Are there any books that discuss musical scales in detail?

[meeks]

remember, the cheaper you are; the more soft synths you'll own

...even chordspace playa!!!

(but are all those scales seriously in that database?!??!...one could study chordspace alone for years)

[nuffink]

remember, the cheaper you are; the more soft synths you'll own

...even chordspace playa!!!

(but are all those scales seriously in that database?!??!...one could study chordspace alone for years)

No, not in ChordSpace. Only the common scales and modes. I'm working on something else. It's a massive expansion of the principles behind ChordSpace which, strangely or not, has led to a radical simplification of those principles. As ever, there's nothing as practical as a good theory.

[meeks]

True...but it (chordspace) can certainly kill the I-IV-V rut and certainly and quickly offer something interesting (it's sometimes hard to visualize the neck of a guitar for chords, for me).

[Remedial]

Why the hostility nuffink?

If I have misunderstood the OP, then my apologies, but unless he corrects me...

You got my original intention correct. I would still be interested in perusing your Scales post, though.

The whole impetus for my search is that so many texts just give you scales and say, "There you go. Do something with that." Providing no more background than "Minor scales sound sad, major scales sound happy", which is not entirely true in and on of itself.

[JumpingJackFlash]

Why the hostility nuffink?

If I have misunderstood the OP, then my apologies, but unless he corrects me...

You got my original intention correct. I would still be interested in perusing your Scales post, though.

The whole impetus for my search is that so many texts just give you scales and say, "There you go. Do something with that." Providing no more background than "Minor scales sound sad, major scales sound happy", which is not entirely true in and on of itself.

Thanks. My scales post can be found here, but I'm afraid it is similar to the "Do something with that" approach that you dislike; and rightly so IMO. Your search for additional knowledge is commendable and I wish you luck.

To really get the background of major and minor scales, you're going to have to go back hundreds of years. The concept of major and minor keys was first standardised around the 17th century, but before this some pieces were still written in this "tonal" style, whereas other pieces conformed to the old Church Modes (derived by a misunderstanding of ancient Greek modes), and some pieces around the time hovered between these two ways of working. (The use of musica ficta amongst other things obscured the characteristics of the old modes, and by the end of the 17th century they were effectively obsolete).

The main unrestricted use of these scales was explored by Bach. This tonality was expanded by people like Beethoven, and taken to the extreme by Wagner and the other late romantics, until it was abandoned in modern times by people like Schoenberg. - The use of excessive chromaticism obscured the distinctions of tonality just as the use of music ficta had previously obscured the distinctions of modality.