When you look at the overtone series, you find a succession of
tones appearing vertically in a single tone:
C, C1, G2, C2, E3, G3, Bb, etc.
C is the strongest tone because it occurs the greatest number of
times and because it is actually played or sung as the
fundamental.
After the C is the next strongest tone, G. It occurs earlier in
the series than the other tones. When we play this tone as the
5th scale degree, we come up with a set of new overtones:
G, G1, D2, G2, B2, etc.
So it happens that the overtones of the overtones contribute to
the total sound.
Therefore, A tone is dependant upon the tone a 5th above and a
5th below:
F<-->C<-->G
Picture a man hanging by his hands from a beam and exerting his
own force against the force of gravity. He pulls on the beam as
gravity pulls on him.
And it is here where our most common chord progression, I-IV-V,
is born. And it is also here where our fundamental tonal tonic,
I, is created.
Many of us try to break free from the I-IV-V and its cliches.
Though the value of this method of composition cannot be
overlooked, not every biography has to begin with the birth of
the hero or end with his death. Life and death are equally a
part of the embryo and what exists in between, time, has one
absolute:
Change
The implications of this fact is that we will be more productive
by making connections between what was, what is, and what is
likely to be. In other words, know your music history!
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
-George Santayana
