The resounding Enneagram: the seven note musical scale as a model of the universe

Abstract

[Abstract]: Gurdjieff, in his chapter on the law of Heptaparashinokh, utilizes the musical seven-note scale to illustrate the two primary laws governing the unfolding of cosmic processes, the laws of seven and three. These laws, fundamental to Gurdjieffian cosmology, also underpin the structure of western diatonic music. A consideration of the functional musical scale engenders a deeper understanding of the law of Heptaparashinokh, also represented by the Enneagram. An explanation of complex musical ideas becomes very simple with recourse to actual sounds, as opposed to words alone. Similarly, Gurdjieffian ideas, such as the role of semi-tones in a scale, are simplified when, by virtue of an audible demonstration, the ear quite literally perceives the physical tendency for a particular note to rise or fall. And, again, the movement from a lower octave to a higher has a special significance in music, and can be effectively demonstrated only by sound. The seven-note scale is comprised of a tri-chord and a tetra-chord, separated by a semitone. The scale itself is separated from the scale above also by a semitone. The interval formed by the outside notes of the tri-chord is a major third, whereas the interval formed by the tetra-chord is the tritone, or augmented fourth. When one listens to these intervals the unstable and ambiguous nature of the tritone is immediately apparent when compared to the major third. The Gurdjieffian idea that the second semi-tone requires a greater shock than the first, is further elucidated by the audible qualities of these intervals. This paper aims to examine the cosmological model of the seven-note scale in the light of functional diatonic music.