Be aware that our metaphorical concepts of high and low tones are a mere convention and reflect on the language we use to talk about music.

Even if it seems natural to all of us to speak of high and low tones, it is a mere metaphorical convention that originates in the early Middle Ages. While Greek and Latin antiquity used tactile metaphors, barys, gravis (meaning heavy) and oxys, acutus (meaning pointed), our spatial metaphors were established parallel to the dissemination of neume notation which first made use of this new way of thinking.

What do you think are the advantages of talking about high and low tones? What aspects of tones and sound may get lost when we use these metaphors? Do you remember your first introduction with high and low tones, maybe as a child when learning an instrument?

We suggest that you note your reflections down.

Lizenz