The colors in music, Τα χρώματα στη μουσική

Τα χρώματα στη μουσική ειναι η απόσταση του μπάσου απο τη μελωδία.


The colors in music are made by the distance of bass to melody.


For example:


Last Christmas - George Michael


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI


At 0:13 to 0:14 George Michael sings the very high note B while the bass goes from E to A.


When the bass becomes A his melody voice resolves from B to A.


But since there is reverb used and our brain remembers too, when the bass becomes A there is still the sense of A bass with the very high B.


This sense is the color or sense of the 9th interval. It is called 9th because from A to B are 9 scale steps. La Si Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si or A B C D E F G A B.


Intervals or colors such as the 9th are found in ingenious music like that of J.S. Bach. For example the color of 9ths is used a lot in the Mass in B minor - J.S. Bach. At the Kyrie for example there is a lot of E bass with F# at a higher playing instrument or part. F is F sharp because the key is B minor.


Another example of the 9th interval is on 0:02 of Frozen - Madonna.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X132krRmyGM
At the second bar or chord change at 0:02 we still have F bass but one family of the stringed instruments plays a high G (interval of 9th from bass).


The 9th at the George Michael example sounds more happy than the other 2 examples because the 3rd usually taken above the bass happens to be major than minor. The key of Last Christmass is D major. D major has the C sharp. So when the bass is A, the third which is C is C sharp. So the chord is A major 9th.


The 9ths on the Bach and Madonna example are minor 9ths.


So in music combining intervals is like combining colors to get a new color.


The first 9ths on Last Christmas are minor 9ths, for example E bass and F sharp (E minor 9th) played by the synthesizers before George Michael sings the A major 9th. The F is F sharp because the song is written in the scale or key of D major which has the F and C sharp.


References:


Mass in B minor - J S Bach - YouTube


Mass in B minor full score - J S Bach - Dover


http://normanschmidt.net/scores/bachjs-general_bass_rules.pdf