What Is Tetrachord Theory?

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A major tetrachord contains four notes separated by this pattern: whole step, whole step, half step. That’s the progression of any major chord, which is solid, bright, and pleasant to hear.

Is a tetrachord a triad?

The four tetrachords explored in Chapter 6 were all examples of added note tetrachords. That is, each tetrachord started as a triad built from three different notes that belonged to a musical scale.

How is major tetrachord formed?

A major tetrachord is built of a whole step, followed by another whole step, followed by a half step. Two major tetrachords placed in succession forms a major scale. For example, in C major, Tetrachord I is built with the notes C, D, E, and F.

What is D major key signature?

D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F♯, G, A, B, and C♯. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor.

What are the three genera of tetrachord?

The basic form was the diatonic genus (e.g., a–g–f–e); its modifications formed the chromatic (a–f♯–f–e) and enharmonic (a–f–e+–e♮, with e+ being a pitch between e♮ and f) genera. The Greek theorist Cleonides (c. 2nd century ad) discusses the tetrachord and its genera.

What’s an example of a Greek diatonic tetrachord?

Diatonic Tetrachords

In a diatonic tetrachord, the three intervals used are two whole tones and one semitone. An example would be a Major or minor tetrachord (e.g. C – D – E – F or A – B – C – D).

What is a Phrygian tetrachord?

Quick Reference. A tetrachord made up of the first four notes of the Phrygian mode. The intervals of the Phrygian tetrachord are semitone–tone–tone (e.g. E–F–G–A), as opposed to the tone–tone–semitone of the diatonic major scale.

What is a diatonic note?

Diatonic, in music, any stepwise arrangement of the seven “natural” pitches (scale degrees) forming an octave without altering the established pattern of a key or mode—in particular, the major and natural minor scales. … In medieval and Renaissance music, eight church modes dictated the organization of musical harmony.

What does a key signature tell you?

Key signature, in musical notation, the arrangement of sharp or flat signs on particular lines and spaces of a musical staff to indicate that the corresponding notes, in every octave, are to be consistently raised (by sharps) or lowered (by flats) from their natural pitches.

How many Octatonic scales are there?

The octatonic is a mode of (very) limited transposition, and there are three possible scales: Oct 0,2; Oct 0,1; and Oct 1,2. The numbers of the names indicate all that is needed to identify a particular octatonic scale: two consecutive notes within the scale. 0 is C♮, 1 is C#, and 2 is D♮.

What is the lower tetrachord?

The lower tetrachord is the first four notes of a scale, and the upper tetrachord is the last four notes of a scale. Tetrachords can be used to remember the number of sharps or flats within a major key signature. … Using the upper tetrachord of a G major scale, the lower tetrachord of D major is formed.

What is the formula for a tetrachord?

The intervallic formula of the tetrachord of the major scale is “whole-step, whole-step, half-step”, which can be represented as “W, W, H” or “Why Won’t He”. So, starting from any note on the keyboard, and using the formula (W, W, H), the tetrachord can be formed.

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Which two notes separate the two tetrachords of the C major scale?

For example, in the case of the scale of C major these halves contain the notes C, D, E, and F, and G, A, B, and C. Each half is called a tetrachord and has an interval pattern of tone, tone, semitone. An interval of a tone separates the two tetrachords (F to G). In C major, the upper tetrachord is G, A, B, C.

What is in between tetrachords to make a major scale?

A tetrachord is a series of four notes that have a specific pattern of whole steps and half steps. … Another important thing to remember is that the four notes of the tetrachord must be in alphabetical order using the musical alphabet (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). When we put two tetrachords together, we have a major scale.

What is a semitone in music?

A semitone (sometimes called a half tone or a half step) is the distance from a white key to a neighboring black key on the piano keyboard—for example, from G to G-sharp or from E to E-flat. … Semitones are the smallest intervals that are used intentionally in almost any of the music you’ll normally hear.

What is major scale in music?

The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. … Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double its frequency so that it is called a higher octave of the same note (from Latin “octavus”, the eighth).

How many tetrachords are there in a major scale?

TETRACHORDS: A tetrachord is a group of four notes in a scale. There are two tetrachords in the major scale, each with the same order half- and whole-steps (W-W-H).

What augmented fourth?

The augmented fourth (A4) and diminished fifth (d5) are defined as the intervals produced by widening the perfect fourth and narrowing the perfect fifth by one chromatic semitone. … For instance, the interval F–B is an augmented fourth and can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B.

How do you tell what key a song is in?

The easiest way to figure out the key of a song is by using its key signature. The number of sharps/flats in the key signature tell you the key of the song. A key signature with no sharps or flats is the key of C (or A minor).

How do you name a major key signature?

To find the name of a key signature with sharps, look at the sharp farthest to the right. The key signature is the note a half step above that last sharp. Key signatures can specify major or minor keys. To determine the name of a minor key, find the name of the key in major and then count backwards three half steps.

What is the greatest number of flats that can be in a key signature?

Scales with flat key signatures

There can be up to seven flats in a key signature, applied as: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭ The major scale with one flat is F major. In all major scales with flat key signatures, the tonic in a major key is a perfect fourth below the last flat.

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