causal pathways/from D to B in the key of E

The following is a slightly edited excerpt taken from Kyle Gann's "Gold in
That Thar Vacuum" ["Village Voice," New York City, New York, July 19,
1994]. I believe this excerpt offers a very insightful (and easily
understandable) observation of some of the more concomitant ways in which
music's 'tools' and music's 'structures' intercross...

"...Haverstick plays a guitar with 19 equal steps to the octave.... In
"Birdwalk" Haverstick plunks a typical blues line, a chromatic descent from
D to B in the key of E; except, instead of four notes, it takes him six.
Same thing from G-sharp up to B. Now, the cliches of blues developed
araound a certain synchronicity between the steps of the scale and the
regularity of 4/4 or 12/8 meter. Change the number of steps in the scale,
and suddenly you're pushing the meter around as well. Patterns that would
occupy a predictable four beats for any other blues player, Haverstick
needs five or six for. That IV or V chord comes in as expected, but always
a beat or two late. And yet the integrity of the scale renders the musical
logic seamless."