Category: Tonality of the month/moment

The tonality of the month of December 2022 is LydAeolian / HeptaNa — a clustered heptatonality and Na tonality. “Hepta” means seven and “Na” natural harmonics. The name LydAeolian indicates that its lower tetrachord is Lydian and the upper one PhrygAeolian. Its pitches are the first seven overtones or harmonics of its fundamental. Another name used for this tonality outside Tonalibus is Lydian dominant ♭6, which is related to the Neapolitan major scale.

The initial seven harmonics or overtones

Below are the initial seven distinct harmonics or overtones in the order of their appearance in the series of natural harmonics or overtones. Plus in parentheses is their actual order of appearance and repetition in the series. This demonstrates their prevalence and relative importance among the thirteen first occurrences of overtones in the harmonic series.

1) fundamental or octave — #1, #2, #4, and #8
2) quint or fifth — #3, #6, and #12
3) major third — #5, and #10
4) minor seventh — #7
5) major second — #9
6) tritone — #11
7) minor sixth — #13

Within the first thirteen overtones in the series of harmonics, the fundamental or octave occurs four times, the quint three times, the major third twice; and the minor seventh, major second, tritone, and minor sixth each appear once and in this order of decreasing prevalence.

Tonality of the month loops, as for LydAeolian / HeptaNa

The above LydAeolian / HeptaNa sound samples are also available as loop on a separate tab — or via right-click browser option, where available.

You may enjoy a sound sample or tonality loop as sound mantra for contemplation or meditation. This can help with upliftment, purification, and focusing. Or it could simply be used as soothing background sound for relaxation and regeneration. If you care to hum, chant, or sing along, you could use a spiritually charged syllable like HU or Ōṃ / Aum ॐ, or another mantra syllable that suits you.

In gratitude for nature’s gifts and harvest of harmony

The tonality of the month of November 2022 is ReachBal, a Reach heptatonality, as identified in the Tonalibus catalogue. Other names used for it are double harmonic major, Gypsy major, harmonic minor over Phrygian major, and Byzantine scale. In India its name is Bhairav, used widely to express profound feelings. A key characteristic of this intriguing tonality is its overall balance and symmetry. The placement of its pitches, intervals, and axes of East and West mirror each other. The lower and upper tertachords have the same intervallic content. This results in a striking balance between very pronounced regressive and progressive characteristics, as well as major and minor elements.

You may enjoy a sound sample or tonality loop as sound mantra for contemplation or meditation. This can help with upliftment, purification, and focusing. Or it could simply be used as soothing background sound for relaxation and regeneration. If you care to hum, chant, or sing along, you could use a spiritually charged syllable like HU or Ōṃ / Aum ॐ, or another mantra syllable that suits you.

The tonality of the month of October 2022 is PhrygDorian — a clustered heptatonality.

W. A. Mathieu in “Harmonic Experience” refers to this intriguing tonality as “Dark Horse” or Mixolydian/Phrygian. He also expresses affinity for its “slightly off-putting mystery.”

The octave of a clustered or melodic tonality includes five whole steps and two half steps (or semitones). This is the same as for diatonic tonalities. However in a clustered tonality, either one single or a group of four consecutive whole steps, one and four alternating, separate the two half steps from each other. While in the far more commonly used diatonic tonalities, there are two and three, not one and four consecutive whole steps.

You may enjoy a sound sample or tonality loop as sound mantra for contemplation or meditation. This can help with upliftment, purification, and focusing. Or it could simply be used as soothing background sound for relaxation and regeneration. If you care to hum, chant, or sing along, you could use a spiritually charged syllable like HU or Ōṃ / Aum ॐ, or another mantra syllable that suits you.

The tonality of the month of September 2022 is Ionian or diatonic major — a regular diatonic heptatonality. Diatonic heptatonalities follow this matrix: The octave includes five whole steps and two half steps (or semitones). Either two or three consecutive whole steps, a pair and a trio, alternate in separating the two individual half steps from each other.

Ionian or diatonic major, the tonality of this month, is most common in Western music. On the piano keyboard it corresponds to the white keys with C as fundamental. It is often the first scale one learns. And it corresponds to the widely known solfège steps Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.

You may enjoy a sound sample or tonality loop as sound mantra for contemplation or meditation. This can help with upliftment, purification, and focusing. Or it could simply be used as soothing background sound for relaxation and regeneration. If you care to hum, chant, or sing along, you could use a spiritually charged syllable like HU or Ōṃ / Aum ॐ,or another mantra syllable that suits you.

The tonality of the month of August 2022 is HexaBluNa or HexaLolo, a Blu(e) hexatonality. Its first name, HexaBluNa, indicates that this is a hexatonality based on the first few Na(tural) harmonics with the addition of the Blu(esy) minor third and quart in the lower tetachord. Its second name is HexaLolo. This indicates that the lower tetrachord is the lowest possible or Lolo version of Reach. And the upper tetrachord contains just the minor seventh. A distinguishing feature of this tonality is the presence of two consecutive half tone steps. They juxtapose and allow this tonality to blend the contrasting common notions of minor and major side by side unified as one.

You may enjoy a sound sample or tonality loop as sound mantra for contemplation or meditation. This can help with upliftment, purification, and focusing. Or it could simply be used as soothing background sound for relaxation and regeneration. If you care to hum, chant, or sing along, you could use a spiritually charged syllable like HU or Ōṃ / Aum ॐ, or another mantra syllable that suits you.