What is the pentatonic?

Five tones (five tones in ancient China) generally refer to five tones, which are palace-upper-angle-orthochromatic.

If arranged in pitch order, it is: 1 2 3 5 6 Gong Shang Jiao Qian (zhǐ) feather. "Harmony, division, b, tardiness and fairness" were used in the Tang Dynasty. The pentatonic scale is usually called "pentatonic scale" and "pentatonic scale" in ancient literature.

China's traditional music theory often reveals the modern concept of "scale" from different angles such as sound, rhythm and sound.

Extended data:

The five tones of "Gong Shang Jiao Zheng Yu" are the basic tones of ancient music in China.

The order is different from that of the west. If we compare the seven scales of western music, the pentatonic scale of ancient music in China is equivalent to do, re, mi, sol and la, omitting the "fa" and "ti" with a semitone rising. Of course, the five-tone roll call of ancient China music can't be the same as that of western music, which used "harmony, justice, delay and fairness" in the Tang Dynasty. In older times, it used "Gong, Shang, Jiao (pronounced jué), Zheng (pronounced zhǐ) and Yu".

Therefore, if we pay a little attention, authentic Chinese classical music has no two scales of "Fa" and "Ti". For example, Jasmine in Jiangnan minor is one of the ancient songs. If the whole song is sung by roll call, there are only "duo, lai, mi, suo and la" and no "fa" or "sparse" sounds. Famous ancient songs, such as "Man Jiang Hong" written by Yue Fei.

"Five tones": lips, tongue, teeth, nose and throat (etymology of Zhang Yan)

"Five Tones": Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu (Li Zhouguan Chun)

Or "five tones" refers to the rising tone, flat tone, rising tone, falling tone and entering tone (Wang Zhongwen's Collation of Li Qingzhao's Collection).

A: These two views are actually the same. Because the names of the five tones in ancient times are the same as those of the four tones of flat tones, the so-called "the palace is flat tones, characterized by rising tones, falling feathers and entering tones" (quoted from Wen Jing's On Mi Fei)

The "pentatonic" in music is the "pentatonic". Among the five tones of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu, the ancients usually used Gong as the first tone of the scale, and Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu also served as the first tone. If gong is the first sound, the five tones are gong (1), quotient (2), angle (3), sign (5) and feather (6); If the sign is the first tone, the pentatonic scale is: sign (bass 5), feather (bass 6), palace (1), quotient (2) and angle (3).

The first sound of the scale is different, so the mode is different. Palace is the starting point of scale, that is to say, palace is the most important tonic in music melody; Taking quotient as the starting point of the scale is the quotient key, the quotient is the main key, and so on. In this way, pentatonic scale can have five different tonic modes. Similarly, a heptatonic scale can have seven different tonic modes.

Classical music tunes can be divided into seven categories: Gong (C), Shang (D), Jiao (E), Bian (F), Sign (G), Feather (A) and Bian (B). The sign change is equivalent to the F key of modern western music, with a sad tone. Feather sound is equivalent to a key in modern western music, which can express anger or high emotions better than changing the pitch. For example, The Warring States Policy. "Yan Ce": "Gao Jian Li attacked the building, and Jing Ke chimed. Scholars all shed tears at the voice of rebellion. He walked in front and sang:' the wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man is gone forever!' After the generous feather sound, the scholars were all surprised and crowned. "