Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2017 September 9

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September 9

Good guess

Hi, basically, in the TV version of The Walking Dead the character Jesus (The Walking Dead) has the last name "Rovia", but is played by a white British actor (the character is American). I just wondered where the character is meant to be from? He is obviously white, but which ancestry? Probably a good guess is all I can hope for, any idea please?--2A02:C7D:892B:3D00:4D3:5380:6099:B9BB (talk) 21:23, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

We have an article on that character (I haven't read it): Paul "Jesus" Monroe/Rovia. However, considering that this is fiction, my guess: he is a generic "white guy". 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:B08E:CBF8:1934:2C40 (talk) 23:08, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

...D'oh! My link was the same as yours. 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:B08E:CBF8:1934:2C40 (talk) 03:40, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

Monroe is a Scottish surname (see Clan Munro), which hints at ancestry rather than nationality. Alansplodge (talk) 09:49, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

Two kinds of diminished scales

The whole tone scale is a special scale that (unlike the major and minor scales) has 6 notes, not 7. It is made entirely of whole steps. There are only 2 whole tone scales; C-D-E-F♯-G♯-A♯-C and F-G-A-B-C♯-D♯-F. A whole tone scale starting on any note will have the same notes as whichever of the above whole tone scales has this note.

The diminished scale, which some people talk about, is defined as alternating whole steps and half steps. (I believe it is named after the fact that it has a diminished triad on every one of its notes; the whole tone scale has an augmented triad on every one of its notes.) However, there are 2 kinds of diminished scales; those that start with a whole step and those that start with a half step. How can we distinguish them?? Can anyone who answers this question put the appropriate info in Diminished scale?? (This scale, unlike the chromatic and whole tone scales, never appeared in any piano lessons I took growing up; I know it exclusively from Internet sites.) Georgia guy (talk) 23:22, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

To quote the article: "Each octatonic scale has exactly two modes: the first begins its ascent with a whole step between its first two notes, while the second begins its ascent with a half step (semitone)." It doesn't name them, however. 93.139.41.72 (talk) 04:23, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

The half-step one appears to be referred to as "dominant diminished" (as opposed to simply "diminished"). [1] --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 14:31, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

TBH, both are mostly just called the "octatonic scale", without regard to what they start with, being thought of more as pitch collections than actual scales. Double sharp (talk) 15:20, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

The octatonic scale article is interesting reading, and a good challenge if you can audiate notation. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 17:46, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

Honestly, most of the examples given before Mussorgsky and Debussy are not real octatonicism, but simply a use of equal divisions of the octave in a tonal context at best; the Bach and Beethoven examples are not even that, but are just passing tones applied between diminished seventh chords in a tonal context. By those standards, we could credit Mozart for the synthetic scale C-D-E♭-F♯-G-A♭-B, because he uses it in KV 533 to force a previously exposed scalar motif above a German sixth chord through passing notes. (I'm not considering his use of the whole-tone scale in KV 525 because he obviously considered that a joke that sounded out of tune.) The true revolution there is Mussorgsky's non-functional chord progression. Double sharp (talk) 00:06, 15 September 2017 (UTC)