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Scale 1193: "Minor Pentatonic"

Scale 1193: Minor Pentatonic, Ian Ring Music Theory

Bracelet Diagram

The bracelet shows tones that are in this scale, starting from the top (12 o'clock), going clockwise in ascending semitones. The "i" icon marks imperfect tones that do not have a tone a fifth above. Dotted lines indicate axes of symmetry.

Tonnetz Diagram

Tonnetz diagrams are popular in Neo-Riemannian theory. Notes are arranged in a lattice where perfect 5th intervals are from left to right, major third are northeast, and major 6th intervals are northwest. Other directions are inverse of their opposite. This diagram helps to visualize common triads (they're triangles) and circle-of-fifth relationships (horizontal lines).

Common Names

Western Modern
Minor Pentatonic
Pentatonic Minor
Western
Minor Pentatonic Type 1
Ethiopian
Bati
Batti Minor
Jazz and Blues
Blues Pentatonic
Carnatic
Raga Dhani
Abheri
Unknown / Unsorted
Udhayaravi Chandrika
Nam
Northern Sa mac
Chinese
Qing Shang
Gu Xian
Jia Zhong
Yu
Yùdiào
Korean
P'yongjo-kyemyonjo
Japanese
Min'yō
Vietnamese
Lai Yai
Lai Noi
Exoticisms
Peruvian Pentatonic 2
Southeast Asia
Karen 5 Tone Type 1
Akha 5 Tone Type 2
Khmer Pentatonic 5
Shan Lumjou 5 Tone Type 2
Thailand
Yao
Zeitler
Rocritonic
Dozenal
WARian

Analysis

Cardinality

Cardinality is the count of how many pitches are in the scale.

5 (pentatonic)

Pitch Class Set

The tones in this scale, expressed as numbers from 0 to 11

{0,3,5,7,10}

Forte Number

A code assigned by theorist Allen Forte, for this pitch class set and all of its transpositional (rotation) and inversional (reflection) transformations.

5-35

Rotational Symmetry

Some scales have rotational symmetry, sometimes known as "limited transposition". If there are any rotational symmetries, these are the intervals of periodicity.

none

Reflection Axes

If a scale has an axis of reflective symmetry, then it can transform into itself by inversion. It also implies that the scale has Ridge Tones. Notably an axis of reflection can occur directly on a tone or half way between two tones.

[5]

Palindromicity

A palindromic scale has the same pattern of intervals both ascending and descending.

no

Chirality

A chiral scale can not be transformed into its inverse by rotation. If a scale is chiral, then it has an enantiomorph.

no

Hemitonia

A hemitone is two tones separated by a semitone interval. Hemitonia describes how many such hemitones exist.

0 (anhemitonic)

Cohemitonia

A cohemitone is an instance of two adjacent hemitones. Cohemitonia describes how many such cohemitones exist.

0 (ancohemitonic)

Imperfections

An imperfection is a tone which does not have a perfect fifth above it in the scale. This value is the quantity of imperfections in this scale.

1

Modes

Modes are the rotational transformations of this scale. This number includes the scale itself, so the number is usually the same as its cardinality; unless there are rotational symmetries then there are fewer modes.

5

Prime Form

Describes if this scale is in prime form, using the Starr/Rahn algorithm.

no
prime: 661

Generator

Indicates if the scale can be constructed using a generator, and an origin.

generator: 5
origin: 7

Deep Scale

A deep scale is one where the interval vector has 6 different digits, an indicator of maximum hierarchization.

no

Interval Structure

Defines the scale as the sequence of intervals between one tone and the next.

[3, 2, 2, 3, 2]

Interval Vector

Describes the intervallic content of the scale, read from left to right as the number of occurences of each interval size from semitone, up to six semitones.

<0, 3, 2, 1, 4, 0>

Proportional Saturation Vector

First described by Michael Buchler (2001), this is a vector showing the prominence of intervals relative to the maximum and minimum possible for the scale's cardinality. A saturation of 0 means the interval is present minimally, a saturation of 1 means it is the maximum possible.

<0, 0.75, 0.5, 0, 1, 0>

Interval Spectrum

The same as the Interval Vector, but expressed in a syntax used by Howard Hanson.

p4mn2s3

Distribution Spectra

Describes the specific interval sizes that exist for each generic interval size. Each generic <g> has a spectrum {n,...}. The Spectrum Width is the difference between the highest and lowest values in each spectrum.

<1> = {2,3}
<2> = {4,5}
<3> = {7,8}
<4> = {9,10}

Spectra Variation

Determined by the Distribution Spectra; this is the sum of all spectrum widths divided by the scale cardinality.

0.8

Maximally Even

A scale is maximally even if the tones are optimally spaced apart from each other.

yes

Maximal Area Set

A scale is a maximal area set if a polygon described by vertices dodecimetrically placed around a circle produces the maximal interior area for scales of the same cardinality. All maximally even sets have maximal area, but not all maximal area sets are maximally even.

yes

Interior Area

Area of the polygon described by vertices placed for each tone of the scale dodecimetrically around a unit circle, ie a circle with radius of 1.

2.299

Polygon Perimeter

Perimeter of the polygon described by vertices placed for each tone of the scale dodecimetrically around a unit circle.

5.828

Myhill Property

A scale has Myhill Property if the Distribution Spectra have exactly two specific intervals for every generic interval.

yes

Centre of Gravity Distance

When tones of a scale are imagined as physical objects of equal weight arranged around a unit circle, this is the distance from the center of the circle to the center of gravity for all the tones. A perfectly balanced scale has a CoG distance of zero.

0.05359

Ridge Tones

Ridge Tones are those that appear in all transpositions of a scale upon the members of that scale. Ridge Tones correspond directly with axes of reflective symmetry.

[10]

Propriety

Also known as Rothenberg Propriety, named after its inventor. Propriety describes whether every specific interval is uniquely mapped to a generic interval. A scale is either "Proper", "Strictly Proper", or "Improper".

Strictly Proper

Heteromorphic Profile

Defined by Norman Carey (2002), the heteromorphic profile is an ordered triple of (c, a, d) where c is the number of contradictions, a is the number of ambiguities, and d is the number of differences. When c is zero, the scale is Proper. When a is also zero, the scale is Strictly Proper.

(0, 0, 20)

Coherence Quotient

The Coherence Quotient is a score between 0 and 1, indicating the proportion of coherence failures (ambiguity or contradiction) in the scale, against the maximum possible for a cardinality. A high coherence quotient indicates a less complex scale, whereas a quotient of 0 indicates a maximally complex scale.

1

Sameness Quotient

The Sameness Quotient is a score between 0 and 1, indicating the proportion of differences in the heteromorphic profile, against the maximum possible for a cardinality. A higher quotient indicates a less complex scale, whereas a quotient of 0 indicates a scale with maximum complexity.

0.5

Generator

This scale has a generator of 5, originating on 7.

Common Triads

These are the common triads (major, minor, augmented and diminished) that you can create from members of this scale.

* Pitches are shown with C as the root

Triad TypeTriad*Pitch ClassesDegreeEccentricityCloseness Centrality
Major TriadsD♯{3,7,10}110.5
Minor Triadscm{0,3,7}110.5

The following pitch classes are not present in any of the common triads: {5}

Parsimonious Voice Leading Between Common Triads of Scale 1193. Created by Ian Ring ©2019 cm cm D# D# cm->D#

Above is a graph showing opportunities for parsimonious voice leading between triads*. Each line connects two triads that have two common tones, while the third tone changes by one generic scale step.

Diameter1
Radius1
Self-Centeredyes

Modes

Modes are the rotational transformation of this scale. Scale 1193 can be rotated to make 4 other scales. The 1st mode is itself.

2nd mode:
Scale 661
Scale 661: Major Pentatonic, Ian Ring Music TheoryMajor PentatonicThis is the prime mode
3rd mode:
Scale 1189
Scale 1189: Suspended Pentatonic, Ian Ring Music TheorySuspended Pentatonic
4th mode:
Scale 1321
Scale 1321: Blues Minor, Ian Ring Music TheoryBlues Minor
5th mode:
Scale 677
Scale 677: Scottish Pentatonic, Ian Ring Music TheoryScottish Pentatonic

Prime

The prime form of this scale is Scale 661

Scale 661Scale 661: Major Pentatonic, Ian Ring Music TheoryMajor Pentatonic

Complement

The pentatonic modal family [1193, 661, 1189, 1321, 677] (Forte: 5-35) is the complement of the heptatonic modal family [1387, 1451, 1453, 1709, 1717, 2741, 2773] (Forte: 7-35)

Inverse

The inverse of a scale is a reflection using the root as its axis. The inverse of 1193 is 677

Scale 677Scale 677: Scottish Pentatonic, Ian Ring Music TheoryScottish Pentatonic

Interval Matrix

Each row is a generic interval, cells contain the specific size of each generic. Useful for identifying contradictions and ambiguities.

Contradictions (0)

Ambiguities(0)

Hierarchizability

Based on the work of Niels Verosky, hierarchizability is the measure of repeated patterns with "place-finding" remainder bits, applied recursively to the binary representation of a scale. For a full explanation, read Niels' paper, Hierarchizability as a Predictor of Scale Candidacy. The variable k is the maximum number of remainders allowed at each level of recursion, for them to count as an increment of hierarchizability. A high hierarchizability score is a good indicator of scale candidacy, ie a measure of usefulness for producing pleasing music. There is a strong correlation between scales with maximal hierarchizability and scales that are in popular use in a variety of world musical traditions.

kHierarchizabilityBreakdown PatternDiagram
111001010100101193k = 1h = 1
23([10]0[10])10([10]0[10])1193k = 2h = 3
33([10]0[10])10([10]0[10])1193k = 3h = 3
43([10]0[10])10([10]0[10])1193k = 4h = 3
53([10]0[10])10([10]0[10])1193k = 5h = 3

Center of Gravity

If tones of the scale are imagined as identical physical objects spaced around a unit circle, the center of gravity is the point where the scale is balanced.

Position

with origin in the center

(0.026795, 0.04641)
Distance from Center0.05359
Angle in degrees

measured clockwise starting from the root.

150
Angle in cents

100 cents = 1 semitone.

500

Transformations:

In the abbreviation, the subscript number after "T" is the number of semitones of tranposition, "M" means the pitch class is multiplied by 5, and "I" means the result is inverted. Operation is an identical way to express the same thing; the syntax is <a,b> where each tone of the set x is transformed by the equation y = ax + b. A note about the multipliers: multiplying by 1 changes nothing, multiplying by 11 produces the same result as inversion. 5 is the only non-degenerate multiplier, with the multiplier 7 producing the inverse of 5.

Abbrev Operation Result Abbrev Operation Result
T0 <1,0> 1193       T0I <11,0> 677
T1 <1,1> 2386      T1I <11,1> 1354
T2 <1,2> 677      T2I <11,2> 2708
T3 <1,3> 1354      T3I <11,3> 1321
T4 <1,4> 2708      T4I <11,4> 2642
T5 <1,5> 1321      T5I <11,5> 1189
T6 <1,6> 2642      T6I <11,6> 2378
T7 <1,7> 1189      T7I <11,7> 661
T8 <1,8> 2378      T8I <11,8> 1322
T9 <1,9> 661      T9I <11,9> 2644
T10 <1,10> 1322      T10I <11,10> 1193
T11 <1,11> 2644      T11I <11,11> 2386
Abbrev Operation Result Abbrev Operation Result
T0M <5,0> 2063      T0MI <7,0> 3587
T1M <5,1> 31      T1MI <7,1> 3079
T2M <5,2> 62      T2MI <7,2> 2063
T3M <5,3> 124      T3MI <7,3> 31
T4M <5,4> 248      T4MI <7,4> 62
T5M <5,5> 496      T5MI <7,5> 124
T6M <5,6> 992      T6MI <7,6> 248
T7M <5,7> 1984      T7MI <7,7> 496
T8M <5,8> 3968      T8MI <7,8> 992
T9M <5,9> 3841      T9MI <7,9> 1984
T10M <5,10> 3587      T10MI <7,10> 3968
T11M <5,11> 3079      T11MI <7,11> 3841

The transformations that map this set to itself are: T0, T10I

Nearby Scales:

These are other scales that are similar to this one, created by adding a tone, removing a tone, or moving one note up or down a semitone.


This scale analysis was created by Ian Ring, Canadian Composer of works for Piano, and total music theory nerd. Scale notation generated by VexFlow and Lilypond, graph visualization by Graphviz, audio by TiMIDIty and FFMPEG. All other diagrams and visualizations are © Ian Ring. Some scale names used on this and other pages are ©2005 William Zeitler (http://allthescales.org) used with permission.

Pitch spelling algorithm employed here is adapted from a method by Uzay Bora, Baris Tekin Tezel, and Alper Vahaplar. (DOI, Patent owner: Dokuz Eylül University, Used with Permission.

Tons of background resources contributed to the production of this summary; for a list of these peruse this Bibliography. Special thanks to Richard Repp for helping with technical accuracy, and George Howlett for assistance with naming the Carnatic ragas. Thanks to Niels Verosky for collaborating on the Hierarchizability diagrams. Thanks to u/howaboot for inventing the Center of Gravity metrics.