Skip to content
The Arithmetic of Listening: Tuning Theory and History for the Impractical Musician

INGRAM BOOK COMPANY - 001-100058

The Arithmetic of Listening: Tuning Theory and History for the Impractical Musician

Sale price$41.50
SKU: 9780252084416
Quantity:
Pickup available at Juilliard Store Usually ready in 4 hours

The Arithmetic of Listening: Tuning Theory and History for the Impractical Musician

Juilliard Store

Pickup available, usually ready in 4 hours

144 West 66th Street
New York NY 10023
United States

+12127995000
Tuning is the secret lens through which the history of music falls into focus, says Kyle Gann. Yet in Western circles, no other musical issue is so ignored, so taken for granted, so shoved into the corners of musical discourse. A classroom essential and an invaluable reference, The Arithmetic of Listening offers beginners the grounding in music theory necessary to find their own way into microtonality and the places it may take them. Moving from ancient Greece to the present, Kyle Gann delves into the infinite tunings available to any musician who feels straitjacketed by obedience to standardized Western European tuning. He introduces the concept of the harmonic series and demonstrates its relationship to equal-tempered and well-tempered tuning. He also explores recent experimental tuning models that exploit smaller intervals between pitches to create new sounds and harmonies. Systematic and accessible, The Arithmetic of Music provides a much-needed primer for the wide range of tuning systems that have informed Western music.