"blackjack" == "21"

[Joe:]
> Unfortunately, I don't have much of a background in cards, so
> why is this scale called "blackjack??"

Hey! An easy question on the list. Let me answer it and
get some self-esteem! :)

Blackjack is also known as twenty-one.
Everyone starts with 2 cards. One face down, one face up.
Aces count as 1 or 11. Then you can keep asking for
another one face up until you want to stop (hold). If your
total exceeds 21, you're out. If it hits 21 you win.
Otherwise, whoever gets the highest score wins. If you
start with two of the same rank, you can make two piles
and continue from there (like if you get 2 nines to start
with you can play two deals at once basically). If you get
dealt an ace and a black jack initially this is somehow
special, maybe better than 21, maybe it beats 21. The
dealer has to follow special rules and can not make
decisions for himself, he has to draw up to a point and
hold at a point. Everyone plays against the dealer, not
each other, so more than one person can win each hand.

The blackjack scale is a size 21 subset of 72tET.
So there you go.

- Jeff

Digest 1298, Message: 23
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 01:23:40 -0400
From: "J Scott" <xjscott@earthlink.net>

> [Joe Pehrson:]
>> Unfortunately, I don't have much of a background in cards, so
>> why is this scale called "blackjack??"
>
> <snipped: description of Blackjack or 21 card game>
>
> The blackjack scale is a size 21 subset of 72tET.
> So there you go.

Hi Jeff, good to see you posting. ;-)

Your description is entirely correct, but I suspect
that Paul's reason for choosing a special name
for this scale goes a little deeper...

He found so many 22-tone periodicity-blocks
that exhibited "special" properties that it came
as a very big surprise to find this scale with
21 notes (instead of 22).

Am I right, Paul?

-monz
http://www.monz.org
"All roads lead to n^0"

Is this 21 of Blackjack related to the "21 Gun Salute?"

Johnny Reinhard

--- In tuning@y..., "J Scott" <xjscott@e...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_22439.html#22439

> [Joe:]
> > Unfortunately, I don't have much of a background in cards, so
> > why is this scale called "blackjack??"
>
> Hey! An easy question on the list. Let me answer it and
> get some self-esteem! :)
>

Thanks so much, Jeff, for your response. When my computer problems
settle down, I intend to investigate this scale even further...

In fact, I am proceed according to Kraig Grady's suggestion and only
use this one scale for the rest of my life... (Well, I used 12-tET
for the first half!)

_______________ _______ ______ _
Joseph Pehrson

--- In tuning@y..., Afmmjr@a... wrote:
> Is this 21 of Blackjack related to the "21 Gun Salute?"
>
> Johnny Reinhard

Johnny,

Hello!

The "21 Gun Salute" used to carry little meaning for me personally,
until I witnessed this moving ceremony at my Grandfather's funeral a
few years back.

The whole thing made me reflect with deepest appreciation how that
this generation of American men possessed enough testicular mass to
take back Europe from the Fascist Nazi's - something sorely missing
in the spirit of our spoon-fed generation here in America now. Thank
god they laid their ass on the line or all of us might be goose-
stepping and singing in a rousing unison of "Deutschland Uber Alles",
in an Ethically Cleansed world. And America would be looking exactly
like the image portrayed in Philip K. Dick's "Man in the High Castle"
(my first Dick book). Every freedom we enjoy today is a direct result
of the bravery of the men who sacrificed their lives to do the right
thing. The 21 Gun Salute, carries a whole different connotation for
me now.

JL

--- In tuning@y..., "Joe Monzo" <joemonz@y...> wrote:
>
> Your description is entirely correct, but I suspect
> that Paul's reason for choosing a special name
> for this scale goes a little deeper...
>
> He found so many 22-tone periodicity-blocks
> that exhibited "special" properties that it came
> as a very big surprise to find this scale with
> 21 notes (instead of 22).
>
> Am I right, Paul?

Pretty close. I was finding a lot of 19, 22, 26, and 27-tone
periodicity blocks with a decent number of 1-3-5-7 tetrads (and their
inverses) in JI. No 21-toners.