Translation Tables

The comprehensive bidirectional mapping between PhizMusic terminology and Western music theory (and other systems where applicable). Use this page when you need to communicate with musicians trained in conventional terminology, or when translating conventional material into PhizMusic.

🎯 Simple version: This page is a dictionary between PhizMusic and traditional music languages. Look up any PhizMusic term to find its Western equivalent, or any Western term to find the PhizMusic way to say it.

1. Note Names

Step	Syllable	Western	Western alt.	German	Romance solfège	Chinese
0	Do	C	—	C	Do	宫 (gōng)
1	Ka	C♯	D♭	Cis/Des	Do♯/Ré♭	—
2	Re	D	—	D	Ré	商 (shāng)
3	Xo	D♯	E♭	Dis/Es	Ré♯/Mi♭	—
4	Mi	E	—	E	Mi	角 (jué)
5	Fa	F	—	F	Fa	—
6	Hu	F♯	G♭	Fis/Ges	Fa♯/Sol♭	—
7	So	G	—	G	Sol	徵 (zhǐ)
8	Bi	G♯	A♭	Gis/As	Sol♯/La♭	—
9	La	A	—	A	La	羽 (yǔ)
10	Ve	A♯	B♭	Ais/B	La♯/Si♭	—
11	Si	B	—	H	Si	—

Notes:

• German system uses B for B♭ and H for B♮ — a historical naming divergence
• Chinese names apply only to the pentatonic subset {0, 2, 4, 7, 9}
• Indian svara: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni — 7 names for a 7-note system. Sa ≈ Do, Pa ≈ So, others vary by raga

2. Intervals

Step-interval	Just ratio	Western name	Western abbreviation	Character
0	1:1	Unison	P1	Identity
1	16:15	Minor second	m2	Maximum tension
2	9:8	Major second	M2	Mild tension
3	6:5	Minor third	m3	Dark, warm
4	5:4	Major third	M3	Bright, sweet
5	4:3	Perfect fourth	P4	Open, stable
6	√2:1	Tritone / aug. 4th / dim. 5th	A4/d5	Maximum ambiguity
7	3:2	Perfect fifth	P5	Maximum fusion
8	8:5	Minor sixth	m6	Dark, wide
9	5:3	Major sixth	M6	Bright, open
10	9:5	Minor seventh	m7	Tense, wants resolution
11	15:8	Major seventh	M7	Extreme tension
12	2:1	Octave	P8	Perceptual reset

How Western naming works (for PhizMusic users decoding Western text):

• “Perfect” (P): step-intervals 0, 5, 7, 12 — considered maximally consonant in Western theory
• “Major” (M): the larger version of each interval pair (steps 2, 4, 9, 11)
• “Minor” (m): the smaller version (steps 1, 3, 8, 10)
• “Augmented” (A): one chromatic step larger than perfect/major
• “Diminished” (d): one chromatic step smaller than perfect/minor
• Western counts from 1 (unison = “1st”); PhizMusic counts from 0

3. Common Chords

Step-combo	Ratio-set	Western name	Western symbol	Voicing notes (from Do)
{0, 4, 7}	4:5:6	Major triad	C, Cmaj	Do-Mi-So
{0, 3, 7}	10:12:15	Minor triad	Cm, Cmin	Do-Xo-So
{0, 3, 6}	~25:30:36	Diminished triad	Cdim, C°	Do-Xo-Hu
{0, 4, 8}	~16:20:25	Augmented triad	Caug, C+	Do-Mi-Bi
{0, 4, 7, 10}	4:5:6:7	Dominant seventh	C7	Do-Mi-So-Ve
{0, 4, 7, 11}	8:10:12:15	Major seventh	Cmaj7, CΔ7	Do-Mi-So-Si
{0, 3, 7, 10}	10:12:15:18	Minor seventh	Cm7, Cmin7	Do-Xo-So-Ve
{0, 3, 6, 9}	—	Diminished seventh	Cdim7, C°7	Do-Xo-Hu-La
{0, 3, 6, 10}	—	Half-diminished	Cø7	Do-Xo-Hu-Ve
{0, 4, 7, 11, 14}	—	Major ninth	Cmaj9	Do-Mi-So-Si-Re
{0, 4, 7, 10, 14}	—	Dominant ninth	C9	Do-Mi-So-Ve-Re

Notes:

• Western chord symbols assume a root note (C in these examples). PhizMusic step-combos are root-agnostic.
• All step-combos shown are relative to the root (step 0). To build the chord from any other root, add the root’s step-number mod 12.

4. Scales

Step-subset	Gap pattern	Western name	Mode
{0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11}	2-2-1-2-2-2-1	Major (Ionian)	1st mode
{0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10}	2-1-2-2-2-1-2	Dorian	2nd mode
{0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10}	1-2-2-2-1-2-2	Phrygian	3rd mode
{0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11}	2-2-2-1-2-2-1	Lydian	4th mode
{0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10}	2-2-1-2-2-1-2	Mixolydian	5th mode
{0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10}	2-1-2-2-1-2-2	Natural minor (Aeolian)	6th mode
{0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10}	1-2-2-1-2-2-2	Locrian	7th mode
{0, 2, 4, 7, 9}	2-2-3-2-3	Major pentatonic	—
{0, 3, 5, 7, 10}	3-2-2-3-2	Minor pentatonic	—
{0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10}	2-2-2-2-2-2	Whole-tone	—
{0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11}	2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1	Diminished (octatonic)	—
{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11}	1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1	Chromatic	—

Notes:

• All modes of the major scale are rotations of the same 7-member subset
• Western mode names come from ancient Greek geographic names — they carry no inherent meaning
• “Harmonic minor” {0,2,3,5,7,8,11} and “melodic minor” {0,2,3,5,7,9,11} are common variants not shown above

5. Rhythm

Pulse-fraction	Western note value	Western rest	Symbol
4T	Whole note	Whole rest	𝅝
3T	Dotted half note	—	𝅗𝅥.
2T	Half note	Half rest	𝅗𝅥
1.5T	Dotted quarter note	—	𝅘𝅥.
1T	Quarter note	Quarter rest	𝅘𝅥
0.75T	Dotted eighth note	—	𝅘𝅥𝅮.
0.5T	Eighth note	Eighth rest	𝅘𝅥𝅮
0.333T	Triplet eighth	—	𝅘𝅥𝅮³
0.25T	Sixteenth note	Sixteenth rest	𝅘𝅥𝅯
0.125T	Thirty-second note	Thirty-second rest	𝅘𝅥𝅰

Cycle length	Western time signature	Common genres
2T	2/4	March, polka
3T	3/4	Waltz
4T	4/4 (common time)	Pop, rock, hip-hop
6T (grouped 3+3)	6/8	Compound duple
5T	5/4	Progressive, Balkan
7T	7/8	Turkish, Bulgarian

Notes:

• Western note values are relative to time signature context. A “quarter note” = 1 beat in 4/4 but 1/3 of a measure in 3/4. Pulse-fractions are absolute: 1T always = one pulse period.
• BPM = 60/T. A tempo of 120 BPM → T = 0.5 seconds.

6. Dynamics (Volume)

dB SPL range	Western marking	Italian term	Meaning
~40-50	pp	Pianissimo	Very quiet
~50-60	p	Piano	Quiet
~60-70	mp	Mezzo piano	Moderately quiet
~70-80	mf	Mezzo forte	Moderately loud
~80-90	f	Forte	Loud
~90-100	ff	Fortissimo	Very loud

Notes: These mappings are approximate. Western dynamic markings are subjective and context-dependent (pp in a solo piano piece ≠ pp in an orchestra). PhizMusic prefers dB SPL for precision where measurement is available.

How to Use These Tables

PhizMusic → Western (talking to a conventional musician):

1. Find your PhizMusic term in the left column
2. Use the Western equivalent
3. Example: “The step-combo {0, 4, 7} starting from La” → “An A major triad”

Western → PhizMusic (reading conventional material):

1. Find the Western term
2. Use the PhizMusic equivalent
3. Example: “G major seventh chord” → “Step-combo {0, 4, 7, 11} rooted at step 7 (So)”

Connections

• Glossary — canonical PhizMusic term definitions
• Reference Table — complete pitch × octave → Hz mapping
• Naming System — how step-numbers and syllables work
• Intervals — physics behind the interval table
• Scales — physics behind the scale table
• Chords — physics behind the chord table
• Rhythm — physics behind the rhythm table