Re: Defining "blue" notes (was Re: Quarter tones??)

Here we go again...

If E is your "root" - ie the center of your particular tonal universe, then
all other tones will create some degree of "tension" that needs to be
resolved. You obviously establish the "root" through all the normal
channels - playing a chord with it as the Root, placing the root on strong
beats, etc. Now you may perhaps perceive things differently, but even then
it should be apparent that things don't quite make musical sense - like
perceiving the Bb to be the root of the "Smoke On The Water" lick for
example.

Now you could perceive neither tone to be a root, in which case you either
have some other root in mind, or are drifting towards atonality. Unlike our
discussion of musical taste, there are some psychoacoustic underpinnings for
"root" or "key" concepts, not least of which is that they are found in
virtually all cultures.


Shit, all I wanted to do was answer a simple question about quarter tones...

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