01234589 645652 1, 1
4-11 0135 121110 1, 0 8-5 01234678 654553 1, 0
4-13 0136 112011 1, 0 8-13 01234679 556453 1, 0
4-Z29 0137 111111 1, 0 4-Z15 8-Z15 01234689 555553 1, 0 8-Z29
4-7 0145 201210 1, 1 8-21 0123468T 474643 1, 1
4-Z15 0146 111111 1, 0 4-Z29 8-8 01234789 644563 1, 1
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Exercise
4-18 0147 102111 1, 0 8-6 01235678 654463 1, 1

4-19 0148 101310 1, 0 8-Z29 01235679 555553 1, 0 8-Z15
4-8 0156 200121 1, 1 8-18 01235689 546553 1, 0
4-16 0157 110121 1, 0 8-22 0123568T 465562 1, 0
4-20 0158 101220 1, 1 8-16 01235789 554563 1, 0
4-9 0167 200022 2, 2 8-23 0123578T 465472 1, 1
4-10 0235 122010 1, 1 8-9 01236789 644464 2, 2
4-12 0236 112101 1, 0 8-14 01245679 555562 1, 0
4-14 0237 111120 1, 0 8-19 01245689 545752 1, 0
4-21 0246 030201 1, 1 8-24 0124568T 464743 1, 1
4-22 0247 021120 1, 0 8-20 01245789 545662 1, 1
4-24 0248 020301 1, 1 8-27 0124578T 456553 1, 0
4-23 0257 021030 1, 1 8-25 0124678T 464644 2, 2
4-27 0258 012111 1, 0 8-12 01345679 556543 1, 0
4-25 0268 020202 2, 2 8-17 01345689 546652 1, 1
4-17 0347 102210 1, 1 8-26 0134578T* 456562 1, 1
4-26 0358 012120 1, 1
8-28 0134679T 448444 4, 4
4-28 0369 004002 4, 4
8-10 02345679 566452 1, 1
3\9 4\8 5\7 6

Pentachords Septachords
5-1 01234 432100 1, 1 7-1 0123456 654321 1, 1
5-2 01235 332110 1, 0 7-2 0123457 554331 1, 0
5-4 01236 322111 1, 0 7-3 0123458 544431 1, 0
5-5 01237 321121 1, 0 7-4 0123467 544332 1, 0
5-3 01245 322210 1, 0 7-9 0123468 453432 1, 0
5-9 01246 231211 1, 0 7-10 0123469 445332 1, 0
5-Z36 01247 222121 1, 0 5-Z12 7-6 0123478 533442 1, 0
5-13 01248 221311 1, 0 7-Z12 0123479 444342 1, 1 7-Z36
5-6 01256 311221 1, 0 7-5 0123567 543342 1, 0
5-14 01257 221131 1, 0 7-Z36 0123568 444342 1, 0 7-Z12
5-Z38 01258 212221 1, 0 5-Z18 7-16 0123569 435432 1, 0
5-7 01267 310132 1, 0 7-14 0123578 443352 1, 0
5-15 01268 220222 1, 1 7-24 0123579 353442 1, 0
5-10 01346 223111 1, 0 7-Z18 0145679* 434442 1, 0 7-Z38
5-16 01347 213211 1, 0

Exercise
5-Z17 01348 212320 1, 1 5-Z37 7-7 0123678 532353 1, 0

5-Z12 01356 222121 1, 1 5-Z36 7-19 0123679 434343 1, 0
5-24 01357 131221 1, 0 7-13 0124568 443532 1, 0
5-27 01358 122230 1, 0 7-Z17 0124569 434541 1, 1 7-Z37
5-19 01367 212122 1, 0 7-Z38 0124578 434442 1, 0 7-Z18
5-29 01368 122131 1, 0 7-27 0124579 344451 1, 0
5-31 01369 114112 1, 0 7-21 0124589 434641 1, 0
5-Z18 01457 212221 1, 0 5-Z38 7-15 0124678 442443 1, 1
5-21 01458 202420 1, 0 7-29 0124679 344352 1, 0
5-30 01468 121321 1, 0 7-30 0124689 343542 1, 0
5-32 01469 113221 1, 0 7-33 012468T 262623 1, 1
5-22 01478 202321 1, 1 7-20 0125679* 433452 1, 0
5-20 01568* 211231 1, 0 7-22 0125689 424542 1, 1
5-8 02346 232201 1, 1 7-11 0134568 444441 1, 0
5-11 02347 222220 1, 0 7-Z37 0134578 434541 1, 1 7-Z17
5-23 02357 132130 1, 0 7-26 0134579 344532 1, 0
5-25 02358 123121 1, 0 7-31 0134679 336333 1, 0
5-28 02368 122212 1, 0 7-32 0134689 335442 1, 0
5-26 02458 122311 1, 0 7-34 013468T 254442 1, 1
5-33 02468 040402 1, 1 7-28 0135679 344433 1, 0
5-34 02469 032221 1, 1 7-35 013568T 254361 1, 1
5-35 02479 032140 1, 1 7-8 0234568 454422 1, 1
5-Z37 03458 212320 1, 1 5-Z17 7-23 0234579 354351 1, 0
7-25 0234679 345342 1, 0
3/9 4/8 5 6
Hexachords
6-1 012345 543210 1, 1

6-2 012346 443211 1, 0 6-Z10 013457 333321 1, 0 6-Z39
6-Z36 012347 433221 1, 0 6-Z3 6-14 013458 323430 1, 0
6-Z37 012348 432321 1, 1 6-Z4 6-Z13 013467 324222 1, 1 6-Z42
6-Z3 012356 433221 1, 0 6-Z36 6-Z24 013468 233331 1, 0 6-Z46
6-9 012357 342231 1, 0 6-27 013469 225222 1, 0
6-Z40 012358 333231 1, 0 6-Z11 6-Z19 013478 313431 1, 0 6-Z44

Exercise
6-5 012367 422232 1, 0 6-Z49 013479 224322 1, 1 6-Z28

6-Z41 012368 332232 1, 0 6-Z12 6-Z25 013568 233241 1, 0 6-Z47
6-Z42 012369 324222 1, 1 6-Z13 6-Z28 013569 224322 1, 1 6-Z49
6-Z38 012378 421242 1, 1 6-Z6 6-Z26 013578 232341 1, 1 6-Z48
6-Z4 012456 432321 1, 1 6-Z37 6-34 013579 142422 1, 0
6-Z11 012457 333231 1, 0 6-Z40 6-30 013679 224223 2, 0
6-15 012458 323421 1, 0 6-16 014568 322431 1, 0
6-Z12 012467 332232 1, 0 6-Z41 6-31 014579* 223431 1, 0
6-22 012468 241422 1, 0
6-20 014589 303630 3, 3
6-Z46 012469 233331 1, 0 6-Z24
6-Z50 014679 224232 1, 1 6-Z29
6-Z17 012478 322332 1, 0 6-Z43
6-8 023457 343230 1, 1
6-Z47 012479 233241 1, 0 6-Z25
6-Z39 023458 333321 1, 0 6-Z10
6-Z6 012567 421242 1, 1 6-Z38
6-21 023468 242412 1, 0
6-Z43 012568 322332 1, 0 6-Z17
6-Z45 023469 234222 1, 1 6-Z23
6-Z44 012569 313431 1, 0 6-Z19
6-Z23 023568 234222 1, 1 6-Z45
6-18 012578 322242 1, 0
6-33 023579 143241 1, 0
6-Z48 012579 232341 1, 1 6-Z26
6-Z29 023679* 224232 1, 1 6-Z50
6-7 012678 420243 2, 2
6-32 024579 143250 1, 1
Close this window to return to your place in the pc set guide.

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Other Sources
Internet Sources
These sites will open in a new window; close that window to return to the present page.
Introduction to Set Theory, by Larry Solomon (Pima College, Tucson, AZ)

includes a table of pc set classes. Note that Solomon's list of prime forms is based on transpositional but not inversional
equivalence. He does, however, relate inversionally equivalent set classes in his application of Forte names. (His table lists, for
instance, classes 4-27 (0258) and 4-27B (0368), a pair reduced to 4-27 (0258) in Forte's classification). Solomon's table also
includes "descriptive names" for many set classes.
Set Helper, by James Halliday (Indiana University)

a Java applet set calculator, which yields normal form, prime form, Forte name, and interval-class vectors of sets.
Print Sources
Forte, Allen. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973.
ML 3811 F66
An "Urtext" of pitch-class set analysis, by one of its chief developers. The book's focus is on analytical method.
Rahn, John. Basic Atonal Theory. New York: Longman, 1980.

MT 40 R2
One of the basic sources for the study of pitch structure in atonal music. The explanations are rather mathematical, but Rahn
also attempts to address the listening experience.
Straus, Joseph N. Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
MT 40 S96 1990
An excellent introduction to both pitch-class set analysis and twelve-tone analysis. Straus takes a topic which often seems
dauntingly mathematical and keeps its musical relevance clear. Includes analyses of twelve selected pieces.
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An Introduction To PC Set Analysis

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An Introduction to Pc Set Analysis

A Brief Introduction to Pitch-Class Set Analysis

1. Basic axioms: pitch classes

II. Interpreting Sets

10. The uses of pc-set analysis

Pc-Set Calculator, by David Walters

Page last modified 3 October 2001 / GRT

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● basic axioms, assumptions upon which the analytical method is founded,

The present guide is in two parts.

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1. Basic axioms: pitch classes

Axiom 1: Octave equivalence

Axiom 2: Enharmonic equivalence

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Exercise 1-1. The integer names of pitch classes

Key concepts on this page:

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2. Intervals and interval classes

Example 2-1. Webern, op. 3, no. 1, mm. 4-6. Pitch intervals

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The "descending" counterclockwise interval is 5 semitones:

In modulo 12 arithmetic any addition or subtraction that

Example 2-3. Webern, op. 3, no. 1, mm. 4-6. Pc intervals

Example 2-4. from Webern op. 3, no. 1. Pc transposition

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Exercise 2-1. Modulo 12 arithmetic and pc intervals

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Example 2-5. Table of interval levels

Exercise 2-2. Pitch intervals and interval classes

Key concepts on this page:

● pitch interval (ordered and unordered)

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3. Analysis and segmentation

Example 3-1. Webern, song op. 3, no. 1, mm. 1-6

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Key concepts on this page:

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4. Pitch-class sets and normal form

Example 4-2. Some C-major triads

Naming sets: normal form

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1. Examining your segment, list its pc content, eliminating all pc repetitions.

12367 23671 36712 67123 71236

"ascending" overall span

"ascending" overall span span

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"ascending" overall span span

Exercise 4-1. Naming sets using normal form

Key concepts on this page:

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5. Pitch-class set classes and prime form

Example 5-1. from Webern op. 3, no. 1

Axiom 3: Transpositional equivalence of sets