Glossary
Harmonic Major
Glossary
The harmonic major scale is a fairly even heptatonic (seven-note) scale consisting of mostly semitone and whole-tone intervals, and one minor third (three-semitone) gap. It is involution-related to the harmonic minor scale.
In both cases, the presence of the minor third makes these scales less regular and more uneven or ungainly, which may partially explain why they are less common in jazz theory. Overall they are fairly even and interesting harmonically, so their modes are still worth exploring.
These two scales can be thought of as slightly-modified, more-uneven versions of the acoustic or melodic minor scale, when treated as OPTIC-equivalent objects. The harmonic major scale is traditionally thought of as a harmonic minor scale with a sharped third scale degree, or a major scale with a flat sixth scale degree (when thought of as an OTC-equivalent object). However, in Harmonious we refer to the harmonic major or minor scales as OPTC-equivalent objects, unordered collections of notes, with seven possible playable modes, not just the actual harmonic major or minor modes themselves.
See also Harmonic Major, and Beyond Diatonic for more about the set class behind the harmonic major scale.
The harmonic major scale is a fairly even heptatonic (seven-note) scale consisting of mostly semitone and whole-tone intervals, and one minor third (three-semitone) gap. It is involution-related to the harmonic minor scale.
In both cases, the presence of the minor third makes these scales less regular and more uneven or ungainly, which may partially explain why they are less common in jazz theory. Overall they are fairly even and interesting harmonically, so their modes are still worth exploring.
These two scales can be thought of as slightly-modified, more-uneven versions of the acoustic or melodic minor scale, when treated as OPTIC-equivalent objects. The harmonic major scale is traditionally thought of as a harmonic minor scale with a sharped third scale degree, or a major scale with a flat sixth scale degree (when thought of as an OTC-equivalent object). However, in Harmonious we refer to the harmonic major or minor scales as OPTC-equivalent objects, unordered collections of notes, with seven possible playable modes, not just the actual harmonic major or minor modes themselves.
See also Harmonic Major, and Beyond Diatonic for more about the set class behind the harmonic major scale.