English

A group-theoretical classification of three-tone and four-tone harmonic chords

Group Theory 2020-07-08 v1

Abstract

We classify three-tone and four-tone chords based on subgroups of the symmetric group acting on chords contained within a twelve-tone scale. The actions are inversion, major-minor duality, and augmented-diminished duality. These actions correspond to elements of symmetric groups, and also correspond directly to intuitive concepts in the harmony theory of music. We produce a graph of how these actions relate different seventh chords that suggests a concept of distance in the theory of harmony.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2007.03134,
  title  = {A group-theoretical classification of three-tone and four-tone harmonic chords},
  author = {Jason K. C. Polak},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.03134},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

8 pages, comments welcome