Microtonal music is a term for music which uses microtones -- intervals of less than a semitone, or as Charles Ives put it, the "notes between the cracks" of the piano. The term is less frequently used to refer to any music whose tunings are not based on semitones, such as gamelan music and Indian classical music. An alternative term, explicitly covering such possibilities, is xenharmonic music.
Some composers of modern avant-garde music have embraced the use of microtonal scales, dividing an octave into 19, 31, 43, 72 and other numbers of pitcheses, rather than the more common 12. The intervals between pitches can be equal, creating an equal temperament, Large and small as in meantone systems, or unequal, such as in just intonation.
Pioneers of modern Western microtonal music include:
See also:
External links:
Discussion of tuning theory and microtonal music:
Theory pages:
Discography:
Microtonal music on the web:
