# the tritone: who used it first?



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Bach or someone else before him?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Who knows? What do you mean by "used", though? It appears in Maj 7th chords, does that count? Or do you mean melodically? And harmonically it functions a bit differently depending on the tuning system. In modern, equal tempered scales, the tritone helps make modulations so smooth and easy.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

mbhaub said:


> Who knows? What do you mean by "used", though? It appears in Maj 7th chords, does that count? Or do you mean melodically?


yes, melodically. I know that Bach used it, I'm not sure if it was used before him, even because of the different tuning systems that made it way less "manageable" compared to the tritone we know today. And I'm not sure about the difference for the tritone between the well temperament and the equal temperament.


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

It was used in medieval music, and contra to popular lore, was not deemed to be Satanic

http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/tritone.html


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## DBLee (Jan 8, 2018)

mbhaub said:


> It appears in Maj 7th chords, does that count?


Not to be overly nitpicky, but I assume you mean Dominant 7th chords.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Yes, but the question clearly was, who first used it as their doorbell?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Ethereality said:


> Yes, but the question clearly was, who first used it as their doorbell?


Count Dracula. .............


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