Construct · 1 fields · 2 citations

comma: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a standalone construct Nearest construct by meaningcoloncompare the meanings
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comma1 CONSTRUCTMusical commaZARLINO · PITCH GAP

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Music theory and tuning

A minute pitch interval between tunings

The small gap in pitch between two ways of tuning the same note, so a scale built by stacking pure intervals does not close back on itself exactly. Ancient Greek harmonics already named such a gap a komma, and Zarlino's 1558 Le istitutioni harmoniche set out the syntonic comma, the ratio 81:80 that separates just intonation from a chain of pure fifths; Barbour's 1951 Tuning and Temperament then traced how tuning systems have absorbed or spread this gap. Here the referent is a measured ratio between two frequencies, not a graphic mark in a sentence or a species of butterfly.[1][2]

Unit
A frequency ratio between two tunings of one note, such as 81:80 for the syntonic comma
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Computed as the frequency ratio between two tunings of a note, often stated in cents, hundredths of a semitone

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Nearby constructs

clause2 fields · 3 citationsjingle · one word, two constructsperiod1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a standalone constructinterval4 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Zarlino, G. (1558). Le istitutioni harmoniche. Venice: Francesco dei Franceschi.
  2. Barbour, J. M. (1951). Tuning and temperament: A historical survey. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State College Press.

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