<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As Will W. pointed out in a post that followed on the heels of yours to my in-box, these numbers are parts of the Figured Bass system, used as a shorthand for keyboard players centuries ago. "6" is actually an abbreviation for "6".</font> <div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 3</font></div> <div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Whether a chord is major or minor is determined, in music from that time in history, by the key signature. If there is to be a deviation from what the key signature indicates, the appropriate accidental would appear under the bass note (such as in the case of a Picardy Third, a major chord at the end of a piece in a minor key).</font><br> <br> <div style="clear:both"></div> Alan Eder<br> <br> <div style="font-family:helvetica,arial;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Jason Kanter <jkanter@rollingball.com><br> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Tue, Sep 27, 2011 10:19 am<br> Subject: Re: [pianotech] theory question<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_f623d491-362a-40c6-ad5e-c9dde1576760"> <font face="verdana,sans-serif">What bothers me about this is that the two uses of "6" refer to a minor sixth (E-C) and a major sixth (G-E) respectively, without distinguishing them. So under the guise of precision we find sloppiness. Music theorists...</font> <div> <font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br> </font></div> <div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, sans-serif">Jason<br> </font> <div><br> <div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> <font size="2" face="Courier New"><snip><br> Ken said: "I concur with Tom. You count from the bottom up. A "6" is the<br> interval between the E and the C when in first inversion. In second<br> inversion, G, C, E, there is a 4th between the G-C and an "6" between the<br> G-E."<br> <br> </font></blockquote></div> -- <br> |  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||<br> jason's cell 425 830 1561<br> |  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||  ||  |||<br> <br> </div> </div> </div>  </div> </div> </font>