User:Strainj1/Tritone

EVIL EVIL EVIL!!!!! See? These "cute" little devils are actually subconsciously luring you into a stance of acceptance and approval of the abomination of an interval that is the tritone.

“The tritone is the worst...[gun cocking sound]..., I mean best interval in music.”

~ Mozart on the Tritone

“The devil's interval.]”

~ The Catholic Church on the Tritone

“This shit is awesome”

~ The Devil on the Tritone

The tritone, also known as a flat fifth, sharp fourth, double sharp third, triple flat sixth, quadruple sharp second, or quadruple flat seventh is one of the most dissonant intervals known in music, and the most harmonic music known in Satanism. Musical styles that take particular advantage of the Tritone include experimental jazz, heavy metal, impressionism, and bangyourheadandotherbodypartsonthepianoism.

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History

65 quadrillion years ago, the tritone was never used in music, because it is not a "perfect" interval, and only perfect intervals were used. Less than 1000 years ago, music theorists discovered it shortly after the inventions of the major and minor scales. However, the tritone was banned shortly after in North Korea by Kim Jong XXXVI, who said it was "not boring enough." Other Communist countries followed. Soon, most of those countries' composers left, leading the remaining composers of those countries to invent the pentatonic scale, which is a major scale with the notes that produce the tritone removed, which consequently removed the dissonant intervals known as the minor second and major seventh. Eventually, in North Korea, Kim Jong XXXVII, who hated his father, legalized tritones in the Undo My Father's Laws Act, which undid his father's laws. Since then, tritones have been used in North Korea, but only rarely.

Tritone Conflicts

There have been numerous tritone conflicts. Few have been recorded. Here is a list:

• 1582-Vienna Massacre-chief music officer Johann Jötenburgen killed five people guilty of using the tritone.
• 1738-Riot of 1738-three music theorists' attempt to murder Johann Joseph Fux, because they disliked his idea of strictly avoiding tritones (there was a long delay because Fux wrote this idea, and the worldwide illiteracy rate was high during the time, which made the literacy rate low)
• 1849-Unnamed Tritone Conflict-this was only mentioned in an 1849 newspaper.
• 2023-Unknown Tritone Arugument in 2023-argument between two music theorists on whether tritones should be used in serialism.

Pros

- The tritone is an almost perfect interval because it is the only interval between a perfect fourth and a perfect fifth. It is also the only interval that has no perfect, major, or minor enharmonic equivalent, so it must be average. - A tritone is exactly half of a perfect octave, making it half perfect. Consequently, it is the only interval with its inversion being itself. Since being between two perfect intervals makes it almost perfect, and being half an octave makes it half perfect, that means the tritone is almost three-fourths perfect.

Cons

- It sounds goddamn awful.

Usefulness in Music

Melodies

Tritones are always useful in melodies, especially in chorales. They are unique in melodies, and will make people listen to your music, especially if one of the notes in the tritone does not belong in the key. The Locrian mode is the only mode with the interval between tonic and dominant being a tritone, and is recommended to make some unique melodies.

Chords

Tritones appear in diminished triads, dominant seventh chords, partially diminished seventh chords, and completely diminished seventh chords. It is better not to use these chords (except the completely diminished seventh chord, because it has two tritones) because they hide the tritone. If you do use these chords, double the leading tone and the chordal seventh. Do not resolve the leading tones to tonic, or the chordal sevenths down. The tension either must not resolve or be resolved "incorrectly."

Here is a list of chords that contain tritones that you may use with C as the root:

• Unhidden tritone not a chord chord-C, F#
• Augmented fourth chord-C, F#, G
• Tritone chord-C, D, Gb, Ab
• Tritone octave chord-C, F#, G, C#
• Tritone pentachord-C, Db, Eb, F, Gb
• Sounds like shit chord-C, F#, C#, G, D, G#, D#, A, E, A#, F, B

Effect

Unresolved tritones can be used to represent hell, or anything associated with it. Some French composer used it in Danse Macabre to represent death, which sometimes results in going to hell, so you can use it for something similar.

Disguising Tritones

A prime example of why the tritone is the spawn of Satan.

Enharmonics

Not everybody likes to see a tritone written in music. For example, if you have the tritone C and F sharp, you can change it to B sharp and G flat. (Just make sure it isn't an augmented fourth or diminished fifth.) They might only think that you are trying to be a dick, especially if you use double flats and double sharps.

Octave Displacement

You can also disguise tritones by displacing one of the notes by an octave. Either lower the bottom note by an octave or raise the higher note by an octave (when the tritone is more than an octave, people might mistake it for another dissonant interval, like a minor ninth or major fourteenth). It is not as effective as the enharmonic method, but it will work if the person analyzing your music does not know anything about music.

Noteable tritones

• C and Gb-what you get on a viola or cello if your G string is too low (frequently used in Las Vegas)
• G# and D-what you get on any bowed stringed instrument if your G string is too high (also frequently used in Las Vegas)
• B and F-The Bull Connor of tritones (frequently used throughout Mississippi and Alabama, especially Birmingham; avoid this one)