Dear Edly,

First of all, I want to thank you for writing "Music Theory for Practical People". I've been playing guitar for five years but, until I took up piano a few months ago, never really delved into music theory. I knew I was missing out on a lot, but I was intimidated by the "serious" music theory books I occasionally thumbed through.

Your book changed all that. I picked it up a few weeks ago and immediately read it cover-to-cover. I'm now going back over it again, spending more time of the details and doing the exercises. I am actually beginning to understand music theory! It's great! Knowing a bit of theory has helped my playing, and I'm anxious to continue studying.

There is one thing that's confusing to me, though. I've been over and over it, and I'm missing something (probably something obvious), but I just can't figure it out:

On Page 30 of the book, under "Chromatic Alteration of Intervals," you set out five statements, referring to the "Chromatic Intervals from Octave to Unison" chart on Page 29.

Statements 1 and 4 make sense to me, but I'm having trouble with the rest of them.

With reference to statement 2, if the top note of a minor third is lowered, doesn't that make a major second (and not a diminished interval)?

With reference to statement 3, if the top note of a perfect fourth is lowered, doesn't that make a major third (and not a diminished interval)?

With reference to statement 5, if the top not of a major third is raised, doesn't that make a perfect fourth (and not an augmented interval)?

Anyway, thanks again for the book.

Sincerely,

Larry
Arcata, California

_______________

Larry, you da man!!!

You win the blue ribbon for attention to detail! Strike up the band!

The answer to all your questions is "yes."

And "no."

Okay, do I have your attention yet?

Here's the deal. It' a question of enharmonic spellings. If the top note of a minor third (C to Eb) is lowered, it becomes a diminished third (C to Ebb), which indeed sounds like a major second (C to D), but as you can see, they're written differently.

If the top note of a perfect fourth (C to F) is lowered, it becomes a diminished fourth (C to Fb), which is the same notes and sound as C to E, a major third.

You're not going to see these too often, though, except on music theory tests, and some rare cases. But they do exist, and are therefore worth understanding.

Enharmonic spellings come into play depending on the direction the notes are moving. Let's see. Here's an example of the first, in the key of C minor (key signature: Bb, Eb, Ab).

Hope the formatting comes out okay.

G	Gb	F	Fb	Eb
C	C	C	C	C
P5	dim5	P4	dim4	m3

Yes, C to Fb could indeed be written C to E natural, and many composers/editors would choose to write it that way, especially in simpler music, or music intended to be read by less advanced players. But in more advanced music, you'd probably see it as the diminished 4th, C to Fb. It shows the direction the notes are moving, and also requires one fewer accidentals. That is, if it's written C to E natural, then an Eb is needed for the next interval.

Does this clear it up?

And so very glad you're liking the book so much.

Best of luck to you!

Edly