Practical Music

Chapter Three

...the fourth original: quarta, referring to the interval of a perfect fourth or Diatessaron, within which three intervals are enclosed: namely, two tones and one semitone. Boethius An influential 6th-century philosopher whose "De institutione musica" was the standard textbook for music theory in the Middle Ages. divides the monochord by tetrachords A group of four notes spanning the interval of a perfect fourth. in this manner: b.c. is the first tetrachord; the second is e.h. In such a way that e is the end of the first and the beginning of the second division; and in a similar way b.l. But when the end of the preceding is taken as the beginning for the following tetrachord, it is called a conjoint tetrachord, which the Greeks call synemmenon original: synemeno; meaning "connected" or "linked.".

However, when h—that is, the end of the first or preceding—is not taken as the beginning for the second or following, but the subsequent tetrachord a. b-square original: b. qdr.; the square-shaped 'b' (B-natural) which starts the next grouping takes its start, proceeding through k. l. and stopping at m., it is called disjoint in Latin, and in Greek is named diazeugmenon meaning "separated" or "disjoined.", because those boundary tetrachords are not coupled together, but the beginning of the second is separated from the end of the first by the distance of a tone.

There is also a fifth tetrachord, m. p., which is called hyperboleon, that is, the "exceeding" or "excellent"; for no other string among the high tetrachords surpasses its strings in height and sublimity of pitch. The first tetrachord is called hypaton in Greek, which is "the principal" or "the lower" in Latin. The second tetrachord is messon in Greek, or "of the middle" in the Roman tongue.

The harmony is divided in this way because, by the teaching of nature, it is so governed that after two tones it is tempered by a semitone. The strings, of which the names are diverse, are eight in number. These are: Hypate, Parypate, Lichanos, Mese, Paramese, Trite, Paranete, and Nete.

Hypate is called the "principal." From this, the Greeks call a consul Hypaten. Parypate means "next to the principal." Lichanos is so named because, according to the opinion of Boethius, it was struck or touched by the index finger, which is called Lichanos in Greek, while the first finger struck the hypate. Mese means "middle," because it is placed in the middle position in the seven-stringed scale original: eptra chordo; referring to the ancient heptachord. Paramese means "next to the middle." Trite is so called because it is the "third" before the Nete. Paranete means "near the nete," and Nete is the "lowest"—not indeed in its sound, but in the terminology of its position In ancient Greek theory, the highest pitch was often called "lowest" (nete) because it was physically lowest on the instrument or furthest from the player..

Furthermore, because these strings are utilized in different tetrachords, they receive various names with a certain addition. For they are called: Hypate hypaton Principal of the principals, Parypate hypaton, Lichanos hypaton, and there follows Hypate messon Principal of the middle notes, Parypate messon, Lichanos messon, and the Mese. Then the conjoint: Trite synemmenon, Paranete synemmenon, and Nete synemmenon. But the Paramese is disjoined from the Mese by a tone. And there follows: Trite diezeugmenon, Paranete diezeugmenon, Nete diezeugmenon, Trite hyperboleon, Paranete hyperboleon, and Nete hyperboleon.

But because the Mese was not positioned in the exact middle since there were fourteen strings original: nervi; literally "nerves," used here for the gut strings of an instrument, a string was added which is called proslambanomenos original: proslabanomenos; meaning "the added note," the lowest note of the system (A) or prosodos by the Greeks, but by our people is named the "acquired," "assumed," or "added" string. For if a tone...