Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,760,587,171 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

hexachord
(redirected from hexachords)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

hexachord


(Greek; “six strings”)

In music, a group of six tones in a specified pattern, specifically the interval pattern tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone (as in G-A-B-C-D-E). The hexachord was apparently conceived in the 11th century when theorist Guido d'Arezzo noticed that the scales of the church modes could be seen to overlap in their interval patterns. His system of solmization gave each hexachord the same syllables (ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la), and by means of overlapping hexachords the theorist could represent the complete “gamut” of pitches. Though counterintuitive to modern musicians, who think in terms of octaves, the concept of hexachords was fundamental to music theory throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
The first work in which I use symmetrical hexachords is the Fantasy in Two Movements for solo violin that I wrote for Yehudi Menuhin, and there you'll find the symmetrical hexachord idea, and you'll find also permutations of that idea.
 
Encyclopedia browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.