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THE ARTS
Howard Goodall's Big Bangs
 
Introduction
Programme 1: The Invention of Notation
Programme 2: The Birth of Opera
Programme 3: The Discovery of Equal Temperament
Programme Aims
Programme Outline
Background Information
Music Heard in the Programme
Activities
Links
Programme 4: The History of the Piano
Programme 5: The Development of Recorded Sound
Curriculum Relevance
Contact 4Learning
Print Version

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Programme Outline

The implications of this invention affect every piece of music we listen to: from Pythagoras' creation of the 12-note scale; to the big breakthrough of equal temperament; the publication of the 48 Preludes and Fugues by J.S. Bach; and the effect equal temperament had on traditional eastern European music. Howard Goodall ends by observing how Chinese music continued to follow the rules of nature, using the pentatonic scale.