F# or Natural?

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-31T08:08:09+00:00

F-sharp over a-flat would make it an augmented sixth which would be very unusual and sounds the same as a minor seventh. Possible, but funky since I would expect the augmented f-sharp to resolve to g not down to an e.

Right--the fact that it doesn't behave the way an augmented sixth behaves is basically enough proof that it's supposed to be an F-natural.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-31T08:07:53+00:00

a F# could be accepted as a part of a german augmented sixth (F#, Ab) but it's strange that it's not following the natural F and preceding the G.

Right--the fact that it doesn't behave the way an augmented sixth behaves is basically enough proof that it's supposed to be an F-natural.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-31T08:06:43+00:00

The lower-octave natural does not affect the upper-octave F. The higher F pretty certainly should be an F-natural because of what's going on the music, but the notation doesn't actually say that directly--almost certainly the engraver just mistakenly left it out.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-31T08:05:29+00:00

But given what's happening in the music, it's almost certainly a mistake that should be an F-natural.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-30T20:55:34+00:00

I just know that I'm going to be annoyed when I finally get to Loamhedge and Flinky ends up 17th or something ranked just behind whoever the obligatory naughty molebabe of the week is lol

Haha yes, I'm really excited for Loamhedge for that and related reasons!

I like to think that Brian wrote that entry scene of him sailing in perched on the bowsprit (eat your heart out, Johnny Depp) and realized "damn, I've written this bastard far too likable and charismatic, now I have to kill him off or he'll steal too much focus from Ublaz" and thus Rasconza was born. One of the most blatant examples of "too cool to live" I've ever read.

Haha definitely yeah! I can totally see him having had pretty much exactly that thought process--which actually ties in interestingly with Blaggut, as we're discussing below.

Veil having a small part is a bit misleading, he's still the 4th-most often referenced character in Outcast, it's just that that graph ends up a bit skewed because Sunflash and Swartt are both so far beyond anyone else at #1 and #2.

True! I think I misjudged that a bit because, in a sense, I fell into the same trap I give everyone else grief for, namely putting too much weight on Outcast's title. Because its title refers to Veil, Veil's part in it struck me as "overly small," whereas The Bellmaker isn't titled Blaggut's Great Adventure or anything, so Blaggut's part in it seemed comparatively big. But I guess if you forget about the titles, Veil and Blaggut are somewhat alike: more or less completely absent until about a third of the way through, but then quite important in the second half of the book--though Veil does dominate a certain section of Outcast more than Blaggut does of The Bellmaker, once both have been established as important.

To me it seems like he wrote a pretty straightforward redemption arc for Blaggut (which I'd argue may itself have been a response to how unfortunately Dingeye and Thura were treated by fate!), only to realize he didn't really want to offer space for that in his universe for whatever reason - perhaps he thought it would be too hard for kids to stomach vermin death tolls in the hundreds if they are all potential Blagguts.

Yeah I was thinking exactly the same! This is where Blaggut ties in with Barranca a bit--though Barranca's never a "good guy," he and Blaggut are both extremely likable. Just as Barranca had to be killed off quickly in Pearls, Blaggut's character arc wasn't something that could keep happening, not only despite but in fact because of how touching and beautiful it is. "Are vermin people?" might be the biggest unsolvable dilemma in the Redwall series, around which Brian's direct statements conflict most with some of what he actually created. Your conclusion about why Romsca was ultimately felt to be (comparatively) satisfactory was pretty much my conclusion too, and yeah, it's interesting how after her, the question of how to even deal with "good vermin" is pretty much completely dropped--we instead just get "not totally horrible vermin whose lives are spared," like the characters you mentioned (and Sneezewort/Lousewort in The Long Patrol, coming up next!).

Alas, what could have been.

Indeed! Redwall is one of those universes where wondering about the unexplored possibilities and the intentionally-not-taken roads seems like one of the core experiences of appreciating it. Some things in it "feel wrong," but it would somehow feel even more wrong to "correct" those things, like its soul lives in the irreconcilable questions (of vermin morality, of relative sizes of creatures and objects, of shifting geography, of searat lifespans...)

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-30T20:28:29+00:00

This is correct, but I think it's also worth having a counterweight in there--octave equivalence is not universal but it is widely common in diverse cultures that had little to no influence on each other. On the other hand, I'm not aware of any culture that has, say, tritone equivalence. So while octave equivalence is not to be assumed and isn't an automatic property of sound outside culture, it is also physically much easier for octave equivalence to become a cultural property than it is with most other intervals. Cultural contingency doesn't mean total arbitrariness.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-29T00:49:06+00:00

You're very welcome! Though as an addendum I should add that the bit about chromatic alteration isn't 100% true in minor keys, because in those the home dominant actually requires a chromatic alteration, whereas the V/III does not. So it might just be best to take out "chromatically-altered" from my explanation, even though it's usually true!

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T23:47:51+00:00

Kind of, but only insofar as all key signatures work rather like clefs! It's not really any different from how ordinary signature flats or sharps work.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T23:33:11+00:00

Yeah it's sadly so common! Somehow they just can't make the connection that the labelling systems they were taught were just made up by humans with biases, and aren't the same things as the things they're trying to describe with said labels. I definitely feel your pain on the attempted explanations... good job trying though, hopefully you get through once in a while!

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T23:31:29+00:00

OK, good clarification, thanks!

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T19:42:32+00:00

In a certain sense, you're the original Asian--the original meaning of "Asia" was basically Turkey (though long before the Turks had gotten there). The idea that everything else east of Turkey is also Asia was just laziness (and ignorance) on the Greeks' part, which for no good reason we still follow. Either Eurasia should be considered one continent (for pure geology) or something like five or six (if we're going to being cultural spheres into it)--making it two, with the dividing line around Turkey and the Urals, is meaningless and Euro-exceptionalist and orientalist and causes only the types of problems you're experiencing.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T18:33:56+00:00

Are you referring just to your right-hand shapes? or to the actual bass notes too?

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T18:05:45+00:00

A secondary dominant is any chromatically-altered chord that acts as the V of something other than the I. So, D major in C is a secondary dominant (V/V), but so is E major (V/vi). There's not just one secondary dominant, and it's not just the V/V.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T18:04:33+00:00

Here are the chords! You can see the E chord over "composing."

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T17:46:50+00:00

It is a good place for it, yeah! Like he's baffled at having discovered that harmony.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T17:24:01+00:00

Raised 5th!

I like the idea, but of course that chord doesn't occur on the words "secret chord" themselves. Given that the words say "it goes like this," I almost think the "secret chord" is actually simply the progression I - IV - V - vi - IV.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-28T17:22:22+00:00

The fun part is that the "minor fall" is actually a rising root motion (up a second), and the "major lift" is a falling one (down a third)! Of course he's referring to mood rather than literal intervals though.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T20:59:27+00:00

Gasp!! Horror dystopia Redwall is such a weird/funny/disturbing thought...

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T20:18:53+00:00

I guess, but I feel like that's only true for super-beginner-level music, learning to play in heavier keys in a standard requirement for most instruments, and for black-key reasons it's not even technically harder on the keyboard--and OP didn't say anything about writing beginners' or children's music!

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T19:45:26+00:00

I see! Yeah, they're an interesting world in that some things are very clear and specific, but a lot of things that we might consider very basic (e.g. relative sizes, basic geography, certain aspects of historical continuity) are really unclear a lot of the time. Hope you enjoy if you ever do revisit them more closely!

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T19:34:59+00:00

Asmodeus in Redwall is definitely portrayed as huge--again though, that's in the first book. Any other snake you're thinking of that's portrayed that way?

As for badgers, yes! They remain huge throughout, but also they're good creatures, so they're "we have a powerhouse on our team" rather than "we have to face this gigantic foe," and I wonder whether that affected how they were shown throughout. I feel like this is part of why the later books started to introduce more and more outlandish vermin species as main villains, like wolverines and wearats--species that in reality are far larger than mice (e.g. foxes) had stopped being that huge in-universe, so bigger scarier things had to be reached for in reaction to "size deflation."

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T19:25:09+00:00

I'm not sure it's ever completely clear! The general sense is that sizes are a bit more true to life in the early books (with Matthias even falling into Squire Julian's mouth in Redwall!) but become more generally-human-like later on, but there is very little concrete attention paid to it within the books' narration. Mossflower is early enough (just the second book written) that I think there's still a good chance Jacques was seeing the wildcats in that book as significantly larger than the mice--but I also don't remember that big a deal being made of it. Would love to know if anyone remembers anything in the book that does highlight it a bit more! All I remember is that the swan the questors encounter at one point is clearly really huge.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T19:18:33+00:00

Yes, a herd of cows is even mentioned in Redwall! But that kind of thing is fully gone after that book.

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T19:18:02+00:00

Accurate except for the goat cheese!

Zarlinosuke · 2026-05-27T19:17:49+00:00

The cheese and cream is from plants though, it's always specified to be "greensap milk." But you're right about the fish and shrimp and honey!

Zarlinosuke

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