Editing Quartal and quintal harmony (section)

== Properties ==
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' { 
  \clef treble \time 4/4 <a d g c f bes es>1 <bes d f a c es g>
} }
</score>|width=300|caption=Notes in a quartal chord on A can be arranged to form a [[thirteenth|thirteenth chord]] on B{{music|b}}.{{sfn|Benward and Saker|2009|loc=279}}}}
The terms ''quartal'' and ''quintal'' imply a contrast, either compositional or perceptual, with traditional harmonic constructions based on thirds: listeners familiar with music of the [[common practice period]] are guided by [[tonalities]] constructed with familiar elements: the chords that make up major and minor scales, all in turn built from [[major third|major]] and [[minor third]]s.

Regarding chords built from perfect fourths alone, composer [[Vincent Persichetti]] writes that:
{{quote|Chords by perfect fourth are ambiguous in that, like all chords built by equidistant intervals ([[Diminished seventh chord|diminished seventh chords]] or [[Augmented triad|augmented triads]]), any member can function as the [[Root (chord)|root]]. The indifference of this rootless harmony to tonality places the burden of [[Key (music)|key]] verification upon the [[Part (music)|voice]] with the most active melodic line.{{sfn|Persichetti|1961|loc=94}}|sign=|source=}}

''Quintal harmony'' (the harmonic layering of fifths specifically) is a lesser-used term, and since the fifth is the [[Inversion (interval)|inversion]] or [[Complement (music)|complement]] of the fourth, it is usually considered indistinct from ''quartal harmony''. Because of this relationship, any quartal chord can be rewritten as a quintal chord by changing the order of its pitches.

Like tertian chords, a given quartal or quintal chord can be written with different [[Voicing (music)|voicings]], some of which obscure its quartal structure. For instance, the quartal chord, C–F–B{{music|flat}}, can be written as
<blockquote><score sound="1">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' { 
  \clef treble \time 4/4 <c f bes>1 <f bes c> <bes c f> <f bes c f>
} }
</score></blockquote>