ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Octave species

Well, first we need to understand what octaves are. You see, when we hear a sound, it's actually a vibration that moves through the air. And how fast that vibration is moving determines what sound we hear.

Now, when we play a musical note on a piano or guitar or any other instrument, it actually makes more than just that one vibration. It also makes vibrations that are twice as fast, three times as fast, and so on. Those are called harmonics.

And when we hear those harmonics together with the main note, it gives the sound a richer, fuller quality.

So, an octave is when the main note and its first harmonic (double the frequency) are played together. And the cool thing is that those two notes actually sound very similar! They have the same "feeling" or "vibe" to them, even though they're different pitches.

Now, let's talk about octave species. This is a way of categorizing different types of octaves in music.

The first species is the diatonic octave, which just means it includes all the notes from one octave to the next, in a regular pattern. Like if you play all the white keys on a piano from C to the next higher C.

The second species is called the chromatic octave, and it includes all the half-steps (the black and white keys that are right next to each other) between two octaves. This gives a more "spooky" or "mysterious" sound.

The third species is the enharmonic octave, which is even more specific than the chromatic octave. It includes all the notes that are the same pitch but have different names or symbols - like B-sharp and C. This might sound confusing, but it can actually be really cool and interesting in music.

So there you have it, a basic explanation of octave species!