Glossary

This page lists various terms conventionally used in xenharmony (or in some cases, general music theory as it applies to xen) that can be briefly described.

Don't put idiosyncratic terms here. When using personal terminology in an article, either explain it there or link to an article about your theory that explains the term.

Cent

A cent (abbreviated to c or ¢) is the conventional measurement unit of the logarithmic distance between frequencies; in other words, the size of the interval between them. A cent is defined as a frequency ratio of 2^(1/1200), or a factor of about 1.0005778, such that the octave (2/1) spans exactly 1200 cents, and therefore that each step of 12edo spans exactly 100.

Equave

An equave or interval of equivalence is a structural interval such that notes separated by it are considered equivalent. Most commonly the octave (2/1), but 3/1 or 3/2 are sometimes used.

Superparticular

A superparticular or Delta-1 ratio is a ratio between two whole numbers which differ by 1: e.g. 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/4, etc, representing intervals between consecutive members of the harmonic series. These are distinguished from superpartient ratios (all other rational ratios), which can be classified as Delta-2, Delta-3, etc. by the difference between their numerator and denominator. Note that the ratio between consecutive superparticulars is itself superparticular.

Ternary

A ternary scale is a scale with exactly three step sizes (usually denoted L, m, and s).