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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In music theory, the tritone is strictly defined as a


musical interval composed of three adjacent whole
tones.[1] For instance, the interval from F up to the B
above it (in short, FB) is a tritone as it can be
decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones FG,
GA, and AB. According to this definition, within a
diatonic scale there is only one tritone for each octave.
For instance, the above-mentioned interval FB is the
only tritone formed from the notes of the C major scale.
A tritone is also commonly defined as an interval
spanning six semitones. According to this definition, a
diatonic scale contains two tritones for each octave. For
instance, the above-mentioned C major scale contains
the tritones FB (from F to the B above it, also called
augmented fourth) and BF (from B to the F above it,
also called diminished fifth, semidiapente, or
semitritonus).[2]

tritone
Inverse

tritone
Name

Other names

augmented fourth,
diminished fifth

Abbreviation

TT
Size

Semitones

Interval class

Just interval

25:18, 36:25, 45:32,


64:45, 7:5, 10:7, ...
Cents

Equal

600

In classical music, the tritone is a harmonic and melodic temperament


dissonance and is important in the study of musical
24 equal
600
harmony. The tritone can be used to avoid traditional
temperament
tonality: "Any tendency for a tonality to emerge may be
Just intonation
569, 631, 590, 610, 583,
avoided by introducing a note three whole tones distant
617, ...
from the key note of that tonality."[3] Contrarily, the
tritone found in the dominant seventh chord helps
establish the tonality of a composition. These contrasting uses exhibit the flexibility, ubiquity, and
distinctness of the tritone in music.
The condition of having tritones is called tritonia; that of having no tritones is atritonia. A musical scale
or chord containing tritones is called tritonic; one without tritones is atritonic.

1 Augmented fourth and diminished fifth


2 Definitions
2.1 Broad interpretation (chromatic scale)
2.2 Strict interpretation (diatonic scale)
3 Size in different tuning systems
4 Eleventh harmonic
5 Dissonance and expressiveness
6 Common uses
6.1 Occurrences in diatonic scales
6.2 Occurrences in chords

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6.3 Resolution
6.4 Other uses
7 Historical uses
8 See also
9 Sources
10 Further reading
11 External links

Since a chromatic scale is formed by 12


pitches (each a semitone apart from its
neighbors), it contains 12 distinct
Chromatic scale on C: full octave ascending and descending
tritones, each starting from a different
Play in equal temperament .
pitch and spanning six semitones.
According to a complex but widely used
naming convention, six of them are classified as
augmented fourths, and the other six as diminished
fifths.
Under that convention, a fourth is an interval
encompassing four staff positions, while a fifth
encompasses five staff positions (see interval number
for more details). The augmented fourth (A4) and
diminished fifth (d5) are defined as the intervals
produced by widening the perfect fourth and narrowing
the perfect fifth by one chromatic semitone.[4] They
both span six semitones, and they are the inverse of
Full ascending and descending chromatic
each other, meaning that their sum is exactly equal to
scale on C, with tritone above each pitch. Pairs
one perfect octave (A4 + d5 = P8). In 12-tone equal
of tritones that are inversions of each other are
temperament, the most commonly used tuning
marked below.
system, the A4 is equivalent to a d5, as both have the
size of exactly half an octave. In most other tuning
systems, they are not equivalent, and neither is exactly equal to
half an octave.
Any augmented fourth can be decomposed into three whole
tones. For instance, the interval FB is an augmented fourth and
can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones FG,
GA, and AB.

The augmented fourth between C


and F and the diminished fifth
between C and G are
enharmonically equivalent
intervals. Both are 600 cents wide
in 12-TET. Play .

It is not possible to decompose a diminished fifth into three


adjacent whole tones. The reason is that a whole tone is a major
second, and according to a rule explained elsewhere, the
composition of three seconds is always a fourth (for instance, an
A4). To obtain a fifth (for instance, a d5), it is necessary to add
another second. For instance, using the notes of the C major scale, the diminished fifth BF can be
decomposed into the four adjacent intervals
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BC (minor second), CD (major second), DE (major second), and EF (minor second).


Using the notes of a chromatic scale, BF may be also decomposed into the four adjacent intervals
BC (major second), CD (major second), DE (major second), and EF (diminished
second).
Notice that the latter diminished second is formed by two enharmonically equivalent notes (E and F).
On a piano keyboard, these notes are produced by the same key. However, in the above-mentioned
naming convention, they are considered different notes, as they are written on different staff positions.

A tritone (abbreviation: TT) is traditionally defined as a musical


interval composed of three whole tones. As the symbol for whole
tone is T, this definition may also be written as follows:
TT = T+T+T
Only if the three tones are of the same size (which is not the case
for many tuning systems) can this formula be simplified to:
TT = 3T
This definition, however, has two different interpretations (broad
and strict).

Broad interpretation (chromatic scale)

Tritone drawn in the chromatic


circle.

In a chromatic scale, the interval between any note and the previous or next is a semitone. Using the
notes of a chromatic scale, each tone can be divided into two semitones:
T = S+S
For instance, the tone from C to D (in short, CD) can be decomposed into the two semitones CC
and CD by using the note C, which in a chromatic scale lies between C and D. This means that,
when a chromatic scale is used, a tritone can be also defined as any musical interval spanning six
semitones:
TT = T+T+T = S+S+S+S+S+S.
According to this definition, with the twelve notes of a chromatic scale it is possible to define twelve
different tritones, each starting from a different note and ending six notes above it. Although all of
them span six semitones, six of them are classified as A4, and the other six as d5.

Strict interpretation (diatonic scale)


Within a diatonic scale, whole tones are always formed by adjacent notes (such as C and D) and
therefore they are regarded as incomposite intervals. In other words, they cannot be divided into
smaller intervals. Consequently, in this context the above-mentioned "decomposition" of the tritone

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into six semitones is typically not allowed.


If a diatonic scale is used, with its 7 notes it is possible to form only one sequence of three adjacent
whole tones (T+T+T). This interval is an A4. For instance, in the C major diatonic scale (CDE
FGAB...), the only tritone is from F to B. It is a tritone because FG, GA, and AB are three
adjacent whole tones. It is a fourth because the notes from F to B are four (F, G, A, B). It is
augmented (i.e., widened) because it is wider than most of the fourths found in the scale (they are
perfect fourths).
According to this interpretation, the d5 is not a tritone. Indeed, in a diatonic scale, there's only one d5,
and this interval does not meet the strict definition of tritone, as it is formed by one semitone, two
whole tones, and another semitone:
d5 = S+T+T+S.
For instance, in the C major diatonic scale, the only d5 is from B to F. It is a fifth because the notes
from B to F are five (B, C, D, E, F). It is diminished (i.e. narrowed) because it is smaller than most of
the fifths found in the scale (they are perfect fifths).

In 12-tone equal temperament, the A4 is exactly half an octave


(i.e., a ratio of 2:1 or 600 cents; play ). The inverse of 600
cents is 600 cents. Thus, in this tuning system, the A4 and its
inverse (d5) are equivalent.
The half-octave or equal tempered A4 and d5 are unique in being
equal to their own inverse (each to the other). In other meantone
tuning systems, besides 12-tone equal temperament, A4 and d5
are distinct intervals because neither is exactly half an octave. In
any meantone tuning near to 29-comma meantone the A4 is near

Tritone: just augmented fourth


between C and F+ Play 45:32
(590.22 cents) .

to the ratio 75 (582.51) and the d5 to 107 (617.49), which is what


these intervals are in septimal meantone temperament. In 31
equal temperament, for example, the A4 is 619.35 cents, whereas
the d5 is 580.65 cents. This is perceptually indistinguishable from
septimal meantone temperament.
Since they are the inverse of each other, by definition A4 and d5
always add up to exactly one perfect octave:
A4 + d5 = P8.

Tritone: Pythagorean augmented


fourth between C and F++
Play 729:512 (611.73 cents) .

On the other hand, two A4 add up to six whole tones. In equal temperament, this is equal to exactly
one perfect octave:
A4 + A4 = P8.
In quarter-comma meantone temperament, this is a diesis (128/125) less than a perfect octave:
A4 + A4 = P8 diesis.

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In just intonation several different sizes can be chosen both for


the A4 and the d5. For instance, in 5-limit tuning, the A4 is either
45/32[6][7][8] or 25/18,[9] and the d5 is either 64/45 Play or
36/25,[10] or 1024:729 Play . The 64:45 just diminished fifth
arises in the C major scale between B and F, consequently the
45:32 augmented fourth arises between F and B.[11]
These ratios are not in all contexts regarded as strictly just but
they are the justest possible in 5-limit tuning. 7-limit tuning allows
for the justest possible ratios (ratios with the smallest numerator
and denominator), namely 7/5 for the A4 (about 582.5 cents, also
known as septimal tritone) and 10/7 for the d5 (about 617.5 cents,
also known as Euler's tritone).[6][12][13] These ratios are more
consonant than 17/12 (about 603.0 cents) and 24/17 (about 597.0
cents), which can be obtained in 17-limit tuning, yet the latter are
also fairly common, as they are closer to the equal-tempered
value of 600.0 cents.

Known as the lesser undecimal tritone or undecimal


semi-augmented fourth, 11:8 (551.318 cents), the ratio of the
eleventh harmonic (F 4 above C1), is found in some just tunings
and on many instruments. For example, very long alphorns may
reach the twelfth harmonic and transcriptions of their music
usually show the eleventh harmonic sharp (F above C, for
example), as in Brahms's First Symphony.[14] This note is often
corrected to 4:3 on the natural horn in just intonation or
Pythagorean tunings, but the pure eleventh harmonic was used in
pieces including Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings.[15]
Ivan Wyschnegradsky considered the major fourth a good
approximation of the eleventh harmonic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritone

Tritone: the classic augmented


fourth between C and F Play
25:18 (568.72 cents)

Tritone: the classic diminished fifth


between C and G Play 36:25
(631.28 cents)

Lesser septimal tritone on


between C and G [5] Play 7:5
(582.51 cents) .

Greater septimal tritone between


C and F [5] Play 10:7 (617.49
cents) .
Use of the eleventh harmonic in the prologue to Britten's
Serenade for tenor, horn and strings. Play

The unstable character of the tritone sets it apart, as discussed in [28] [Paul Hindemith.
The Craft of Musical Composition, Book I. Associated Music Publishers, New York, 1945].
It can be expressed as a ratio by compounding suitable superparticular ratios. Whether it
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is assigned the ratio 64/45 or 45/32, depending on the


musical context, or indeed some other ratio, it is not
superparticular, which is in keeping with its unique role
in music.[16]

Although this ratio [45/32] is composed of numbers


which are multiples of 5 or under, they are excessively
large for a 5-limit scale, and are sufficient justification,
either in this form or as the tempered "tritone," for the
epithet "diabolic," which has been used to characterize
the interval. This is a case where, because of the
largeness of the numbers, none but a temperamentperverted ear could possibly prefer 45/32 to a smallnumber interval of about the same width.[17]

Eleventh harmonic between C


and F. Play 11:8 (551.32
cents)

In the Pythagorean ratio 81/64 both numbers are multiples of 3 or under, yet because of
their excessive largeness the ear certainly prefers 5/4 for this approximate degree, even
though it involves a prime number higher than 3. In the case of the 45/32, 'tritone' our
theorists have gone around their elbows to reach their thumbs, which could have been
reached simply and directly and non-'diabolically' via number 7.[17]

Occurrences in diatonic scales


The augmented fourth (A4) occurs naturally between the fourth and seventh scale degrees of the
major scale (for example, from F to B in the key of C major). It is also present in the natural minor
scale as the interval formed between the second and sixth scale degrees (for example, from D to A
in the key of C minor). The melodic minor scale, having two forms, presents a tritone in different
locations when ascending and descending (when the scale ascends, the tritone appears between the
third and sixth scale degrees and the fourth and seventh scale degrees, and when the scale
descends, the tritone appears between the second and sixth scale degrees). Supertonic chords using
the notes from the natural minor mode thus contain a tritone, regardless of inversion. Containing
tritones, these scales are tritonic.

Occurrences in chords
The dominant seventh chord in root position contains a diminished fifth (tritone) within its pitch
construction: it occurs between the third and seventh above the root. In addition, augmented sixth
chords, some of which are enharmonic to dominant seventh chords, contain tritones spelled as
augmented fourths (for example, the German sixth, from A to D in the key of A minor); the French
sixth chord can be viewed as a superposition of two tritones a major second apart.
The diminished triad also contains a tritone in its construction, deriving its name from the
diminished-fifth interval (i.e. a tritone). The half-diminished seventh chord contains the same tritone,
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while the fully diminished seventh chord is made up of two superposed tritones a minor third apart.
Other chords built on these, such as ninth chords, often include tritones (as diminished fifths).

Resolution
In all of the sonorities mentioned above, used in functional
harmonic analysis, the tritone pushes towards resolution,
generally resolving by step in contrary motion. This determines
the resolution of chords containing tritones.
The augmented fourth resolves outward to a minor or major sixth.
Tritone resolution inward
The inversion of this, a diminished fifth, resolves inward to a major
or minor third. The diminished fifth is often called a tritone in
( Play ), and outwards ( Play ).
modern tonal theory, but functionally and notationally it can only
resolve inwards as a diminished fifth and is therefore not
reckoned a tritonethat is, an interval composed of three adjacent whole tonesin mid-renaissance
(early 16th-century) music theory.[18]

Other uses
The tritone is also one of the defining features of the Locrian mode, being featured between the
fifth scale degrees.

and

The half-octave tritone interval is used in the musical/auditory illusion known as the tritone paradox.

The tritone is a restless interval, classed as a


dissonance in Western music from the early
Middle Ages through to the end of the common
practice period. This interval was frequently
avoided in medieval ecclesiastical singing
because of its dissonant quality. The first
explicit prohibition of it seems to occur with the
The theme opening Claude Debussy's Prlude
development of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal
l'aprs-midi d'un faune outlines a tritone (between C
system, who suggested that rather than make
and G) Play
B a diatonic note, the hexachord be moved
and based on C to avoid the F-B tritone
altogether. Later theorists such as Ugolino d'Orvieto and Tinctoris advocated for the inclusion of
B.[19] From then until the end of the Renaissance the tritone was regarded as an unstable interval
and rejected as a consonance by most theorists.[20]
The name diabolus in musica ("the Devil in music") has been applied to the interval from at least the
early 18th century, though its use is not restricted to the tritone. Andreas Werckmeister cites this term
in 1702 as being used by "the old authorities" for both the tritone and for the clash between
chromatically related tones such as F and F,[21] and five years later likewise calls "diabolus in
musica" the opposition of "square" and "round" B (B and B, respectively) because these notes

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represent the juxtaposition of "mi contra fa".[22] Johann Joseph Fux cites the phrase in his seminal
1725 work Gradus ad Parnassum, Georg Philipp Telemann in 1733 describes, "mi against fa," which
the ancients called "Satan in music"and Johann Mattheson, in 1739, writes that the "...older singers
with solmization called this pleasant interval 'mi contra fa' or 'the devil in music'."[23] Although the
latter two of these authors cite the association with the devil as from the past, there are no known
citations of this term from the Middle Ages, as is commonly asserted.[24] However Denis Arnold, in
the New Oxford Companion to Music, suggests that the nickname was already applied early in the
medieval music itself:
It seems first to have been designated as a "dangerous" interval when Guido of Arezzo
developed his system of hexachords and with the introduction of B flat as a diatonic note,
at much the same time acquiring its nickname of "Diabolus in Musica" ("the devil in
music").[25]
That original symbolic association with the devil and its avoidance led to Western cultural convention
seeing the tritone as suggesting "evil" in music. However, stories that singers were excommunicated
or otherwise punished by the Church for invoking this interval are likely fanciful. At any rate,
avoidance of the interval for musical reasons has a long history, stretching back to the parallel
organum of the Musica Enchiriadis. In all these expressions, including the commonly cited "mi contra
fa est diabolus in musica", the "mi" and "fa" refer to notes from two adjacent hexachords. For
instance, in the tritone BF, B would be "mi", that is the third scale degree in the "hard" hexachord
beginning on G, while F would be "fa", that is the fourth scale degree in the "natural" hexachord
beginning on C.
Later, with the rise of the Baroque and Classical music era, composers accepted the tritone, but still
didn't use it in a specific, controlled waynotably through the principle of the tension-release
mechanism of the tonal system. In that system (which is the fundamental musical grammar of
Baroque and Classical music), the tritone is one of the defining intervals of the dominant-seventh
chord and two tritones separated by a minor third give the fully diminished seventh chord its
characteristic sound. In minor, the diminished triad (comprising two minor thirds, which together add
up to a tritone) appears on the second scale degreeand thus features prominently in the
progression iioVi. Often, the inversion iio6 is used to move the tritone to the inner voices as this
allows for stepwise motion in the bass to the dominant root. In three-part counterpoint, free use of the
diminished triad in first inversion is permitted, as this eliminates the tritone relation to the bass.[26]
It is only with the Romantic music and modern classical music that composers started to use it totally
freely, without functional limitations notably in an expressive way to exploit the "evil" connotations
culturally associated with it (e.g., Franz Liszt's use of the tritone (https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=_PrsflaFB58) to suggest Hell in his Dante Sonata:

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Liszt, "Aprs une lecture du Dante" from Annes de Plerinage

- or Wagners use of timpani tuned to C and F sharp to convey a brooding atmosphere at the start of
the second act (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt8VeUzG3Zc) of the opera Siegfried.

Wagner, Prelude to Act 2 of Siegfried

In his early cantata La Damoiselle lue, Debussy uses a tritone to convey the words of the poem by
Dante Gabriel Rosetti.

Debussy, La Damoiselle lue, Figure 30

Roger Nichols (1972, p19) says that "the bare fourths, the wide spacing, the tremolos, all depict the
words the light thrilled towards her with sudden, overwhelming power. [27] Debussys String
Quartet also features passages that emphasise the tritone:

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Debussy, String Quartet, 2nd movement, bars 140-7

The tritone was also exploited heavily in that period as an interval of modulation for its ability to evoke
a strong reaction by moving quickly to distantly related keys. Later, in twelve-tone music, serialism,
and other 20th century compositional idioms, composers considered it a neutral interval.[28] In some
analyses of the works of 20th century composers, the tritone plays an important structural role;
perhaps the most cited is the axis system, proposed by Ern Lendvai, in his analysis of the use of
tonality in the music of Bla Bartk.[29] Tritone relations are also important in the music of George
Crumb and Benjamin Britten, whose War Requiem features a tritone between C and F as a recurring
motif.[30] John Bridcut (2010, p. 271) describes the power of the interval in creating the sombre and
ambiguous opening of the War Requiem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsSMCq7pl_k): The
idea that the chorus and orchestra are condent in their wrong-headed piety is repeatedly disputed by
the music. From the instability of the opening tritone that unsettling interval between C and F sharp
accompanied by the tolling of warning bells eventually resolves into a major chord for the arrival
of the boys singing 'Te decet hymnus.[31] George Harrison uses tritones on the downbeats of the
opening phrases of the Beatles songs "The Inner Light", "Blue Jay Way" and "Within You Without
You", creating a prolonged sense of suspended resolution.[32] Perhaps the most striking use of the
interval in rock music of the late 1960s can be found in Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze"
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj1EI0vCvFw). According to Dave Moskowitz (2010, p.12),
Hendrix "ripped into 'Purple Haze' by beginning the song with the sinister sounding tritone interval
creating an opening dissonance, long described as 'The Devil in Music'."[33]
Tritones also became important in the development of jazz tertian harmony, where triads and seventh
chords are often expanded to become 9th, 11th, or 13th chords, and the tritone often occurs as a
substitute for the naturally occurring interval of the perfect 11th. Since the perfect 11th (i.e. an octave
plus perfect fourth) is typically perceived as a dissonance requiring a resolution to a major or minor
10th, chords that expand to the 11th or beyond typically raise the 11th a semitone (thus giving us an
augmented or sharp 11th, or an octave plus a tritone from the root of the chord) and present it in
conjunction with the perfect 5th of the chord. Also in jazz harmony, the tritone is both part of the
dominant chord and its substitute dominant (also known as the sub V chord). Because they share the

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same tritone, they are possible substitutes for one


another. This is known as a tritone substitution. The
tritone substitution is one of the most common chord
and improvisation devices in jazz.
In the theory of harmony it is known that a
diminished interval needs to be resolved
inwards, and an augmented interval
outwards. ...and with the correct resolution
of the true tritones this desire is totally
satisfied. However, if one plays a just
diminished fifth that is perfectly in tune, for
example, there is no wish to resolve it to a
major third. Just the oppositeaurally one
wants to enlarge it to a minor sixth. The
opposite holds true for the just augmented
fourth....
These apparently contradictory aural
experiences become understandable when
the cents of both types of just tritones are
compared with those of the true tritones
and then read 'crossed-over'. One then
notices that the just augmented fourth of
590.224 cents is only 2 cents bigger than
the true diminished fifth of 588.270 cents,
and that both intervals lie below the middle
of the octave of 600.000 cents. It is no
wonder that, following the ear, we want to
resolve both downwards. The ear only
desires the tritone to be resolved upwards
when it is bigger than the middle of the
octave. Therefore the opposite is the case
with the just diminished fifth of 609.776
cents....[7]

Tritone substitution: F7 may substitute for C7,


and vice versa, because they both share E
and B/A and due to voice leading
considerations. Play

List of meantone intervals


List of musical intervals
List of pitch intervals
Hexatonic scale#Tritone scale
Consecutive fifths#Unequal fifths
Petrushka chord

1. Don Michael Randel (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music: Fourth Edition. Harvard University Press.

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ISBN 0-674-01163-5 (http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674011632).


2. E.g., Jacobus Leodiensis, Speculum musicae, Liber secundus, in Jacobi Leodiensis Speculum musicae,
edited by Roger Bragard, Corpus Scriptorum de Musica 3/2 ([Rome]: American Institute of Musicology,
1961): 12831, citations on 19296, 200, and 229; Jacobus Leodiensis, Speculum musicae, Liber sextus,
in Jacobi Leodiensis Speculum musicae, edited by Roger Bragard, Corpus Scriptorum de Musica 3/6
([Rome]: American Institute of Musicology, 1973): 1-161, citations on 52 and 68; Johannes Torkesey,
Declaratio et expositio, London: British Library, Lansdowne 763, ff.89v-94v, citations on f.92r,23;
Prosdocimus de Beldemandis, Tractatus musice speculative, in D. Raffaello Baralli and Luigi Torri, "Il
Trattato di Prosdocimo de' Beldomandi contro il Lucidario di Marchetto da Padova per la prima volta
trascritto e illustrato", Rivista Musicale Italiana 20 (1913): 73162, citations on 73234.
3. Smith Brindle, Reginald (1966). Serial Composition. Oxford University Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-19-311906-4.
4. Bruce Benward & Marilyn Nadine Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, seventh edition
(Boston: McGraw-Hill), p. 54. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
5. Fonville, John. "Ben Johnston's Extended Just Intonation- A Guide for Interpreters", p. 12122,
Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 10637.
6. Partch, Harry. (1974). Genesis of a Music: An Account of a Creative Work, Its Roots and Its Fulfillments,
second edition, enlarged (New York: Da Capo Press): p. 69. ISBN 0-306-71597-X (cloth); ISBN
0-306-80106-X (pbk).
7. Renold, Maria (2004). Intervals, Scales, Tones and the Concert Pitch C=128Hz, translated from the
German by Bevis Stevens, with additional editing by Anna R. Meuss (Forest Row: Temple Lodge):
p. 1516. ISBN 1-902636-46-5.
8. Helmholtz, Hermann von (2005). On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of
Music, p. 457. ISBN 1-4191-7893-8. "Cents in interval: 590, Name of Interval: Just Tritone, Number to an
Octave: 2.0. Cents in interval: 612, Name of Interval: Pyth. Tritone, Number to an Octave: 2.0."
9. Haluska , Jn (2003), The Mathematical Theory of Tone Systems, Pure and Applied Mathematics Series
262 (New York: Marcel Dekker; London: Momenta), p. xxiv. ISBN 0-8247-4714-3. "25:18 classic
augmented fourth".
10. Haluska (2003), p. xxv. "36/25 classic diminished fifth".
11. Paul, Oscar (1885). A manual of harmony for use in music-schools and seminaries and for self-instruction
(http://books.google.com/books?id=4WEJAQAAMAAJ&
dq=musical+interval+%22pythagorean+major+third%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s), p.165. Theodore Baker,
trans. G. Schirmer.
12. Haluska (2003). p. xxiii. "7/5 septimal or Huygens' tritone, Bohlen-Pierce fourth", "10/7 Euler's tritone".
13. Strange, Patricia and Patricia, Allen (2001). The contemporary violin: Extended performance techniques,
p. 147. ISBN 0-520-22409-4. "...septimal tritone, 10:7; smaller septimal tritone, 7:5;...This list is not
exhaustive, even when limited to the first sixteen partials. Consider the very narrow augmented fourth,
13:9....just intonation is not an attempt to generate necessarily consonant intervals."
14. Monelle, Raymond (2006). The Musical Topic: Hunt, Military And Pastoral, p.102. ISBN 9780253347664.
15. Fauvel, John; Flood, Raymond; and Wilson, Robin J. (2006). Music And Mathematics, p.21-22. ISBN
9780199298938.
16. Haluska (2003), p. 286.
17. Partch (1974), p. 115. ISBN 0-306-80106-X.
18. Margaret Bent, ""Accidentals, Counterpoint, and Notation in Aarons Aggiunta to the Toscanello", Journal
of Musicology 12: "Aspects of Musical Language and Culture in the Renaissance: A Birthday Tribute to
James Haar" (1994): 30644. Citation on 308.
19. Guido d'Arezzo, Epistola de ignoto cantu, lines 30922
20. Drabkin, William. "Tritone". Grove Music Online (subscription access). Oxford Music Online. Retrieved
2008-07-21.
21. Andreas Werckmeister. Harmonologia musica, oder kurze Anleitung zur musicalischen Composition
(http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10527826_00005.html) (Frankfurt and
Leipzig: Theodor Philipp Calvisius 1702): 6.
22. Andreas Werckmeister, Musicalische Paradoxal-Discourse, oder allgemeine Vorstellungen
(http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10527832_00005.html) (Quedlinburg:
Theodor Philipp Calvisius, 1707): 7576.
23. Reinhold, Hammerstein (1974). Diabolus in musica: Studien zur Ikonographie der Musik im Mittelalter.

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Tritone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritone

Neue Heidelberger Studien zur Musikwissenschaft (in German) 6. Bern: Francke. p. 7. OCLC 1390982.
"...mi contra fa ... welches die alten den Satan in der Music nenneten" "...alten Solmisatores dieses
angenehme Intervall mi contra fa oder den Teufel in der Music genannt haben."
24. F. J. Smith, "Some Aspects of the Tritone and the Semitritone in the Speculum Musicae: The
Non-Emergence of the Diabolus in Music," Journal of Musicological Research 3 (1979), pp. 6374, at 70.
25. Arnold, Denis (1983) Tritone in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 1: AJ,Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0-19-311316-3
26. Jeppesen, Knud (1992) [1939]. Counterpoint: the polyphonic vocal style of the sixteenth century. trans. by
Glen Haydon, with a new foreword by Alfred Mann. New York: Dover. ISBN 0-486-27036-X.
27. Nichols, R. (1972) Debussy. Oxford University Press.
28. Persichetti, Vincent (1961). Twentieth-century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice. New York: W. W.
Norton. ISBN 0-393-09539-8. OCLC 398434.
29. Lendvai, Ern (1971). Bla Bartk: An Analysis of his Music. introd. by Alan Bush. London: Kahn & Averill.
pp. 116. ISBN 0-900707-04-6. OCLC 240301.
30. http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tan/Britten/req1.html Musical Analysis of the War Requiem, accessed 16
March 2016
31. Bridcut, J. (2010), Essential Britten, a pocket guide for the Britten Centenary. London, Faber.
32. Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Ltd. Omnibus Press. London, 2010
pp. 522523
33. Moskowitz, D. (2010) The Words and Music of Jimi Hendrix. Praeger.

R., Ken (2012). DOG EAR Tritone Substitution for Jazz Guitar, Amazon Digital Services, Inc.,
ASIN: B008FRWNIW

Tritone paradox and Shepard Tones (https://web.archive.org/web/20080106220501/http:


//www.cameron.edu/~lloydd/webdoc1.html) at the Wayback Machine (archived January 6, 2008)
BBC News Magazine article about the tritone (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine
/4952646.stm)
Satan's all-time greatest hit: Will Hodgkinson on the devil's interval (http://www.theguardian.com
/music/2007/oct/12/popandrock.classicalmusicandopera)
"Why is the Augmented 4th the "chord of evil" that was banned in Renaissance church music?
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1767,00.html)", Guardian.co.uk.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tritone&oldid=710223818"
Categories: Augmented fourths Diminished fifths The Devil in classical music
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