My $0.02 on terminology: if you think of the maths definition of "irrational" as "cannot be represented as a ratio of two integers",
we can translate this definition into music as "cannot be represented as a ratio of an integer and a non-dotted, non-tuplet note value". I.e., treat the categorisation of integer->rational->irrational from maths as "whole measure"->"basic" notes->"any duration" in music -David On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 at 09:41, Silvain Dupertuis < silvain-dupert...@bluewin.ch> wrote: > Thanks for the reference. > > This wikipedia article in English does not have it's counterpart in my > language (French), but a corresponding but different French article which > does not mention this notion. > > So this term “irrational” is indeed used that way in music (at least in > English) — but I still think it would be better to use the terme «non > dyadic», also mentioned in the article, so as to harmonize teminology > between music and maths.... > > Silvain > > Le 17.01.23 à 15:52, Hans Åberg a écrit : > > On 17 Jan 2023, at 15:20, Silvain Dupertuis <silvain-dupert...@bluewin.ch> > <silvain-dupert...@bluewin.ch> wrote: > > I wonder about the term “irrational” meter. Should not we say “irregular” ?? > as in mathematics, an irrational number is a number which cannot be > represented as a fraction... > > The denominator is not a power of two. See: > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature#Irrational_meters > > > -- > Silvain Dupertuis > Route de Lausanne 335 > 1293 Bellevue (Switzerland) > tél. +41-(0)22-774.20.67 > portable +41-(0)79-604.87.52 > web: silvain-dupertuis.org <https://perso.silvain-dupertuis.org> >
