Logo
Go
There are no products.
Product Suggestions:
Close
 
 
Deutsch Englisch

Musical terms

Musical terms

 

Below are definitions of important musical terms that you will find throughout our online shop.

 

What is a pentatonic scale?

 

A pentatonic scale consists of five notes.

The pentatonic instruments from Manufaktur Wiener are tuned in a so-called anhemitonic scale, a scale without half notes. In other words, this is a scale that consists solely of whole notes, for example, the white keys on a piano.

What makes a pentatonic scale special is, that any combination of notes can be played to create a pleasant melody.

This feature makes the pentatonic scale a joyful musical experience for children and musical novices alike.

Many children´s songs and music styles from diverse cultures are based on a pentatonic scale and it is probably one of the oldest scales in history.

The drawback of the pentatonic scale is, that melodies that are based on the more conventional diatonic scales (major and minor), cannot always be played.

 

What is a diatonic scale?

 

Most scales used in Western music are diatonic, including the well-known major and minor scales. This system is based on seven notes, where both half notes and whole notes are used. The difference between a minor scale and a major scale is the position of the half notes between the whole notes. In a major scale, the half notes are between the 3rd and 4th and the 6th and 7th notes. In a minor scale, the half notes are between the 2nd and 3rd and the 5th and 6th notes.

 

What is chromatic tuning?

 

A chromatic scale divides an octave in twelve half note steps. We label our instruments as chromatic, when all twelve half notes can be played.