Topmusicanswers
- What does quartal harmony mean in music?
- How do you use quartal harmony?
- What is a quartal voicing?
- What is a quartal scale?
What does quartal harmony mean in music?
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourths, C–F–B♭.
How do you use quartal harmony?
At the very least, it involves two notes separated by fourths. For example, playing C and F together produces a sound that characterizes quartal harmony. If you stack another fourth (Bb) on top of the C and F, you get a typical quartal harmony voicing. Add more on top or below and you get really open-sounding chords.
What is a quartal voicing?
The term “quartal” in music refers to the interval of a fourth. When musicians refer to quartal voicings they are referring to chords that are built using intervals of a fourth (as opposed to intervals of a third, like major or minor triads, which are referred to as “tertian”).
What is a quartal scale?
The Quartal is a Source Structure which has 3 possible modes. It is composed of 3 notes and can be transposed without repeating notes, into 12 different keys. This structure does not present any transpositional symmetry. This structure is not a bi-triadic hexatonic.
