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WHAT IS AN OCTAVE?
The term “octave” originally described the span of the eight-note (seven-interval) diatonic order of tones and semitones. Now the term simply applies to the interval associated with the frequency ratio 2:1.
So, whether a scale has five, six, seven, eight, thirteen, or twenty-two notes, the span from the lowermost to the uppermost note—the note with a frequency of double the lowermost note—is still referred to as an “octave.”
Figure 22 below shows the chromatic scale anchored at each end by the prime and octave notes, respectively. It’s just a rack of 12 equally-spaced semitone intervals—13 notes, including the tonic notes at each end, called the prime (or interval of unison) and the octave.
To play the chromatic scale, you start with any note and simply play adjacent semitones until you get to the next octave note. Postmodern feline composers the world over use this non-musical scale.
FIGURE 22: Chromatic Scale with Prime and Octave Notes
The scales in the following discussion use a variety of samplings of tones from the chromatic scale.