Quarter tone

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A quarter tone is an interval half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which is half a whole tone.

In equal temperament the quarter tone is 50 cents or 2^1/24 or 1.0293. In 24 tone equal temperament, or the quarter tone scale, it is the smallest step. In just intonation it is often 36:35 or 33:32.

Many composers are known for having written music including quarter tones or the quarter tone scale, first proposed by 19th-century music theorist Mikha'il Mishaqah (Touma 1996, p.16), including:

Two quarter tones equal a half tone, and three make a three-quarter tone. A three-quarter tone may also be considered half of a minor third.

1 Music of the Middle East
2 Greek tetrachords
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Music of the Middle East

See also: Arabic music and Arab tone system

While the use of quarter tones in Western music is a more recent and experimental phenomenon, these and other microtonal intervals have been an important part of the music of the Arab world, Turkey, Iran and neighboring lands for many centuries.

Many Arabic maqamat contain intervals of three-quarter tone size; a short list of these follows.<ref>Spector, Johanna (May 1970). "Classical 'Ud Music in Egypt with Special Reference to Maqamat" (GIF). Ethnomusicology 14 (2): 243–257. Retrieved on 2006-09-08.</ref> (Note: Due to the lack of widespread support for Unicode quarter tone characters, a regular flat symbol is used with a strikethrough. The proper form has a short diagonal stroke through the stem, not a straight stroke through the bowl.)

Bayati (بياتي): D E♭ F G A B♭ C D
Rast (راست): C D E♭ F G A B♭ C (with a B♭ replacing the B♭ in the descending scale)
Sabba (صبا): D E♭ F G♭ A B♭ C D
Siga (سيكاه): E♭ F G A B♭ C D E♭