The Meaning Behind the Name

The Meaning Behind the Name.

I came across this idea to blog on while eating my bologna and cheese sandwich with spicy mustard. Why? Because bologna AND sandwich are eponyms. (An eponym is a name of something, after which something else is is named or thought to be named.) Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. It was in this city that the original bologna sausage was made. Likewise, sandwiches were named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. One day, he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. The Earl liked this kind of food because he wouldn't be impeded by greasy hands while playing cards. (Unfortunately, my bologna sandwiches don't look near as lucious as the one in the picture.)

I've always found word origins fascinating, and as I mentioned earlier, it is the inspiration for today's blog.

So what's the meaning behind the name of my blog, "the perfect fifth"?

Honestly, it's just my favorite musical interval. Its tone is immaculate. And, being a string player, it is crucial to have perfect pitch, especially for a fifth. This concept my persnickety violin and I have been battling out for many years, but we'll make it through... eventually.

So what's special about the perfect fifth?

It is the most consonant (stable) tone than any other interval, except unisons and octaves and occurs in all major and minor chords and triads. In fact, it was the first accepted harmony in early musical composition. Also, for non-music-y people, it's not hard to recognize. The first jump in pitch in Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is a perfect fifth.

All in all, after pondering a name for my blog for about an hour yesterday, I finally settled on "the perfect fifth."