How do I aurally recognize microtonality?
In this music interview with Jacob Collier, Jacob gave an example of microtonal voice leading. The example song was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, in C, specifically the ending of the song. He sang a minor third divided into 4 notes, which should normally be 3 semitones.
I immediately recognize this pattern, similar to which I have heard while trying to transcribe some songs in the past. The transcriptions were a failure, mainly because I was unable to find the right notes on a piano.
How do I recognize these microtonal notes/patterns in general?
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In general, if you recognize an interval or note as off-key or out of tune, you've just heard microtonality.
Arabic music has microtonality at its core, i.e. in many of the scales that are commonly used in classical and popular Arabic music.
I've developed a small web app that can play musical fragments in a chosen tuning. For example, one can listen to the Arabic scale Rast (which includes 2 microtones) without or without the microtones, by selecting the appropriate tuning: ethereum.karimratib.me:8080/
I'm surprised no one has mentioned what I think is the obvious answer:
Listen to microtonal music!
Check out works from:
Tristan Murail
Claude Vivier
Pascal Dusapin
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Iannis Xenakis
Harry Partch
And be sure to check out who is probably my personal favorite, Ben Johnston. If I may, check out one of the three CDs by the Kepler Quartet of his string quartets; they're masterful recordings of terrific pieces!
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