What is the pattern of a tetrachord?

What is the pattern of a tetrachord?

Let’s start with the most basic. 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.

What are the notes in AF tetrachord?

The lower tetrachord of F major is made up of the notes F, G, A, and Bb. The upper tetrachord is made up of the notes C, D, E, and F.

How many steps does a tetrachord have?

A tetrachord is four pitches within the span of 6 half-steps (the interval of a tritone). Most scales are made up of two tetrachords.

What is tetrachord in piano?

Just as an interval is a basic building block in music, a tetrachord is a (larger) building block of a scale. Two tetrachords combine to form a scale. The two tetrachords are usually separated by a whole-step or half-step. He used to teach all 12 major scales to LITTLE kids on the piano.

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 tetrachord theory?

In music theory, a tetrachord (Greek: τετράχορδoν, Latin: tetrachordum) is a series of four notes separated by three intervals. In traditional music theory, a tetrachord always spanned the interval of a perfect fourth, a 4:3 frequency proportion (approx.

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.

Why is it called a tetrachord?

The name comes from tetra (from Greek—”four of something”) and chord (from Greek chordon—”string” or “note”). In ancient Greek music theory, tetrachord signified a segment of the greater and lesser perfect systems bounded by immovable notes (Greek: ἑστῶτες); the notes between these were movable (Greek: κινούμενοι).

What is a minor tetrachord?

A minor tetrachord is built with a whole step, followed by a half step, followed by a whole step. In C natural minor, Tetrachord I is built with the notes C, D, E♭ , and F. As C to D is a whole step, D to E♭ is a half step and E♭ to F is a whole step.

What is a harmonic tetrachord?

A harmonic tetrachord is built of a half step, followed by a whole+half step (or 1½ step), followed by a half step. The whole+half step (or 1½ step or three half steps) sounds like a minor third though it is musically spelled differently. In C harmonic minor, Tetrachord II is built with the notes G, A♭, B, and C.

How many notes are in a tetrachord scale?

See Article History. Tetrachord, musical scale of four notes, bounded by the interval of a perfect fourth (an interval the size of two and one-half steps, e.g., c–f).

How are the tetrachords used in Western music?

Tetrachord. In Western music, the tetrachord is an ascending series of four notes. Two disjunct tetrachords (those without a common tone), each with the interval arrangement of tone, tone, semitone, combine to form the major scale. Thus the tetrachords c–d–e–f and g–a–b–c′ form the scale built on c.

How many semitones are in a tetrachord?

An enharmonic tetrachord is one you’re likely to never see used. It has one interval of a major third (four semitones) and then two intervals of half a semitone. Because this involves microtonal notes (e.g. B half-sharp), it is hard to notate and even harder to play. The Greeks had specific names for the four notes of a tetrachord.

What did Pythagoras do with the tetrachord?

In fact, it was the Greek mathematician Pythagoras who defined the mathematical ratios between the notes that make up the major scale used throughout Western music to this day. The tetrachord was a way to compose songs built around the perfect fourth, often played on a four-string lyre.