Color may not be the first thing you think of with music. But it is there hiding in plain site. Western music is based on the Chromatic Scale from the Greek, chrôma, meaning color. Think of a piano with white and black keys. If you start at C and follow through both the white and black keys (the flats and sharps) you get to B with 12 equal pitches — that is the Chromatic Scale. The term Chromatic goes back to the Greeks and was refined in the Renaissance. But today it is used in the sense to “color” or add color to something. The Chromatic scale "colors" the notes into equal steps. 

Or the notion of color in music can be used in the sense that visual colors, like music, consists of a spectrum. Also in music the term timbre, referring to the quality of sound as opposed to its tone or strength, can also be referred to as "tone color." But what if color itself is a major motivator for a musician. British jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz is such a musician.

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The copyright of all music in this podcast series is held by the individual holders. The theme and end songs are licensed from Fresh Music Library. All commentary is copyright by David Husom. All rights are reserved. Contact the author for educational use of this material.