What are the quartal and quintal harmony notes in F# bebop dominant scale?

[Chenjerai]

I'm in the key of F# bebop dominant scale, what will be the notes for quartal and quintal harmony starting from the note G#6 in FL Studio?

 

[Mpumelelo von Mumhanzi]

When counting semitones, how do you go about it to achieve secundal harmony?

Building secundal harmony using semitones​

Secundal harmony is characterized by chords built from the intervals of seconds. When building these chords by counting semitones, you are specifically looking to stack notes that are either one or two semitones apart from each other.

Here is how you go about counting semitones to create these structures:

Identify your intervals​

In Western music, seconds come in two primary forms, each with a specific semitone count:

• Minor second: 1 semitone. This is the smallest distance between two notes on a piano, such as moving from a white key to the immediately adjacent black key (e.g., C to C#), or between adjacent white keys with no black key between them (e.g., E to F). This creates a very tight, highly dissonant clash.
• Major second: 2 semitones. This involves skipping exactly one piano key, whether white or black (e.g., C to D, or E to F#). This is slightly more open but still provides a characteristic "cluster" sound.

Stack the semitones​

To build a secundal chord (often called a tone cluster when three or more notes are involved), you chain these intervals together from the bottom up.

1. Choose a root note: Start with your foundation note.
2. Add the first interval: Count either 1 or 2 semitones up from your root and add that note.
3. Continue stacking: From that newly added note, count another 1 or 2 semitones up to find the third note. Repeat this process from the newest note for as many voices as you want in your cluster.

Diatonic versus free stacking​

How you choose whether to count 1 or 2 semitones depends on your musical goal:

• Following a scale (diatonic): If you are staying within a specific scale, like the F# bebop dominant scale you were using, the scale's built-in formula dictates whether the next note is 1 or 2 semitones away. You simply step up to the next available note in that specific scale sequence.
• Free stacking (chromatic): If you are building clusters outside of a strict scale, you have total freedom. Stacking entirely minor seconds (1 semitone, 1 semitone, 1 semitone) creates a highly dense, thick cluster. Stacking entirely major seconds (2 semitones, 2 semitones, 2 semitones) creates a whole-tone cluster, which has a floaty, ambiguous feel. Mixing 1-semitone and 2-semitone jumps gives you varied harmonic textures.

 

[Jeanne Jenner]

When counting semitones, how do you go about it to achieve secundal harmony?

Counting semitones for secundal harmony​

The key thing to understand is that secundal harmony doesn't use a fixed semitone count. Instead, you simply stack whatever the second the scale gives you at each step.

How it works​

Starting from your chosen note, you move to the next adjacent note in the scale, not a fixed interval apart. The size of each second depends on where you are in the scale:

• A major 2nd = 2 semitones (whole step)
• A minor 2nd = 1 semitone (half step)

Applied to your example (F# Bebop Dominant, from G#6)​

From → To	Semitones	Type
G# → A#	2	Major 2nd
A# → B	1	Minor 2nd
B → C#	2	Major 2nd
C# → D#	2	Major 2nd
D# → E	1	Minor 2nd
E → E# (F)	1	Minor 2nd
E# → F#	1	Minor 2nd

The Contrast with tertial harmony​

In tertial harmony (standard chords), you skip a scale note each time, stacking thirds. In secundal harmony, you skip nothing; every consecutive scale tone gets stacked. That's what creates the dense, cluster-like sound.

So the process is straightforward: pick your starting note, then just keep piling on the next scale degree above it. The scale's structure automatically determines whether each interval is 1 or 2 semitones.