Music theory: the octave

You could start your music theory anywhere you want but I think The Sound of Music got it right. Start with the octave.



For me the big barrier to getting this stuff is that it seems so familiar. It's like this particular arrangement of notes is embedded in our genes. And it probably is.

But there is stuff here that ought to seem downright strange but doesn't because we're too used to the octave. For example, why do the first and last steps have the same name? They are different notes, the second one is higher than the first. In fact these two notes are "differenter" than any other notes in the octave. They are farther apart than any other two.

Yes, there is an explanation for why they are really the same but I think the really important thing is not to get the science but the sound. Listen to the two Dos at the end of the scale and try and hear how they can be both different and the same.

Because being able to hear the way things can be different and the same at the same time strikes me absolutely central to western music.