The Vinous Pitch

The Vinous Pitch is a form of music used during marches and military engagements originating in The Turquoise of Revolutions. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A chanter recites The Pistil of Dates. The entire performance should stress the rhythm and accelerates as it proceeds. The melody has phrases of varied length throughout the form. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. It is performed using the tinos scale and in the afonan rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to play rapid runs and alternate tension and repose.

• The chanter always does the main melody.
• The Vinous Pitch has the following structure: an introduction and a lengthy passage.
• The introduction is to be moderately soft. The chanter's voice stays in the low register.
• The simple passage is to be soft. The chanter's voice stays in the high register.
• Scales are constructed from twenty-two notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1xxx-xx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is a fixed tone passed from teacher to student.
• The tinos pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 4th, the 10th, the 15th and the 22nd.
• The afonan rhythm is a single line with eight beats divided into four bars in a 2-2-2-2 pattern. The beats are named stat (spoken sta) and vazast (va). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x - | x - | x - | - x |
• where x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.

Events