A
term used to designate a variation of the Short octave in which the lowest ‘sharps’
on keyboard instruments are divided in order to permit sounding of some of the
missing accidentals. The front portion of each divided key sounds the pitch
that would be expected in a normal short octave, whereas the back portion
sounds the accidental that would be expected in a chromatic bass octave. Thus
in a C/E broken octave the front portions of the two lowest sharps sound
D and E, respectively, while the back portions sound F
and G; and in a G'/B'
broken octave the front portions of the two lowest sharps sound A' and B'
(or B
'), while
the back portions sound C and E. Occasionally in the latter arrangement only the
second sharp is divided, so that the C remains unavailable. Keys divided for this purpose
should not be confused with those divided to permit sounding additional chromatic
degrees in non-equal temperaments.
EDWIN M. RIPIN