Twelve Tone Musical Scale

Why does our musical scale have twelve notes (counting both the white and
black keys on the piano)? Why not ten or fifteen or twenty?

To answer this question, we first need some background information. A note's

pitch or frequency is measured in cycles per second; for example, A' is 440
cycles per second. The distance between two notes, measured as the ratio of
their pitches, is called an interval. If the interval between two notes is a ratio
of small integers, such as 2/1, 3/2, or 4/3, they sound good together — they
are consonant rather than dissonant. People prefer musical scales that have
many consonant intervals.

There is no definitive list of consonant intervals because the concept of

consonance involves subjective aesthetic judgment. However, the following
seven pure intervals, smaller than or equal to an octave (2/1) and larger than
unison (1/1), are commonly considered to be consonant.

Basic Consonant Intervals

Ratio Interval Harmonic Inverse
2/1 octave 1/1
3/2 perfect fifth 4/3
4/3 perfect fourth 3/2
5/3 major sixth 6/5
5/4 major third 8/5
6/5 minor third 5/3
8/5 minor sixth 5/4

This list can be constructed mathematically by listing the ratios of the smallest
integers and including their harmonic inverses (defined below). First, list the
ratios of the integers from 1 to 5, where the ratios are between 1 (unison) and
 Twelve Tone Musical Scale
2 (octave): 1/1, 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/3, and 5/4. Then, include their harmonic
inverses [shown in brackets]: 1/1 [2/1], 2/1 [1/1], 3/2 [4/3], 4/3 [3/2], 5/3
[6/5], and 5/4 [8/5]. Remove the duplicates. We can ignore the trivial unison
interval. This leaves: 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/3, 5/4, 6/5, and 8/5. If you start with the
integers from 1 to 3 or 1 to 4, the result is the top three intervals: 2/1, 3/2,
and 4/3. If you start with the integers from 1 to 5 or 1 to 6, the result is this
list of seven intervals.

Harmonic inverses: Two intervals are harmonic inverses of each other if they
combine to make an octave, in other words, if the ratios multiplied together
equals two — for example, 3/2 x 4/3 = 2. Harmonic inverses appear
spontaneously when you construct a new musical scale. Imagine making a
musical instrument with three strings. Start with two strings making an
octave, a low string and a high string with half the length and twice the pitch.
Now, add a string somewhere in the middle, for example, 2/3 the length and
3/2 the pitch of the low string. Playing the low and middle strings together
makes a 3/2 interval (perfect fifth), and playing the middle and high strings
together makes another interval, the harmonic inverse of 3/2, which is
2/(3/2) = 4/3 (perfect fourth). Each time you add a string between the low
and high strings (the octave), you always get two intervals that are harmonic
inverses.

In the past, people constructed scales based on pure or natural ratios of small
integers. For example, the just intonation system uses the exact ratios shown
in the table below. However, this method runs into serious problems.
Although some of the intervals are perfect, other combinations of notes sound
very bad ("wolf intervals"). After the Middle Ages in Europe, music became
more complex, with more polyphony and more key changes, and these bad
intervals became more common.

The modern equal temperament (ET) system was invented (in the 1500s) to
solve this problem. (Galileo's father, a music theorist, was one early proponent
of equal temperament.) The octave is divided into twelve exactly equal
intervals. In this system, the smallest interval, the semitone, is not a simple
integer ratio, but is the twelfth root of two (21/12) or approximately 1.059.
 Twelve Tone Musical Scale
Larger intervals are powers of the twelfth root of two, as shown in the table
below. Although no interval (except the octave) is perfect in this system, the
error is "spread around" evenly so there are no very bad intervals.

The table below compares just intonation with equal temperament. The
intervals in both systems are never exactly the same (except the octave), but
they are very close — always within about one percent or better. For example,
the fifth (3/2), obtained by multiplying the twelfth root of two by itself seven
times, is 1.498 — very nearly a perfect 1.500. The fourth (4/3), obtained by
multiplying the twelfth root of two by itself five times, is 1.335 — very nearly
a perfect 1.333.

Number
Equal
of Interval Conso- Just Differ-
Notes Temper-
Semi- Name nant? Intonation* ence
ament
tones
0 unison C-C Yes 1/1=1.000 20/12=1.000 0.0%
1 semitone C-C♯ No 16/15=1.067 21/12=1.059 0.7%
2 whole tone C-D No 9/8=1.125 22/12=1.122 0.2%
3 minor third C-E♭ Yes 6/5=1.200 23/12=1.189 0.9%
4 major third C-E Yes 5/4=1.250 24/12=1.260 0.8%
perfect
5 C-F Yes 4/3=1.333 25/12=1.335 0.1%
fourth
6 tritone C-F♯ No 7/5=1.400 26/12=1.414 1.0%
7 perfect fifth C-G Yes 3/2=1.500 27/12=1.498 0.1%
8 minor sixth C-A♭ Yes 8/5=1.600 28/12=1.587 0.8%
9 major sixth C-A Yes 5/3=1.667 29/12=1.682 0.9%
minor
10 C-B♭ No 9/5=1.800 210/12=1.782 1.0%
seventh
major
11 C-B No 15/8=1.875 211/12=1.888 0.7%
seventh
12 octave C-C' Yes 2/1=2.000 212/12=2.000 0.0%
 Twelve Tone Musical Scale
* This table shows one variation of just intonation.

So, back to the original question: Why does our scale have twelve notes? We
have explained that an equal-tempered scale works better in practice than a
scale based on pure intervals, but we have not yet explained why we prefer
the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale. Why do we not use a ten-tone or
twenty-tone equal-tempered scale? Is there something special about twelve?

The answer is: Yes, the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is remarkable. The
nearly perfect intervals seen in the table above are not typical of other equal-
tempered scales. Consider the seven basic consonant intervals (described
above): 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/3, 5/4, 6/5, and 8/5. We observe:

The twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is the smallest equal-tempered

scale that contains all seven of the basic consonant intervals to a good
approximation — within one percent.

Furthermore, for the most important intervals, the fifth (3/2) and fourth
(4/3), the approximations are better — within about one tenth of one percent.

Let's compare the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale to some other equal-

tempered scales. All equal-tempered scales with 14 tones or fewer, except the
twelve-tone scale, contain at most only three of the seven basic consonant
intervals (including the octave) within one percent.

Several equal-tempered scales with more than twelve and fewer than 53 tones
contain all seven basic consonant intervals within one percent, and some of
these contain some intervals that are better than the twelve-tone scale, but
they also contain some that are worse. The most important intervals, the fifth
(3/2) and fourth (4/3), are usually worse.

 19-tone ET: The fifth and fourth are worse than in 12-tone ET, but the
other basic intervals are better.
 24-tone ET: All the basic intervals are exactly the same as in 12-tone ET.
 Twelve Tone Musical Scale
 29-tone ET: The fifth and fourth are slighty better than in 12-tone ET,
but all the basic intervals have approximately the same accuracy as in
12-tone ET.
 31-tone ET: The fifth and fourth are worse than in 12-tone ET, but the
other basic intervals are better.
 34-tone ET: The fifth and fourth are worse than in 12-tone ET, but the
other basic intervals are better.
 41-tone ET: The fifth and fourth have approximately the same accuracy
as in 12-tone ET, but the other basic intervals are better.
 53-tone ET: All seven basic intervals have better accuracy than 12-tone
ET.

But bigger is not necessarily better. Although scales with many tones have
many nearly pure intervals that are consonant (ratios of small integers), they
have even more intervals that are dissonant (not ratios of small integers). In
contrast, the small twelve-tone equal-tempered scale has more consonant
intervals (seven) than dissonant intervals (five). We observe:

The twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is the only equal-tempered scale

that contains all seven of the basic consonant intervals to a good
approximation — within one percent — and contains more consonant
intervals than dissonant intervals.

Also, scales with many tones are too large to be really practical: a keyboard
with the same range as a piano would be huge.

In summary, the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is probably the best

compromise of all possible scales, and that is why it is now standard in the
Western world and common all over the world.

Which equal-tempered scales, other than the twelve-tone scale, are most
widely used? We are including here only equal-spaced or roughly equal-
spaced scales, not unequal-spaced scales such as the common pentatonic
scales (black keys) and heptatonic scales (white keys).
 Twelve Tone Musical Scale
 Roughly equal-spaced 5-tone and 7-tone scales are found in several
musical traditions. The Indonesian gamelan slendro scale is a roughly
equal-spaced 5-tone scale.
 The 6-tone (whole-tone) equal-tempered scale is sometimes used in
Western music, as in the impressionistic music of Debussy.
 The 19-tone equal-tempered scale has been used by some Western
musicians since the Renaissance.
 Indian music uses a subset of a roughly equal-spaced 22-tone (22
shruti) scale. (The Western 12 tones can be related to the 22 shrutis as
follows, two tones, unison (1) and fifth (3/2), correspond to two basic
shrutis, and the remaining ten tones each correspond to a range of tones
bounded by two shrutis.)
 Arabic and other Middle Eastern music uses a subset of a roughly equal-
spaced 24-tone (quarter-tone) equal-tempered scale. The quarter-tone
scale has been used by some Western musicians (Boulez, Ives).
 The 31-tone equal-tempered scale has been used by some Western
musicians since the Renaissance, especially in the Netherlands (due to
Huygens).

The Equal Temperament Musical Scales Worksheet (MS Excel spreadsheet or

PDF document) shows all the ET scales (up to 100 tones) and shows how well
they match the "ideal" intervals. If you don't agree with my ideal intervals, the
spreadsheet allows you to enter your own ideal intervals. If you don't agree
with my scoring, you can change the score function, if you know basic
programming.

Note: My mathematical results showing the specialness of the twelve-tone

scale are fairly robust. When I perform the same analysis with small variations
of the discretionary inputs, the twelve-tone scale still looks remarkable. For
example, if I add or remove a few intervals near the end of my list of
consonant intervals, the results are similar. Also, if I increase the matching
tolerance from 1% to 2% or reduce it to 0.8%, the results are similar. You can
try your own variations with the spreadsheet above.
 Twelve Tone Musical Scale

Twelve-Tone Musical Scale © 2003-2016 Keith Enevoldsen

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