Configurations, tessellations and tone networks
The tonnetz, which is commonly represented as a tessellation of the plane by a triangular network of tones, can also be represented as a bipartite graph of degree three with twelve vertices denoting major triads and twelve vertices denoting minor triads. We show that this Levi graph can be realized geometrically as a system of twelve points and twelve lines in R2 with the property that three points lie on each line and three lines pass through each point, in a configuration {123} of Daublebsky von Sterneck type D222. This tonnetz configuration, alongside various generalizations thereof, can be used as a new basis for the composition and analysis of music.
Authors
- Jeffrey R. Boland
- Lane P. Hughston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1185-934X)
Institutions
- Synlab Czech (Czechia) (CZ)
- Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (Canada) (CA)
- Goldsmiths University of London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Mathematics and Music
- Published
- 2026-07-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/17459737.2026.2678317
- Primary Topic
- Musicology and Musical Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- King's College London
- Kuwait University