Practical Music (1482) - Page 19

⚠The image shows some water staining and minor foxing, but the text remains largely legible. The script is a Gothic semi-textualis, common in musical treatises of the late medieval or early Renaissance period.

The high octave original: Diapasō acuta with seven intermediate notes, which is called the whole song. The low octave original: Diapason grauis which is called the whole song, including the seven intermediate notes.

paranete hyperbolaion The "next-to-highest" of the extreme notes. trite hyperbolaion The "third" note of the extreme notes. nete diezeugmenon The "highest" note of the disjoined tetrachord. paranete diezeugmenon The "next-to-highest" of the disjoined notes. paranete synemmenon The "next-to-highest" of the joined notes. trite diezeugmenon The "third" of the disjoined notes. paranete synemmenon A repetition indicating overlapping systems. paramese The "next-to-the-middle" note. trite synemmenon The "third" of the joined notes.

p (high a)
tone
o (g)
tone
n (f)
m (e)
tone
l (d)
tone
k (c)
semitone
□ The "square b" or B-natural.
i (b-flat)
[interval]
h (a)
tone
6 (g)
tone
f (f)
semitone
e (e)
tone
d (d)
[interval]
c (c)
the whole
b (B)
tone
a (A)

lichanos meson The "index-finger" note of the middle strings. parypate meson The "next-to-lowest" of the middle strings. hypate meson The "lowest" of the middle strings. lichanos hypaton The "index-finger" note of the principal strings. parypate hypaton The "next-to-lowest" of the principal strings. hypate hypaton The "lowest" of the principal strings.

The fifth tetrachord A grouping of four notes.: the hyperbolaion, meaning the "highest" or "extreme" notes.

The disjoined tetrachord: that is, the diezeugmenon. So called because it is separated from the middle tetrachord by a whole tone.

The third tetrachord: the synemmenon, meaning "joined" or "connected." This tetrachord shares a note with the one below it, allowing for the use of B-flat.

The second tetrachord: the meson, meaning of the "middle" notes.

The first tetrachord: the hypaton, meaning of the "principal" or "lowest" notes.

The added tone original: tonus additus; historically known as the proslambanomenos, the lowest note of the Greek scale.

A complex diagram representing the medieval/Renaissance understanding of the Greek musical system (Greater Perfect System), showing the division of tetrachords and the octave (diapason). It features vertical bars containing note names and intervals (tone, semitone), flanked by interlocking semicircular arcs representing the overlapping tetrachord structures. This is a significant pedagogical diagram from a musical treatise, illustrating Boethian music theory which formed the basis of Western music education for centuries.