Originally Posted by John Lawrence Schick
“There are only 12 notes. Even with the vast ways they can be combined, so many songs have been written by so many people, every combination has been used countless times” - Brian

Yes, it’s amazing how much music can be created with 12 half-tones. Although the octaves of those half-tones can be considered tones in themselves. When I composer at the piano, I think of 88 tones on my pallet. Well, the last high octave I can’t hear any longer – ha, ha. Think of the first two tones in “Over the Rainbow” – Some (C) where (octave C) over the rainbow (two different tones). Also, the order and duration of each tone in a song is infinite. Counterpoint and dissonance can completely change the perspective of even a recognized melody.

A mindset of thinking that everything has already been written is a defeatist one. I would guess that 90% of all music lies in the realm of closest related chords and melody. There’s still a large spectrum of possibilities that are less explored.

If I thought everything had already been written, I’d quit. There are still so many possibilities.

The Twisted Tango: http://schicksville.com/The%20Twisted%20Tango.mp3

Best, John

what's overlooked in the twelve note limitation is rhythm. melody is a combination of pitch and rhyhm

ding ding ding,ding ding ding is not the same as ding DING ding, ding DING ding, its the rhythm that gives its endless possibilities

also in a chromatic scale there are 12 notes

Last edited by Fdemetrio; 06/13/25 03:07 PM.