LearnJazzPiano.com archives: The Overtone Series

DEPiano -- 02/01/2005, 18:08:52 -- #10892

Could someone please explain to me what the oh-so mystical "overtone series" is.  I have heard it mentioned many times, and have so far only learnt that it's naturally occuring (which is pretty useless).  How does it relate to  particular instruments? What use does it have for soloing (if any)? Is it even slightly relevant for jazz piano?! Thanks for the help

Billy -- 02/01/2005, 21:44:54 -- #10895

When you play a note on any instrument, overtones will sound along with the note. Pick up a guitar, and gently place your finger on the string at the 5th fret and pluck the string. You will hear the overtone. This note you hear is an octave above the fundamental note. There are other overtones as well, you can hear some of them on a guitar by doing the above at the 7th, 12th, and 4th fret (and several other places). By taking all of these notes, we come up with a sort  of natural occuring scale. 1 5 1 1 5 3 5 1 this is going up always. I dont remember the exact sequence of all the overtones, but im pretty sure that they eventually make up the lydian scale. So, by the overtone series, we have the lydian  scale as the natural scale.

Dr. Mike -- 02/01/2005, 22:31:17 -- #10896

play a note on your piano and listen to it.  Listen to it closer than you have been.  If you do... When you play middle C for example you will hear other notes as well.  Middle C in this case is just the fundamental.  The other pitches you hear  if you listen closely enough g, d, a  etc etc make up the Overtone series.   Learning about these things in detail is commonly called the "physics of music"  Knowledge of the physics of music is not really any more neccessary to play jazz piano than it is to know general physics to live life.  But it can come in handy and can have very interesting applications.  Some theoroticians claim that because the overtong series makes up a Lydian scale, the lydian scale is the natrual  scale and should be the scale all theory is based on instead of the major scale.

Jazz+ -- 02/01/2005, 22:36:25 -- #10897

Pianist Art Lande says his he sometimes plays with the notes from the "overtone series" when doing free improvisations.

Jazz+ -- 02/01/2005, 22:38:30 -- #10898

The notes of the Overtone Series: http://www.music.ecu.edu/courses/brass/OVERTONE_SERIES.HTML

sid -- 02/02/2005, 11:15:32 -- #10908

One practical use of overtones is when you play 10ths in the left hand.  Because the fifth above a given note is a strong overtone, by playing, for example, C (lower note) and E (tenth higher), you get G and B for free - a nice rich C maj7 with just two fingers.  In terms of improvised lines, the strong fifth overtone above the major 7th (F# in the case of C maj7) justifies playing lydian lines and upper voicings over major chords.  There are plenty of other reasons why it's worth trying to understand and exploit overtones. sid

albetan -- 02/02/2005, 14:08:37 -- #10920

The overtones series is the physical basis of “timbre” or tone color for each musical instrument. To know it is very useful in some instruments as strings, winds, organ… You may do special effects in them with overtones or harmonics. In pipe organs or in drawbar organs as old Hammonds you must know this stuff for building stops combinations. If you play the lowest C with a 8 feet stop, a pipe of 8 feet produces a frequency of 64 beats per second (b.p.s.), equivalent to C(1). The same key with a 4 feet stop connects a pipe of 4 feet producing a frequency of 128 b.p.s. , equivalent to C(2). In a thread named “organists” I wrote this explanation: “Eight feet stops (8´) produce the natural  sound of keys. 4´stops sound an octave up, 2´stops sound two octaves up, 1´stops sound 3 octaves up, 16´stops sound 1 octave lower, 5 1/3´stops sound a fifth up, 2 2/3´stops sound a fifth over the octave, 1 3/5´stops sound a third over 2 octaves, 1 1/3´stops sound a fifth over 2 octaves,” In Drawbar organs we may combine different harmonics or overtones with different intensities getting a rich palette of tone colors or timbres.

albetan -- 02/02/2005, 14:22:39 -- #10921

A good stuff about overtones series appears in an old thread named “Lydian concept”. Use search engine (upwards) for finding it.

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