A set (pitch set, pitch-class set, set class, set form, pitch collection) in music theory, as in

mathematics and general parlance, is a collection of objects. In musical contexts the term is
traditionally applied most often to collections of pitches or pitch-classes, but theorists have
extended its use to other types of musical entities, so that one may speak of sets of durations or
timbres, for example.[2]

Prime form of five pitch class set from Igor Stravinsky's In memoriam Dylan Thomas[3]
A set by itself does not necessarily possess any additional structure, such as an ordering.
Nevertheless, it is often musically important to consider sets that are equipped with an order
relation (called segments); in such contexts, bare sets are often referred to as "unordered", for the
sake of emphasis. [4]

Contents
[hide]

1 Serial
2 Non-serial
3 Vectors
4 See also
5 Further reading
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Serial
In the theory of serial music, however, some authors (notably Milton Babbitt [5]) use the term
"set" where others would use "row" or "series", namely to denote an ordered collection (such as a
twelve-tone row) used to structure a work. These authors speak of "twelve tone sets", "time-point
sets", "derived sets", etc. (See below.) This is a different usage of the term "set" from that
described above (and referred to in the term "set theory").
For these authors, a set form (or row form) is a particular arrangement of such an ordered set: the
prime form (original order), inverse (upside down), retrograde (backwards), and retrograde
inverse (backwards and upside down) [2].
A derived set is one which is generated or derived from consistent operations on a subset, for
example Webern's Concerto, Op.24, in which the last three sets are derived from the first [6]:

B B D E G F G E F C C A

Represented numerically as the integers 0 to 11:

0 11 3 4 8 7 9 5 6 1 2 10

Webern's Concerto Op. 24 tone row[7], composed of four trichords: P RI R I

The first set (B B D) being:
0 11 3 prime-form, interval-string = <-1 +4>

The second set (E G F) being the retrograde-inverse of the first, transposed up one semitone:
3 11 0 retrograde, interval-string = <-4 +1> mod 12
3 7 6 inverse, interval-string = <+4 -1> mod 12
+ 1 1 1
-----= 4 8 7

The third set (G E F) being the retrograde of the first, transposed up (or down) six semitones:
3 11 0 retrograde
+ 6 6 6
-----9 5 6

And the fourth set (C C A) being the inverse of the first, transposed up one semitone:
0 11

3 prime form, interval-vector = <-1 +4> mod 12

0 1 9 inverse, interval-string = <+1 -4> mod 12

+ 1 1 1
------1 2 10

Each of the four trichords (3-note sets) thus displays a relationship which can be made obvious
by any of the four serial row operations, and thus creates certain invariances. These invariances
in serial music are analogous to the use of common-tones and common-chords in tonal music.

[edit] Non-serial
A time-point set is a duration set where the distance in time units between attack points, or timepoints, is the distance in semitones between pitch classes [8].

Major second on C Play (helpinfo).

Minor seventh on C

Play (helpinfo).

Inverted minor seventh on C (major second on B) Play (helpinfo).

The normal form of a set is the most compact ordering of the pitches in a set [9]. Tomlin defines
"most compact" as having, "the largest of the intervals between any two consecutive pitches is
between the first and last pitch listed" [9]. For example, the set (0,2) (a major second) is in normal
form while the set (0,10) (a minor seventh, the inversion of a major second) is not, its normal
form being (10,0).
Rather than the "original" (untransposed, uninverted) form of the set the prime form may be
considered the either the normal form of the set or the normal form of its inversion, whichever is
more tightly packed[10].

[edit] Vectors
Prime Forms and Vectors of Pitch-Class Sets[hide]
The following is a table of all pitch-classes sets as cataloged by Allen Forte. Complementary sets
are aligned in the same row.

Name
3-1(12)
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6(12)
3-7
3-8
3-9(12)
3-10(12)
3-11
3-12(4)
4-1(12)
4-2
4-3(12)
4-4
4-5
4-6(12)
4-7(12)
4-8(12)
4-9(6)
4-10(12)
4-11
4-12
4-13
4-14
4-Z15
4-16
4-17(12)
4-18
4-19
4-20(12)
4-21(12)
4-22
4-23(12)

Pitch-classes set
0,1,2
0,1,3
0,1,4
0,1,5
0,1,6
0,2,4
0,2,5
0,2,6
0,2,7
0,3,6
0,3,7
0,4,8
0,1,2,3
0,1,2,4
0,1,3,4
0,1,2,5
0,1,2,6
0,1,2,7
0,1,4,5
0,1,5,6
0,1,6,7
0,2,3,5
0,1,3,5
0,2,3,6
0,1,3,6
0,2,3,7
0,1,4,6
0,1,5,7
0,3,4,7
0,1,4,7
0,1,4,8
0,1,5,8
0,2,4,6
0,2,4,7
0,2,5,7

Interval vector
210000
111000
101100
100110
100011
020100
011010
010101
010020
002001
001110
000300
321000
221100
212100
211110
210111
210021
201210
200121
200022
122010
121110
112101
112011
111120
111111
110121
102210
102111
101310
101220
030201
021120
021030

Name
9-1
9-2
9-3
9-4
9-5
9-6
9-7
9-8
9-9
9-10
9-11
9-12
8-1
8-2
8-3
8-4
8-5
8-6
8-7
8-8
8-9
8-10
8-11
8-12
8-13
8-14
8-Z15
8-16
8-17
8-18
8-19
8-20
8-21
8-22
8-23

Pitch-classes set
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9
0,1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9
0,1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10
0,1,2,3,4,5,7,8,10
0,1,2,3,4,6,7,8,10
0,1,2,3,5,6,7,8,10
0,1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10
0,1,2.3,5,6,7,9,10
0,1.2,4,5,6,8,9,10
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,8
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,9
0,1,2,3,4,5,7,8
0,1,2,3,4,6,7,8
0,1,2,3,5,6,7,8
0,1,2,3,4,5,8,9
0,1,2,3,4,7,8,9
0,1,2,3,6,7,8,9
0,2,3,4,5,6,7,9
0,1,2,3,4,5,7,9
0,1,3,4,5,6,7,9
0,1,2,3,4,6,7,9
0,1,2,4,5,6,7,9
0,1,2,3,4,6,8,9
0,1,2,3,5,7,8,9
0,1,3,4,5,6,8,9
0,1,2,3,5,6,8,9
0,1,2,4,5,6,8,9
0,1,2,4,5,7,8,9
0,1,2,3,4,6,8,10
0,1,2,3,5,6,8,10
0,1,2,3,5,7,8,10

Interval vector
876663
777663
767763
766773
766674
686763
677673
676764
676683
668664
667773
666963
765442
665542
656542
655552
654553
654463
645652
644563
644464
566452
565552
556543
556453
555562
555553
554563
546652
546553
545752
545662
474643
465562
465472

4-24(12)
4-25(6)
4-26(12)
4-27
4-28(3)
4-Z29
5-1(12)
5-2
5-3
5-4
5-5
5-6
5-7
5-8(12)
5-9
5-10
5-11
5-Z12(12)
5-13
5-14
5-15(12)
5-16
5-Z17(12)
5-Z18
5-19
5-20
5-21
5-22(12)
5-23
5-24
5-25
5-26
5-27
5-28
5-29
5-30

0,2,4,8
0,2,6,8
0,3,5,8
0,2,5,8
0,3,6,9
0,1,3,7
0,1,2,3,4
0,1,2;3,5
0,1,2,4,5
0,1,2,3,6
0,1,2,3,7
0,1,2,5,6
0,1,2,6,7
0,2,3,4,6
0,1,2,4,6
0,1,3,4,6
0,2,3,4,7
0,1,3,5,6
0,1,2,4,8
0,1,2,5,7
0,1,2,6,8
0,1,3,4,7
0,1,3,4,8
0,1,4,5,7
0.1,3,6,7
0.1,3,7,8
0,1,4,5,8
0,1,4,7,8
0,2,3,5,7
0,1,3,5,7
0,2,3,5,8
0,2,4,5,8
0,1,3,5,8
0,2,3,6,8
0,1,3,6,8
0,1,4,6,8

020301
020202
012120
012111
004002
111111
432100
332110
322210
322111
321121
311221
310132
232201
231211
223111
222220
222121
221311
221131
220222
213211
212320
212221
212122
211231
202420
202321
132130
131221
123121
122311
122230
122212
122131
121321

8-24
8-25
8-26
8-27
8-28
8-Z29
7-1
7-2
7-3
7-4
7-5
7-6
7-7
7-8
7-9
7-10
7-11
7-Z12
7-13
7-14
7-15
7-16
7-Z17
7-Z18
7-19
7-20
7-21
7-22
7-23
7-24
7-25
7-26
7-27
7-28
7-29
7-30

0,1,2,4,5,6,8,10
0,1,2,4,6,7,8,10
0,1,2,4,5,7,9,10
0,1,2,4,5,7,8,10
0,1,3,4,6,7,9,10
0,1,2,3,5,6,7,9
0,1,2,3,4,5,6
0,1,2,3,4,5,7
0,1,2,3,4,5,8
0,1,2,3,4,6,7
0,1,2,3,5,6,7
0,1,2,3,4,7,8
0,1,2,3,6,7,8
0,2,3,4,5,6,8
0,1,2,3,4,6,8
0,1,2,3,4,6,9
0,1,3,4,5,6,8
0,1,2,3,4,7,9
0,1,2,4,5,6,8
0,1,2,3,5,7,8
0,1,2,4,6,7,8
0,1,2,3,5,6,9
0,1,2,4,5,6,9
0,1,2,3,5,8,9
0,1,2,3,6,7,9
0,1,2,4,7,8,9
0,1,2,4,5,8,9
0,1,2,5,6,8,9
0,2,3,4,5,7,9
0,1,2,3,5,7,9
0,2,3,4,6,7,9
0,1,3,4,5,7,9
0,1,2,4,5,7,9
0,1,3,5,6,7,9
0,1,2,4,6,7,9
0,1,2,4,6,8,9

464743
464644
456562
456553
448444
555553
654321
554331
544431
544332
543342
533442
532353
454422
453432
445332
444441
444342
443532
443352
442443
435432
434541
434442
434343
433452
424641
424542
354351
353442
345342
344532
344451
344433
344352
343542

5-31
5-32
5-33(12)
5-34(12)
5-35(12)
5-Z36
5-Z37(12)
5-Z38
6-1(12)
6-2
6-Z3
6-Z4(12)
6-5
6-Z6(12)
6-7(6)
6-8(12)
6-9
6-Z10
6-Z11
6-Z12
6-Z13(12)
6-14
6-15
6-16
6-Z17
6-18
6-Z19
6-20(4)
6-21
6-22
6-Z23(12)
6-Z24
6-Z25
6-Z26(12)
6-27
6-Z28(12)

0,1,3,6,9
0,1,4,6,9
0,2,4,6,8
0,2,4,6,9
0,2,4,7,9
0,1,2,4,7
0,3,4,5,8
0,1,2,5,8
0,1,2,3,4,5
0,1,2,3,4,6
0,1,2,3,5,6
0,1,2,4,5,6
0,1,2,3,6,7
0,1,2,5,6,7
0,1,2,6,7,8
0,2,3,4,5,7
0,1,2,3,5,7
0,1,3,4,5,7
0,1,2,4,5,7
0,1,2,4,6,7
0,1,3,4,6,7
0,1,3,4,5,8
0,1,2,4,5,8
0,1,4,5,6,8
0,1,2,4,7,8
0,1,2,5,7,8
0,1,3,4,7,8
0,1,4,5,8,9
0,2,3,4,6,8
0,1,2,4,6,8
0,2,3,5,6,8
0,1,3,4,6,8
0,1,3,5,6,8
0,1,3,5,7,8
0,1,3,4,6,9
0,1,3,5,6,9

114112
113221
040402
032221
032140
222121
212320
212221
543210
443211
433221
432321
422232
421242
420243
343230
342231
333321
333231
332232
324222
323430
323421
322431
322332
322242
313431
303630
242412
241422
234222
233331
233241
232341
225222
224327

7-31
7-32
7-33
7-34
7-35
7-Z36
7-Z37
7-Z38

0,1,3,4,6,7,9
0,1,3,4,6,8,9
0,1,2,4,6,8,10
0,1,3,4,6,8,10
0,1,3,5,6,8,10
0,1,2,3,5,6,8
0,1,3,4,5,7,8
0,1,2,4,5,7,8

6-Z36
6-Z37(12)

0,1,2,3;4,7
0,1,2,3,4,8

6-Z38(12)

0,1,2,3,7,8

6-Z39
6-Z40
6-Z41
6-Z42(12)

0,2,3,4,5,8
0,1,2,3,5,8
0,1,2,3,6,8
0,1,2,3,6,9

6-Z43

0,1,2,5,6,8

6-Z44

0,1,2,5,6,9

6-Z45(12)
6-Z46
6-Z47
6-Z48(12)

0,2,3,4,6,9
0,1,2,4,6,9
0,1,2,4,7,9
0,1,2,5,7,9

6-Z49(12)

0,1,3,4,7,9

336333
335442
262623
254442
254361
444342
434541
434442

6-Z29(12)
6-30(12)
6-31
6-32(12)
6-33
6-34
6-35(2)

0,1,3,6,8,9
0,1,3,6,7,9
0,1,3,5,8,9
0,2,4,5,7,9
0,2,3,5,7,9
0,1,3,5,7,9
0,2,4,6,8,10

[edit] See also

Permutation (music)
Pitch interval
Similarity relation

224232
2242/3
223431
143250
143241
142422
060603

6-Z50(12)

0,1,4,6,7,9