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Appendix: glossary of terms used in pitch-class set theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

David Clarke
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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Summary

Note: this Appendix is not intended to be a comprehensive list, nor are the definitions provided meant to be complete or formal; the intention is essentially to offer a guide to set-theoretical terms used in this book. The classic text on pitch-class set theory is Allen Forte's The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven and London:Yale University Press, 1973).User-friendly introductions are to be found in Nicholas Cook's A Guide to Musical Analysis, paperback edn (London: J. M. Dent & Sons: 1989), chapter 4; Joseph Straus's Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990); and Jonathan Dunsby and Arnold Whittall's Music Analysis in Theory and Practice (London: Faber Music, 1988), chapter 12.

Pitch class (pc): Any representative of a given pitch, regardless of register. Thus pitch class C could be represented by middle C, C an octave higher, C an octave lower, etc. Pitch classes may also be referred to using integer notation, which reduces enharmonically equivalent terms to the same numeric indicator. Thus C (or B#, or D♭♭) = 0; C# (or D♭) = 1; D (or C*, or E♭♭) = 2; and so on to B (or A* or C♭)=11.

Pitch-class set (pc set): A collection of pitch classes, which may be configured linearly (melodically), or vertically (harmonically) or as some form of aggregate – usually as the result (one hopes) of some meaningful analytical segmentation of musical material. Pc sets are normally described using integer notation, for example [2,3,5,8].

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Tippett Studies , pp. 223 - 224
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

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