Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

If the flute is designed for a pentatonic scale, why did he play a melody that isn't even heptatonic? He should have played a well-known pentatonic tune like "Auld Lang Syne"!

[The tune of the Spar-Spangled Banner uses all the notes of the major scale plus the fourth note sharpened by a semitone on the last syllables of "early" and "perilous". The unsharpened fourth note, an octive higher, is present on "air". (Yes, I did have to look up the lyrics, obviously.) Apparently the tune was taken from "The Anacreontic Song" (18th century), which did not have those accidentals.]



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: