The Harmonic Series | Illustrated Theory of Music #8

Welcome to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's, 'Illustrated Theory of Music'. This series of short, informal videos animate the stories behind music theory and provoke new questions about what we think we know. What does a 'quaver' really mean? Why do we use bars? Why does it have to be so slow? The series is led by the OAE’s dedicated musicians but audiences are invited to ask questions, challenge conventional wisdom and help to build a new understanding of music. Please share your thoughts in the comment box below!

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[peterharrison]

This was great fun and so instructive. Needs to be better known. I only found by chance.

[ivandemiguelurain]

One of the best explanations about harmonics I've ever listened to

[adriepram]

Didnt expect a barbershop quartet to demonstrate 7th 😂
But it is indeed the perfect example

[RechtmanDon]

The "E" makes the C harmonic series capable of creating the major quality of a chord, but what makes the minor quality sound less stable, more dynamic?
The Eb used in a minor chord creates an interesting hidden dissonance: When playing "C", the 5th harmonic "E" still has a fair amount of energy. Back up a moment:
Above the first harmonic, the fundamental, each subsequent harmonic requires more energy to equal the volume of the previous harmonic. When you play C on the piano, all of the string's harmonics sound simultaneously; it is the fundamental that we hear as the pitch. The relationships of the volumes of the other harmonics is what gives the piano (and every instrument and sound) its characteristic quality (timbre).
So when you play a C on most instruments, you're also playing a quieter 2nd harmonic, an even quieter 3rd harmonic, and so on. (The exceptions require another video, hopefully to be made by OAE, or a link provided if it's already done!) This means that when you play a note, even though the harmonics are present, they're usually impossible to easily hear as distinct pitches, but they're there all the same. When you play an Eb with the C to create a minor quality, you're actually creating a subtle dissonance between your Eb and the C's harmonic E, as if you played an E adjacent to the Eb! While the ear may not consciously hear the E, it does a good job of recognizing the subtle dissonance and identifying it as a minor quality. It is that subtle dissonance that drives the minor sound's dynamic quality.

[arsonor]

One of my AP Physics students (also an orchestra player) shared this with me after my lesson on harmonics. It is now part of my materials for my class. Super handy, and explains resonance and harmonics in music so well. Thank you!

[figure]

This video just made a lot "click" for me in terms of music theory. Thank you for this great explanation!

[Lucius_Chiaraviglio]

The 7th and 14th harmonic are noticeably flat (close to 1/3 of a semitone) compared to the 12 note equal temperament scale in use today -- can still sound okay if other instruments either aren't playing at the same time or are able to bend their pitches to match, or if the other instruments are playing parts of a barbershop chord. The 11th (especially) and 13th harmonics are very close to quarter tones, and so are harder to use in 12 note equal temperament, but (especially 11th) could work in 24 note equal temperament.

[monkehm]

Kudos to whoever did the editing for this, this was really entertaining and informative.

[fromchomleystreet]

I never actually realized before that the minor seventh shows up in the harmonic series long before anything resembling the major seventh does - which poses the question of why the Ionian mode of the major scale ended up being the primary, basic scale upon which all western music is based, rather than the Mixolydian mode which has a more immediate basis in nature (including as it does all five of the first five unique notes of the harmonic series, including the two that define it - a major third and a minor seventh)

[richardvannstrom]

Brilliantly explained. As a self-taught amateur musician I never fully understood this concept until now. Thank you.

[LordFloofTM]

I really wish this resource was around when I learned Horn. The harmonic series was vital to my understanding of the instrument as a whole.

[martineyles]

I could see those last two crooks inspiring some concertos, perhaps containing some Rondos.

[KravchenkoAudioPerth]

Brings back memories of fighting with a not so good quality F French Horn And finally switching to a double horn. Opened up a whole new world of fun. A natural horn has a sound that is hard to replicate exactly. But can be done with a little ingenuity on a keyed horn.

[julianbrelsford]

11:30
And if you get a horn with, say, three keys.... then you can play a harmonic series starting on any note you like!

[echodelta]

Good demo. Especially going all the way to 16. I did this off of a long piano string on a grand where you can get to enough string length. Then I did the same for a organ pipe flute no holes just harmonics to this upper range above 10. It's easier to play as only a tight lip to tube foot is needed. It's all tonging toots and diagram pumps to sound the whole range. But! I can have the "one and a half" you refer to. Smooth glides from open and closed. At this point this can really wail out the blues. Norwegian -Seljefløyte. I had this in a lecture at Purdue early 70's the prof explained this when he got to the seventh he said "that's a wild card" we'll throw that one out. And he went on to about the 10th.

[harczymarczy]

The 7th harmonic is actually the barbershop 7th. The 11th is used, for example, in Hungarian and Romanian folk music, especially in Transylvania. Folk musicians can play and/or sing it. They just live with it when playing the overtone flute, although its pitch and be adjusted to some extent by partially closing the end hole of the flute. The 11th harmonic can also be a blue note in blues and jazz, along with neutral 3rd and 7th, both being used in various types of folk music.

[zerocooljpn]

omfg that instrument is crazy. Loved the video. I'll show it to my kids. It's better than any music class at school

[twothousandcookies]

Sliding up and down the harmonic series is a great exercise for accuracy

[stephshoremusic]

Excellent!!! I will be using this with my students!

[monicacall]

This was THE BEST demonstration of the harmonic overtone series I’ve ever seen, and I’m a professional musician! Thank you ever so much for this entertaining and thoroughly informative explanation. I will be using this video in my teaching. Please make more videos like this! They are very much needed by all of us who teach music.