Microtonal Compositional Techniques in Western Music

Microtonality is a concept that has existed throughout music history in various parts of the world as a core feature within certain styles of music. Western music however has used microtonality quite sparsely throughout the history of both western art music as well as modern western music. In recent times, however, microtonality has begun to see usage in Western popular music through artists such as Dua Lipa whilst also being further developed and used in genres outside of mainstream pop music by artists such as Jacob Collier and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. This work-in-progress paper aims to examine the use of microtonality in the works of Dua Lipa, Jacob Collier and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

Microtonality is a term that is relatively new in music history as some of the earliest references to the term occur in music literature from the late 20th century (Kirnbauer, 2015), but whilst the terms are quite new in relation to the history of music and music theory, the use of microtonality stems back hundreds of years through the use of microtonal keyboards, some of the earliest examples known to us come from the 17th century with many other designs for microtonal keyboards continuing to be developed throughout the 18th and 19th centuries (Keislar, 1987). In essence, microtonality refers to the use of intervals that are smaller than the smallest interval in Western music, the semitone, and whilst some scholars state that the use of a “semitone” is in itself microtonal as it is an interval smaller than a whole tone (Kirnbauer, 2015), the more common definition states microtones as being smaller than a semitone.

The use of microtonality and microtones in modern western pop music can be separated into two different categories, melodic microtonality and harmonic microtonality. These terms refer to how microtonality is used and its role in the music. The more common of the two categories is melodic microtonality where microtones are used in melodic lines. This can be seen through a variety of examples, one such example can be seen in Dua Lipa’s “Good in Bed” where a microtonal run can be heard in the main melody of the chorus. The melody line begins on an Eb and walks down in stepwise motion to a C, this interval is only a minor third, three semitones, yet five notes of unique pitch can be heard.

The use of microtones in this example is similar to that of a tuplet for rhythm. This means that microtones are evenly spaced over the distance between the start and end point in the same way that a tuplet evenly subdivides a set amount of beats. This is achieved with microtones through the use of cents. Cents are how we measure and describe microtonal pitches, the distance between one semitone and the next is 100 cents, thus a note that is altered by 50 cents is a quarter tone. In the example of “Good in Bed”, 4 evenly distributed notes must be between a distance of 300 cents. This can be calculated using relatively simple mathematics which can be seen in the below figure. This compositional technique where each interval is divided equally is relatively simplistic and adaptable to other compositions, however, this technique is largely limited to ascending or descending melodic lines that move by steps and depending on the harmony underneath can become quite dissonant.

Figure 1: “Good In Bed”

Harmonic microtonality can be perceived as something that is harder to achieve in Western music for a variety of reasons, the first being the lack of instruments capable of playing microtonal chords. This is one reason why harmonic microtonality has fewer examples of its use. Jacob Collier is an artist who has been experimenting and developing microtonal harmony throughout a variety of songs with many different uses.

Collier's rendition of “In The Bleak Midwinter” approaches the use of microtonality very differently to what is seen “Good in Bed” as Collier uses microtones in the harmonic content as opposed to a melodic line. Collier achieves this through the use of the most flexible microtonal instrument available, the voice. The human voice is capable of playing any frequency and microtone possible, unlike instruments such as a microtonal keyboard or guitar which has fixed microtonal usages, the voice is capable of playing microtonal adjustments by cents. Hence Collier uses vocal stacking to create precise microtonal intervals across four chords which are used to modulate to an entirely microtonal key, G half sharp. Collier modulates 50 cents, a quarter-tone, in four chords by taking advantage of the difference between equal temperament (12 TET) and the natural overtone series. The four chords each share the common note of B which increases by 50 cents by the end of the four-chord progression. The first chord in the progression is D13 and comes from the key of G major as chord V. The note B in the key of G major is the major third and in 12 TET is 14 cents sharper than what naturally appears in the overtone series of G. Collier takes advantage of this difference by tuning the other notes within the D13 chord up by 14 cents. This allows for the B to remain an anchor point from the previous chord in 12 TET whilst the rest of the chord has become microtonal by being sharpened by 14 cents and begins the transition to G half sharp. This process of manipulating the differences between 12 TET and the natural overtone series continues for the next three chords which allows Collier to achieve a smooth modulation into a microtonal key.

This approach to harmonic microtonality is quite advanced and mathematical and requires a thorough understanding of the differences between the natural overtone series and equal temperament as well as an advanced understanding of voice leading and basic harmony. Another technique to achieve harmonic microtonality that does not involve the voice is to use microtonal instruments. The use of microtonal instruments can include the use of instruments from other cultures that have been created for use within a microtonal music system, such as the baglama from Turkish music, but also includes the use of western instruments that have been modified to include microtones, such as microtonal guitars or harmonicas.

King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard are an Australian psychedelic band who created an entire album using western instruments that were modified to work within a system of microtonality, Flying Microtonal Banana. The microtonal instruments used within this album allowed the band to create melodic and harmonic content using quarter tones. There is a much larger emphasis however on melodic microtonality as opposed to harmonic. Almost all of the tracks within the album use microtonal riffs, which can be described as melodic microtonality, while tonal harmony is provided by another instrument, typically a keyboard. However, there are many times across the album where two or more instruments are playing microtonal riffs at different pitches which creates harmonic microtonal content. An example of this is seen in the interactions between the harmonica and electric guitar in the track “Sleep Drifter”. There are also examples in which a chordal instrument plays microtonal harmony using quarter tones which can be seen in the track “Melting” by the keyboard part. In comparison to other microtonal compositional techniques, the techniques used by King Gizzard and The Wizard Lizard can be viewed as more accessible as a compositional technique due to the use of instruments with pre determined microtonal pitches in comparison to the flexibility of the voice.

The microtonal compositional techniques I have discussed all share unique traits and require unique skill sets or equipment to properly use in a composition. These unique skill sets or equipment create entry barriers for microtonal compositions. It is hard to determine which microtonal compositional technique is the easiest to implement into a composition for a composer but each of the techniques shares similar complications regarding their accessibility as well as unique complications to the specific technique. To emulate the harmonic microtonality created by Collier would require a significant understanding of the microtonal theory that is beyond the scope of most western musicians who have little understanding of microtonal techniques. Collier’s style of harmonic microtonality is also incredibly difficult to emulate and implement in other compositions due to the skill required by the performer. As previously mentioned, Collier’s harmonic microtonality requires a highly flexible microtonal instrument that can play notes adjusted by cents. This level of microtonality is only realistically achievable by either the voice or through digital editing of individual notes played by an instrument through a DAW. Collier uses the voice to achieve microtonal elements within his works however this is largely due to Collier having absolute pitch with the ability to accurately sing and identify pitches to cents. These reasons make it unfeasible for this technique to be applied by an average composer as the skillset required to effectively implement the technique is unavailable to most composers. This microtonal compositional technique is also almost impossible to recreate as a live performance as it would require a vocal choir consisting of musicians with the ability to sing exact microtonal pitches to the cent. The microtonal compositional technique implemented by King Gizzard & The Wizzard Lizard is much more accessible to the average western musician in comparison to Collier’s as all it requires is a western instrument that has been modified to play quarter tones. The melodic microtonality employed by Dua Lipa in “Good In Bed” is much more accessible than Collier’s as it only requires some basic math and understanding to theoretically implement within a composition. However, this style of microtonality is perhaps the most limiting of all three techniques discussed as it can only be applied to melodic lines moving in stepwise motion. This style of microtonality is similar to Collier’s in that it requires either a voice or a digitally modified instrument to implement, however, unlike the harmonic microtonality that Collier uses, this style of melodic microtonality can be easily implemented within live performance which is evident by Dua Lipa's live performances of “Good In Bed”.

The above examples and information give a general insight into some of the microtonal compositional techniques that are being employed in the creation of Western music, however, there is much more to explore. Whilst the number of artists and tracks that employ microtonality is by no means extensive there are numerous examples of other varying techniques to achieve microtonal elements within music. Collier for example has several more tracks which employ microtonality in similar ways as to what is seen within “In The Bleak Midwinter” but also uses completely different techniques of utilising microtonality. For example in the track “Hideaway” where he uses slight microtonal adjustments to eventually shift 32 cents over the course of seven minutes. I plan to further develop this paper to explore more artists, tracks and techniques to achieve greater insight into the use of microtonality within Western music.

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Reference List

Bruce, D. ( 2019, July 13). How To Modulate To G 1/2 Sharp (Jacob Collier Style) [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd54l8gfi7M&t=657s

Keislar, D. (1987). History and Principles of Microtonal Keyboards. Computer Music Journal, 11(1),

18–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3680175

Kirnbauer, M. (2015). “Vieltönigkeit” instead of Microtonality: The Theory and Practice of Sixteenth-

and Seventeenth-Century “Microtonal” Music. In P. de Assis (Ed.), Experimental Affinities in Music (pp. 64–90). Leuven University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2bctk7.6