tetrachord

[te-truh-kawrd]

noun

Music.

1. a diatonic series of four tones, the first and last separated by a perfect fourth.

tetrachord

/ ˈtɛtrəˌkɔːd /

noun

1. (in musical theory, esp of classical Greece) any of several groups of four notes in descending order, in which the first and last notes form a perfect fourth

Other Word Forms

• tetrachordal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetrachord¹

First recorded in 1595–1605, tetrachord is from the Greek word tetráchordos having four strings. See tetra-, chord ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetrachord¹

C17: from Greek tetrakhordos four-stringed, from _tetra- + khordē a string

Example Sentences

It is more difficult to be certain of the exact tuning of each note within a tetrachord.

Read more on Literature

That’s true even during the exposition’s most hot-to-the-touch passage, a high-flown tetrachord of B, F sharp, F and E that emerges in the 16th minute.

Read more on New York Times

Later, in an analysis of a mandala drawn by Coltrane for Yusef Lateef, he says that a reading of the diagram, “we get C, C-sharp, E, F and F-sharp, which is an all-interval tetrachord,” when a tetrachord has only four notes, and the all-interval tetrachord, which is asymmetric, couldn’t possibly be outlined in Coltrane’s entirely symmetric drawing.

Read more on New York Times

Tetrachord, tet′ra-kord, n. a series of four sounds, forming a scale of two tones and a half.—adj.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

In his system of scales the semitone was always between the 2nd and 3rd of a tetrachord, as G, A, ♭ B, C, so the ♮ B and ♯ F of the second octave were in false relation to the ♭ B and ♮F of the first two tetrachords.

Read more on Project Gutenberg