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Rising Tones, Falling Tones
Figure 19 (previous page) shows how you hear the tones rising higher and higher as you proceed upwards through the scale degrees, from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, all the way up to 1 (8).
Or you hear falling tones as you proceed downwards from 1 (8) to 7 to 6 to 5, all the way down to 1.
As you proceed upwards through the scale degrees, each tone sounds like it’s not only rising in pitch, but also moving further away from the vertical line that runs through 1 and 1 (8).
Then, when you get to scale degree 5, something happens. The direction of motion reverses. And, although the tones continue to rise, the tones sound like they’re somehow returning home, towards 1 (8).
And yet, it’s a different version of home, a different version of the tonal centre.
Oddly, you get this “going away, then coming back” sensation whether you ascend the scale from one end to the other, or descend it from one end to the other.