TONE, or TUNE, in music, has several senses.
1. It is most immediately taken for that interval which characterizes the diatonic system or species, or what, in our language, we call a note played or sung. In this acceptance there are two kinds of tones; viz. the major tone, whose proportion is as 8 to 9, and which results from the difference between the fourth and the fifth; and the minor tone, whose proportion is as 9 to 10, and which results from the difference between the third minor and the fourth.—The production of the major and that of the minor tone, are equally found beginning with ut at the second re, which forms a fifth above sol; for the quantity by which this re is superior to the octave of the first ut, is exactly in the proportion of 8 to 9; and that by which the same re is inferior to mi, the third major of that octave, is in the proportion of 9 to 10.
2. That degree of elevation which is taken by voices or instruments for performing a piece of music, is likewise called the tone or pitch. It is in this sense that
Tone. we say, in a concert, the tone is too high or too low.
3. Tone is taken for a rule of modulation with relation to a fundamental note or principal sound, which is called the tonic or key note. See Tonic.
With respect to the tones of the ancients, may be consulted Rousseau's Dictionary, at the word Mode.
As our modern system contains in each octave 12 different notes or sounds, which, relatively to that octave, are called semi-tones; each of these sounds may serve for the fundamental of a tone, that is to say, may be its tonic. These tones are already 12; but as the major and minor modes are applicable to each of them, upon these 12 there are 24 different modulations of which our music is susceptible. See MODULATION.
These tones differ one from another by various degrees of elevation between the lowest and highest, according as the tonic takes its station. They differ also by the different alteration of sounds and intervals produced in each tone by the temperament; so that, upon a harpsichord properly in tune, a practised ear recognizes any tone whatever whose modulation it hears; and these tones are equally recognized upon harpsichords, though tuned higher or lower some than others: which shows, that this discernment proceeds at least as much upon the modification which every note receives from the whole chord, as upon the degree of elevation which the tonic occupies in the harpsichord.
From hence arises a succession of varieties and beauties in modulation. From hence arises a wonderful diversity and energy in the expression. From hence arises, in short, the power of exciting different feelings by similar chords, when struck in different tones. Would you produce the majestic, the grave? The F ut sa, and the major tones effectuated by a flat, will express it nobly. Would you produce the gay and the cheerful? Take A mi la, D la re, the major tones effectuated by a sharp. Would you produce such strains as are moving and tender? Take the minor tones effectuated by a flat. C sol ut minor, inspire the soul with tenderness; F ut sa minor, carry it even to melancholy and grief. In a word, every tone, every mode, has its peculiar expression, which ought to be known and perceived with delicacy; and this is one of the means which render a composer of art and genius in some degree master of the affections of those who hear him. It is, however, a kind of succedaneum to the ancient modes, though far from reaching their expression or energy.
Yet it is this rich and agreeable diversity of which (says Rousseau) M. Rameau would deprive music, in wholly reducing every mode to one insipidly equal and monotonous harmony, by his rule for temperament, though it had been so often proposed and neglected before him. According to this author, the whole harmony would be more perfect by its observation. It is nevertheless absolutely certain, that nothing can be gained by this on one hand, without losing its equivalent on the other; and though we should grant (what is by no means true) that by this temperament the harmony in general would be rendered more pure, would this compensate what we lose in point of expression? See TEMPERAMENT.
To what has been already said by M. Rousseau, we must beg leave to add two observations. 1. The essence of the tone consists in this, that by it the series
of diatonic intervals immediately rising or descending, whether major or minor, is regulated and known from any fundamental note which we assume. Tone, therefore, is the constitution of the octave, as determined by that fundamental note. The fundamental note itself is the key. Hence the tone differs from the mode, as the former regulates the nature and succession of intervals contained in the octave; the latter modifies all the chords whether natural or artificial, particularly the third and fifth. 2. M. D'Alembert, in the second edition of his Elements, (see the article Music, n° 72. note u) has considered at some length, and with some degree of accuracy, the advantages and inconveniences resulting from temperament. He seems fairly to have stated the objections of musicians against it. He affirms, that without it, in passing from one mode to another, the ear is shocked; and agrees with M. Rameau, that the character of different harmonics does not arise from any differences in the intervals of the diatonic scale, but from the ingenious and agreeable intertexture of the modes, and from other circumstances enumerated in the note. He adds, that from all which has been said in his work concerning the formation of the diatonic scale, and that species of music which it characterizes, it must appear to be the obvious intention of nature, that the intervals in that system, whether major or minor, whether consisting of a semi-tone or a full note, should each of them be exactly similar one to another, which cannot be effectuated without having recourse to temperament.