The Exciting Universe Of Music Theory
presents

more than you ever wanted to know about...

Scale 81: "Karen 3 Tone Type 6"

Scale 81: Karen 3 Tone Type 6, 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

Southeast Asia
Karen 3 Tone Type 6
Dozenal
DISian

Analysis

Cardinality

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

3 (tritonic)

Pitch Class Set

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

{0,4,6}

Forte Number

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

3-8

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.

none

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.

yes
enantiomorph: 321

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.

3

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.

3

Prime Form

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

no
prime: 69

Generator

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

none

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.

[4, 2, 6]

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, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1>

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, 0.5, 0, 0.333, 0, 1>

Interval Spectrum

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

mst

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> = {2,4,6}
<2> = {6,8,10}

Spectra Variation

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

2.667

Maximally Even

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

no

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.

no

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.

0.866

Polygon Perimeter

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

4.732

Myhill Property

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

no

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.

0.333333

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.

none

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".

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, 1, 6)

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.

0

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

Generator

This scale has no generator.

Common Triads

There are no common triads (major, minor, augmented and diminished) that can be formed using notes in this scale.

Modes

Modes are the rotational transformation of this scale. Scale 81 can be rotated to make 2 other scales. The 1st mode is itself.

2nd mode:
Scale 261
Scale 261: BOZian, Ian Ring Music TheoryBOZian
3rd mode:
Scale 1089
Scale 1089: GOCian, Ian Ring Music TheoryGOCian

Prime

The prime form of this scale is Scale 69

Scale 69Scale 69: DEZian, Ian Ring Music TheoryDEZian

Complement

The tritonic modal family [81, 261, 1089] (Forte: 3-8) is the complement of the enneatonic modal family [1503, 1917, 2007, 2799, 3051, 3447, 3573, 3771, 3933] (Forte: 9-8)

Inverse

The inverse of a scale is a reflection using the root as its axis. The inverse of 81 is 321

Scale 321Scale 321: CAHian, Ian Ring Music TheoryCAHian

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(1)

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
1110001010000081k = 1h = 1
231(1[00][00])0(1[00][00])81k = 2h = 3
331(1[00][00])0(1[00][00])81k = 3h = 3
431(1[00][00])0(1[00][00])81k = 4h = 3
531(1[00][00])0(1[00][00])81k = 5h = 3

Enantiomorph

Only scales that are chiral will have an enantiomorph. Scale 81 is chiral, and its enantiomorph is scale 321

Scale 321Scale 321: CAHian, Ian Ring Music TheoryCAHian

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

(0.288675, 0.166667)
Distance from Center0.333333
Angle in degrees

measured clockwise starting from the root.

120
Angle in cents

100 cents = 1 semitone.

400

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> 81       T0I <11,0> 321
T1 <1,1> 162      T1I <11,1> 642
T2 <1,2> 324      T2I <11,2> 1284
T3 <1,3> 648      T3I <11,3> 2568
T4 <1,4> 1296      T4I <11,4> 1041
T5 <1,5> 2592      T5I <11,5> 2082
T6 <1,6> 1089      T6I <11,6> 69
T7 <1,7> 2178      T7I <11,7> 138
T8 <1,8> 261      T8I <11,8> 276
T9 <1,9> 522      T9I <11,9> 552
T10 <1,10> 1044      T10I <11,10> 1104
T11 <1,11> 2088      T11I <11,11> 2208
Abbrev Operation Result Abbrev Operation Result
T0M <5,0> 321      T0MI <7,0> 81
T1M <5,1> 642      T1MI <7,1> 162
T2M <5,2> 1284      T2MI <7,2> 324
T3M <5,3> 2568      T3MI <7,3> 648
T4M <5,4> 1041      T4MI <7,4> 1296
T5M <5,5> 2082      T5MI <7,5> 2592
T6M <5,6> 69      T6MI <7,6> 1089
T7M <5,7> 138      T7MI <7,7> 2178
T8M <5,8> 276      T8MI <7,8> 261
T9M <5,9> 552      T9MI <7,9> 522
T10M <5,10> 1104      T10MI <7,10> 1044
T11M <5,11> 2208      T11MI <7,11> 2088

The transformations that map this set to itself are: T0, T0MI

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, and ©2023 Robert Bedwell, 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.