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Just Intonation Blues

from Music Theory Songs by Ethan Hein

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Inspired by the hypothesis that blues tonality descends from the natural overtone series of I and IV. This track runs slowly up and down a scale comprised of just intonation intervals that are likely candidates for blue notes. Here are their tuning ratios along with comparisons to the closest notes in 12-TET:

1/1 - Unison, C
7/6 - Subminor third, between D and E-flat
6/5 - Just minor third/neutral third, between E-flat and E
5/4 - Just major third, a little flat from E
4/3 - Just perfect fourth, F
11/8 - Harmonic eleventh, between F and F-sharp
7/5 - Narrow tritone, flat from F-sharp
36/25 - Just diminished fifth, sharp from F-sharp
3/2 - Just perfect fifth, G
5/3 - Just major sixth, a little flat from A
7/4 - Harmonic seventh, fairly flat from B-flat
16/9 - Pythagorean minor seventh, B-flat
9/5 - Just minor seventh, sharp from B-flat
2/1 - Octave, C

Samples are from "Boogie Chillen" by John Lee Hooker and "All Alone Blues" by Sonny Terry

Read more: www.ethanhein.com/wp/2021/the-blues-and-the-harmonic-series/

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from Music Theory Songs, released September 17, 2021

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Ethan Hein Brooklyn, New York

Ethan Hein teaches music at NYU and the New School. He maintains a widely-followed blog at ethanhein.com.

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