Major third

From: "Gerald Eskelin" <stg3music@earthlink.net>
>>
>>My god, John. That's it!!! I grew up in Detroit. No wonder my ear is fixated
>>on the 7:9 third. Evidently, I was startled at a young age hearing a Chevy
>>horn in one ear and a large truck blasting a 2:3 in the other. It really had
>>nothing to do with my high school choral teacher warming up the group
>>building major triads a cappella. Besides, all those other kids in the choir
>>grew up in the Detroit area and were likely similarly infected. ;-)
>
>Jerry,

To which John LInk commented:
>
>I'm not sure if you're joking or serious or both (probably both).

Good conclusion, John, but mostly not. The question is: which came
first--the car horn or the high school warmups? ;-) (It's difficult to
communicate the "tone of voice" in writing, but the little icons developed
for internet conversation do a pretty good job.)

I've done
>some more experimenting with my guitar and found that although 9/7 makes an
>interesting major third in a triad, it doesn't do the job in a major 7th
>chord. If the 7th is 3/2 relative to the major third, then the 7th is 27/14
>relative to the root, implying the small interval of 28/27 between the
>upper octave of the root and the 7th. The chord 14:18:21:27 sounds
>terrible, with none of the beauty of 8:10:12:15.

I've downloaded a sound analyser that I didn't have time to get into before
leaving for this little out of town getaway. When I get home next week I'll
break it open and perhaps I will be better able to respond meaningfully to
your (and other's) mathematical descriptions of "what works."

>By any chance does the CD that comes with your book "The Sounds of Music:
>Perception and Notation" have any major thirds on it?

Yes it does, however some of the critical illustrations originally recorded
in analogue were not to my liking and I redid them hurriedly (to make
deadline) using a keyboard limited to 100 cents per semitone. There are some
vocal examples that were recorded "live," but I don't have a copy here on
the road so I can't be specific.

I have found cents inadequate to express accurate tuning as experienced by
sensitive singers. Apparently, the precise adjustments we hear
"acoustically" fall in "the cracks" between the "clicks" from one cent to
the next (contrary to articles in the Harvard Dictionary of Music). Needless
to say, I am anxious to redo the CD with well tuned live recordings. I'm
also anxious to redo many of the tuning sections to reflect the valuable
info I have received thus far from the Tuning List.

Got to run now. It's almost time for my Palm Springs tee off. (New Yorkers,
eat your heart out.)

Jerry