Glossary – TONALIBUS, Anchored Harmony and Tonalities

Anchor, primary harmonic — a corner pitch of the sound temple with its quint and quart: North as fundamental anchor, South as contrast anchor, East as minor anchor, and West as major anchor

Anchor realization shift — a harmonic miracle of nature in action

Anchor, secondary harmonic — a non-primary harmonically anchored pitch with its quint and quart (anchor head indication: NE=North-East, EN=East-North, ES=East-South, SE=South-East, SW=South-West, WS=West-South, WN=West-North, NW=North-West)

Aum / Ōṁ — the sound of a sacred spiritual symbol; ॐ or ओम् in Sanskrit; the essence of reality and consciousness

Axis, harmonic — two diametrically opposed pitches in an octave circle

‘B’

Bal — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates balance in its structure, generally a halfway mirrored pattern; short for balance

Blu — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates a tonality includes an initial Reach step (off its fundamental), its quart in some hexa- but not in pentatonalities, and its quint, but not its tritone; short for partial blue

Blue — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates a tonality includes one or more Reach steps (primarily off its fundamental and/or its quint), its tritone, plus generally both, its quart and its quint, exceptionally just one of the two; short for full blue; name of a corresponding lower pentachord and upper tetra/trichord

Blues — a diverse musical style originated in the United States from African roots; blues tonalities often include the tritone, one or two Reach steps, and/or consecutive half steps

BlueUp — name of an exceptional lower pentachord and upper tetrachord

BluNa — key syllable combination used by Tonalibus in exceptional tonality names; indicates a tonality includes both its minor and its major third, and no quart (with one exception); otherwise a form of Blu and Mid; short for partial blue and natural harmonics

‘C’

Cluster — key expression used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates correlation to clustered tonalities; short for clustered or melodic tonality

Clustered / melodic heptatonality — five whole steps and two half steps (or semitones) to an octave, alternating one or four whole steps between single half steps

Cor — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates the presence of the four Core pitches or corners of the sound temple (North, East, South, and West); short for corners of the sound temple or Core tonality

Core tonality — contains all four corners of the sound temple

Corners of the sound temple — four equidistant tones within the octave, three semitones from each other

‘D’

Derivative tonality — not included in the Tonalibus catalogue; slight mutation or challengingly harmonic variety of a catalogued tonality; e.g., HexaBlueUp as slight mutation of BlueUp without 7+, the various derivatives of Core tonalities, or the MidReach heptatonalities

Diatonic heptatonality — five whole steps and two half steps (or semitones) to an octave, alternating two or three whole steps between single half steps

Dor — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and tetrachord names; indicates correlation to Dorian; short for Dorian

Dorian — a diatonic tonality

DorMixolydian — name of the corresponding tetrachord

Duality — worlds and states of consciousness with polarities and illusion

Duality, beyond — planes of existence and states of consciousness beyond polarities and illusion, states of unity and being, of soul and divine love

‘E’

Eol / Aeol — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and pentachord names; indicates correlation to Aeolian; short for Aeolian

‘F’

Fidibus — lighter, kindling; Latin: chord, string, stringed instruments, faith, trust, loyalty, fidelity

Fundamental — fundamental pitch of a tonality, tonic, Do, or Sa

‘G’

Gypsy scales — from Romani, Hungarian, Byzantine, Klezmer, Jewish, and Spanish music; often including one or two Reach steps and more or less Phrygian characteristics

‘H’

Half step (or semitone) — minor second; twelve halftone steps or semitones make an octave

Harmonic base — the fundamental of a tonality, together with its quint, the first overtone or harmonic that is not an octave of the fundamental

Harmonic heptatonality — one of a few specific, more common Reach heptatonalities; single or double harmonic

Harmonic realization shift — reconciles linear fundamentals and correlations with nonlinear curved actuality in relative harmony

Harmonic, reciprocal — mirror image or reverse harmonic relationship; e.g., the quart (perfect fourth) carrying the octave as primary harmonic or its quint (perfect fifth)

Harmonic series, natural — sequence of harmonics or overtones whose frequency is an integer multiple of a fundamental frequency

Harmonic tetrachord — Reach tetrachord; traditional name of a corresponding tetrachord

Harmonics or overtones, primary — correspond to the octave and quint

Harmonics or overtones, secondary — correspond more or less exactly to the major third, minor seventh, major second, tritone, and minor sixth

Harmonics or overtones, tertiary — correspond more or less exactly to the major seventh, minor second, minor third, quart, and major sixth — reciprocal harmonics

Harmony — the balanced relationship of different elements to each other; equilibrium; in music: the pleasant interplay of multiple tones or chords; in general: when opposites meet in unity and circles close, while always remaining open-ended

Hepta- — used like a prefix meaning seven

Heptatonality — tonality with seven different pitches per octave; sorted into four groups by Tonalibus: 1) regular diatonic heptatonalities, 2) clustered (or melodic) heptatonalities, 3) Tritone or Blues Tonalities and 4) Reach (or harmonic) heptatonalities

Hexa- — used like a prefix meaning six

Hexatonality — tonality with six different pitches per octave

HU (pronounced “hiou”) — ancient name for God; mantra of soul

‘I’

Interval — distance between two tones, in a scale relative to the fundamental or tonic: prime, major/minor second, major/minor third, fourth, fifth, major/minor sixth, major/minor seventh, octave

Inversion — in music, a sequence of two or more notes rearranged so that one or more original bottom notes become upper notes

Ion — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and tetrachord names; indicates correlation to Ionian; short for Ionian

Ionian — a diatonic tonality; diatonic major

IonLydian — name of the corresponding tetrachord

‘K’

Key (or scale) — sequence of successive tones at certain intervals; key emphasizes the tonal gender (major/minor) at a particular pitch

‘L’

La — key syllable used by Tonalibus in hexa- and pentatonality names; indicates the presence of the major sixth (La) and no seventh; the absence of La in an equivalent name indicates the presence of the minor seventh and no sixth; short for last harmonic in the series and the solfège pitch La

Lo — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates correlation to the lower tetra- or pentachord or a lowered Reach or other step; short for low

Locor — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and progression names; indicates that the lower tetrachord includes or consists of the initial three of the four corners of the sound temple (North, East, and South, but not West); short for low Core

Locrian — a diatonic tonality; regressive, without quint; name of the corresponding penta- and tetrachord

Lolo — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates the lower pentachord consists of an initial Reach step followed by two consecutive half steps and a whole step; refers to the initial Reach step in the lowest possible position right off the fundamental in the lower pentachord; short for double low; name of a corresponding pentachord

LoloReach — subgroup of Reach tonalities with an initial Reach step followed by two consecutive half steps in the lower tetrachord

LoReachUp — subgroup of Reach tonalities with an initial or low half step and a Reach step pushed up by a whole step; indicates the lower pentachord consists of a half step followed by a whole step before a Reach step followed by a half step; name of a corresponding pentachord

Lyd — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates correlation to Lydian; short for Lydian

Lydian — a diatonic tonality; progressive, without quart; name of the corresponding pentachord

‘M’

Maj — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; first in a name it indicates the lower, last in a name the upper tetrachord consists of two consecutive whole steps followed by a half step; short for major (matching traditional tetrachord naming)

Major — common tonality classification with multiple meanings, including diatonic major, harmonic, melodic, Neapolitan, double harmonic, Gypsy, pentatonic, blues major, etc.; traditional name of a corresponding tetrachord

Mantra — a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit believed by practitioners to have a religious, magical or spiritual charge

Mantra, individual sound — an individually attuned tonal mantra

Melodic / clustered heptatonality — five whole steps and two half steps (or semitones) to an octave, alternating one or four whole steps between single half step

Mid — key syllable used by Tonalibus in exceptional tonality names; indicates the presence of both the minor and major third plus a Reach step from the major third to the quint (over the middle of the octave); no initial Reach step, which distinguishes Mid from BluNa; short for middle

MidReach — key syllable combination used in names of exceptional derivative heptatonalities

Min — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; first in a name it indicates the lower terachord consists of a whole step followed by a half and a another whole step; last in a name it indicates the upper tetrachord consists of a half step followed by two consecutive whole steps (partially in pentatonalities); short for minor; matching traditional naming for the lower but not the upper tetrachord (traditionally called Phrygian)

Mini-concert session — small concert session focusing on qualities of sound and harmony

Minor — common tonality classification with multiple meanings, including natural minor, harmonic, melodic, Neapolitan, double harmonic, Gypsy, pentatonic, blues minor, etc.; traditional name of a corresponding tetrachord

Miracle of nature — tendency of regressive appearances to mutate naturally based on their own physical and harmonic properties to their progressive counterparts; as such, in music, a regressive tonality, with quart but no quint, tends to convert itself as the quart naturally gravitates to assume the role of fundamental, thus making the original fundamental its quint, the first and main overtone in the natural harmonic series that is not an octave

Mirror shift pattern — mirror image of a pattern, reverse order of intervals in an octave

Mix — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; at the end of a name it indicates the upper tetrachord consists of a whole step followed by a half step and another whole step (partially in hexa- and pentatonalities); short for mixed, in relation to Mixolydian (traditional tetrachord name: minor)

Mixolyd — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and pentachord names; indicates correlation to Mixolydian; short for Mixolydian

Mixolydian — a diatonic tonality

MixolydIonian — name of the corresponding pentachord

‘N’

Na — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates a correlation to the natural harmonics series, that the whole or a part of a tonality consists more or less of the initial harmonics in the series; short for natural harmonics

NaReach — subgroup of Reach tonalities with primary and secondary natural harmonics pitches in the lower pentachord and a Reach step in the upper tetrachord

Na tonality — a more or less consecutive segment of the natural harmonic series

NaTri — key syllable used by Tonalibus in exceptional hexa- and pentatonality names; indicates that the lower tetrachord of a hexatonality or the whole pentatonality consists of the initial harmonics in the series, but without second and with the tritone; short for natural harmonics and tritone

Natural harmonic series — sequence of harmonics or overtones whose frequency is an integer multiple of a fundamental frequency

Neapolitan scales — two scale patterns or systematic sets of scales, so-called minor and major; both patterns include three consecutive half steps, the first also a Reach step; the first contributed four fully or partially anchored Reach tonalities, the second two clustered Na tonalities to the Tonalibus catalogue

Norcor — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and progression names; indicates that an octave contains the Northern three of the four corners of the sound temple (North, East, and West, but not South); short for Northern Core

‘O’

Octatonality — tonality with eight pitches per octave

Ōṁ / Aum — the sound of a sacred spiritual symbol; ॐ or ओम् in Sanskrit; the essence of reality and consciousness

Overtones — see harmonics

‘P’

Penta- — used like a prefix meaning five

Pentachord — five-tone sequence within a quint; lower portion of an octave

Pentatonality — tonality with five pitches per octave; basic (regular, clustered, extra) or extended

Phryg — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality (and tetrachord) names; in the first part of a name it indicates the lower tetrachord consists of an initial half step followed by two consecutive whole steps; indicates correlation to Phrygian; short for Phrygian

PhrygAeolian — name of the corresponding tetrachord

Phrygian — a diatonic tonality; name of the corresponding pentachord; traditional name of a corresponding tetrachord

Pitch — property of sounds that allows their ordering on a frequency-related scale

Prime Na tonality — a very consecutive segment of the natural harmonic series

Pro — key syllable used by Tonalibus mostly in hexa- and pentatonality names; indicates the lower tetrachord consists of the initial natural harmonic pitches in the series, the major second, major third, and quint; Pro heptatonalities further include the tritone and have in most cases no Pro in their name; short for Progressive tonality; name of a corresponding tetrachord

Pro tonality — progressive, without regressive quart, anchored in main discernible overtones (quint, major third, major second) in the lower tetrachord, flexible in upper

‘Q’

Quart — so-called perfect fourth

Quart, progressive — regressive quint or fifth

Quart, regressive — progressive quint or fifth

Quint — so-called perfect fifth

Quint, progressive — regressive quart or fourth

Quint, regressive — progressive quart or fourth

‘R’

Reach — key syllable used by Tonalibus also in tonality names; in the first part of a name it indicates the lower (or both, the lower and upper), in the last part of a name the upper tetrachord contains a Reach-step in some context, the norm being a half step on either side framing the Reach step (traditional tetrachord name: harmonic); name of a corresponding penta- or tetrachord

Reach, Lolo- — subgroup of Reach tonalities with an initial Reach step followed by two consecutive half steps in the lower tetrachord

ReachNa — subgroup of Reach tonalities with an initial half step creating a Reach step before following primary and secondary natural harmonics pitches in the lower pentachord; name of a corresponding pentachord

Reach, Na- — subgroup of Reach tonalities with primary and secondary natural harmonics pitches in the lower pentachord and a Reach step in the upper tetrachord

Reach step — augmented second — three semitones or half steps in one step

Reach tonality — contains one or more Reach steps (augmented seconds)

ReachUp — subgroup of Reach tonalities with a Reach step framed by half steps pushed up over an initial whole step in the lower pentachord; indicates the lower pentachord consists of an initial whole step followed by a half step, a Reach step, and another half step; name of a corresponding pentachord

ReachUp, Lo- — subgroup of Reach tonalities with an initial or low half step and a Reach step pushed up by a whole step; indicates the lower pentachord consists of a half step followed by a whole step before a Reach step followed by a half step; name of a corresponding pentachord

Reach, Uplo- — subtype of an exceptional Reach tonality with an initial Reach step followed by two consecutive half steps in the upper tetrachord

Realization shift, anchor — a harmonic miracle of nature in action

Realization shift, harmonic — reconciles linear fundamentals and correlations with nonlinear curved actuality in relative harmony

Reciprocal harmonic — mirror image or reverse harmonic relationship; e.g., the quart (perfect fourth) carrying the octave as primary harmonic or its quint (perfect fifth)

Reg — key syllable used by Tonalibus in names of regressive tonalities; partially anchored on their quart, they lack their quint, the first diverse harmonic pitch in the series; so far there are but few regressive tonalities in the Tonalibus catalogue, most without Reg in their name; short for Regressive tonality

Reg tonality — regressive, without the progressive quint, inverse to Pro tonalities

‘S’

Scale (or key) — sequence of successive tones at certain intervals; key emphasizes the tonal gender (major/minor) at a particular pitch

Semitone (or halftone step) — minor second; twelve halftone steps or semitones make an octave

Session, mini-concert — small concert session focusing on qualities of sound and harmony

Sound temple, corners of the — four equidistant tones within the octave, three semitones from each other

Spiritualibus — Latin: of or pertaining to breathing, the wind or air; of or pertaining to spirit, spiritual

Step, halftone (or semitone) — minor second; twelve halftone steps or semitones make an octave

Step, Reach — augmented second — three semitones or half steps in one step

Step, whole — major second — two semitones or half steps; six whole steps make an octave

Symphony of Life and Love — title of a CD created and released in 2014

‘T’

Tetra- — used like a prefix meaning four

Tetrachord — four-tone sequence within a quart; lower or upper in an octave; exceptionally within a quint (lower portion of an octave)

Tetratonality — tonality with four pitches per octave

Tonalibus — Latin: tonality, book of musical rules

Tonalibus exploration courses — aim at deepening one’s understanding and insights about harmony and tonalities, in music and in life

Tonality — relationships between tones, sounds and chords (or also colors); relationship to the fundamental, the tonic; the totality of the properties and qualities of a given key or scale relative to a fundamental

Tonality, Core — contains all four corners of the sound temple

Tonality, derivative — not included in the Tonalibus catalogue; slight mutation or challengingly harmonic variety of a catalogued tonality; e.g., HexaBlueUp as slight mutation of BlueUp without 7+, or the various derivatives of Core tonalities

Tonality, fully anchored — with both, the quint and the quart to the fundamental

Tonality, Na — a more or less consecutive segment of the natural harmonic series

Tonality, partially anchored — with either the quint or the quart to the fundamental

Tonality, prime Na — a very consecutive segment of the natural harmonic series

Tonality, Pro — progressive, without regressive quart, anchored in main discernible overtones (quint, major third, major second) in lower the tetrachord, flexible in the upper

Tonality, Reach — contains one or more Reach steps (augmented seconds)

Tonality, Reg — regressive, without the progressive quint, inverse to Pro tonalities

Trichord — three-tone sequence within a quart; upper in an octave; exceptionally within a quint (lower portion of an octave)

Tritone — between quart and quint; deviation of overtone and equally spaced steps

‘U’

Ulrico — creator of Tonalibus, author of the Spiritualibus blog, and owner of the Fidibus shop

Up — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality names; indicates a shifted up Reach (or other) step or a correlation to the upper tri- or tetrachord; short for upper or lifted up

Upcor — key syllable used by Tonalibus in tonality and progression names; indicates that the upper tetrachord consists of the latter three of the four corners of the sound temple (North, West, and South, but not East); short for upper Core

Uplo — key syllable used by Tonalibus in an exceptional tonality name; indicates the upper tetrachord consists of an initial Reach step followed by two consecutive half steps; refers to the initial Reach step in the lowest possible position in the upper tetrachord right off the quint; short for upper low; name of a corresponding tetrachord

UploReach — subtype of an exceptional Reach tonality with an initial Reach step followed by two consecutive half steps in the upper tetrachord

‘W’

Whistle breath — During extremely soft mantra chanting, so soft it is more breathing than chanting, in a flowing transition from the syllable HU to OM, a faint, largely involuntary whistle sound can become apparent, whistle breath! This is very subtle but powerful and can aide in finding one’s fundamental pitch. The piece “Breath of life chant” is based on whistle breath.

Whole step — major second — two semitones or half steps; six whole steps make an octave