what are microtones in music?
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Microtones are intervals smaller than the conventional Western musical semitone. In Western music, the octave is typically divided into 12 equal parts, which correspond to the 12 semitones on a piano keyboard. Microtones refer to the smaller divisions of this octave.
A microtone is generally defined as an interval smaller than a semitone but larger than a quarter tone. While a semitone divides the octave into 12 equal parts, a microtone can divide it into even smaller divisions, such as 24 or 36 equal parts. This allows for a wider range of pitch variations and tonal possibilities within a musical composition.
Microtones are commonly used in non-Western musical traditions, such as Indian classical music, Middle Eastern music, and various folk traditions. These musical systems often incorporate intricate melodic nuances and ornaments that require more finely tuned intervals than the Western semitone allows. Instruments like the sitar, oud, and qanun, among others, are designed to play microtonal intervals.
In recent years, microtonal music has also gained interest in contemporary Western classical and experimental music. Composers and performers have explored microtonal scales and tunings, incorporating them into their compositions. Some musicians use specially designed instruments or modify existing instruments to accommodate microtonal intervals.
Microtones offer composers and musicians additional expressive possibilities and can create unique and distinctive sounds that deviate from the standard Western tonal system. Exploring microtonal music can involve experimenting with new harmonies, scales, and melodic structures, challenging traditional Western notions of pitch and tonality.
There are 12 (for our our purposes here) discrete notes in western music. These are determined by using really complicated math. Each note corresponds to a specific frequency. A is usually set to 440hz, and A#(the next note on the piano) is usually ~466hz. A microtone would be a note that has a frequency between 440 and 466. Now apply this same concept to the space between the frequencies of all 12 notes.
Instruments like pianos or xylophones cannot normally play these pitches in between because they only have those 12 discrete keys. However an instrument like a violin or a trombone allows the player to smoothly go from one note to another, playing every frequency in between.
When someone is playing “out of tune” they are technically playing microtones
Since we shifted to something called 12-tone equal temperament, or 12TET, we only have 12 distinct notes (in western music). These are the 12 different keys on a piano, 7 white notes from A to G and 5 black notes in between. These each line up with the frets on a guitar, or keys on a saxophone, clarinet, flute, etc, as discreet steps. Microtones are just the gaps in between them. On a piano, those 12 notes are your only options. But on a wind instrument, you can change your embouchure (mouth position) to “bend” the note, making a more gradual change. You can also do this on a guitar by pulling the strings or using the wah-wah bar. On a classical string instrument like a violin, there are “positions” you put your fingers on but there’s nothing to stop you from going in between them. Similarly on a trombone. That’s all that microtones are: they are the notes between the standard 12.
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