Negative Harmony

Striso
1

Any time I’m watching videos about music theory these days, I have my Striso out to try things out. Music theory clicks so much more easily for me with the Striso’s layout.

While listening to Jacob Collier talk about negative harmony, I had a suspicion. Sure enough. If you’re playing a melody, then flip the Striso upside-down (or use the function combo to do so), and physically play the same pattern, you instantly get a negative harmony version. There are some details to add, like knowing where your root note and fifth are, so you pivot around the point between them. And of course octaves become a matter of preference, especially if your talking about whole chords with extensions.

But I thought this was neat enough to share, though I’m not sure this is what people use this forum for or not.

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2

Absolutely this.

One of the more fun experiences I’ve had with the Striso was when I cribbed a music theory lesson from an acquaintance in exchange for lunch. She would start explaining a concept at a high level, and I’d ask for specific notes, she’d rattle off a few. I looked at the Striso and pointed out the shape it made, then rattled off a few more note combinations that were the same. She eventually stopped trying to explain the high level and started just telling the notes, then we’d talk about the shapes and how they related. Her excitement at seeing how music theory just naturally played out left me happy for days.

-Frank

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