The Non-Pythagorean scale is a musical scale

Musical scale

In music, a scale is a sequence of musical notes in ascending and descending order. Most commonly, especially in the context of the common practice period, the notes of a scale will belong to a single key, thus providing material for or being used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical...

 first conceived and developed by Robert Schneider

Robert Schneider

Robert Peter Schneider is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum...

 of The Apples in Stereo

The Apples in Stereo

The Apples in Stereo, styled The Apples in stereo, is an American indie rock band associated with The Elephant Six Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. The band is largely a product of lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider, who writes the...

. It is based on natural logarithms. The term "Non-Pythagorean" is a reference to Greek philosopher Pythagoras

Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...

 in respect to his work with the chromatic scale

Chromatic scale

The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...

.

The scale was introduced in 2007 with the release of New Magnetic Wonder

New Magnetic Wonder

New Magnetic Wonder is the sixth studio album from The Apples in Stereo. The album was produced by Robert Schneider with additional production and mixing by Bryce Goggin and was recorded in three separate states...

, the sixth studio album by The Apples in Stereo. The album featured two brief compositions using the scale. Enhanced CD versions of the album included a third composition as well as a variety of information from Schneider concerning the scale. Audio files and instructions are also on the disc, enabling the listener to prepare a MIDI keyboard to play in the Non-Pythagorean scale.

Though use of the scale is still sparse, Schneider encourages those interested to experiment with it and continue development of a possible musical theory.

External links

• The Non-Pythagorean scale at the official Apples in Stereo website
• A brief explanation of the differences between Pythagorean and Non-Pythagorean scales at Pop Culture Will Eat Itself