tetrachord

[ te-truh-kawrd ]

/ ˈtɛ trəˌkɔrd /

noun Music.

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

Nearby words

tetracene, tetrachloride, tetrachloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, tetrachloromethane, tetrachord, tetracid, tetracoccus, tetracosactide, tetracrotic, tetracyclic

Origin of tetrachord

First recorded in 1595–1605, tetrachord is from the Greek word tetráchordos having four strings. See tetra-, chord¹

Related formstet·ra·chor·dal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tetrachord

Thus it appears that it was Didymus, and not Ptolemy, who proposed the tuning of the tetrachord which is now accepted as correct.
A Popular History of the Art of Music|W. S. B. Mathews
In ancient language, the tetrachord Synmmenn (a-b♭-c-d) takes the place of the tetrachord Diezeugmenn.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
In this case, as the pyknon forms the lower part of a tetrachord, there are two possibilities.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro
Along with this change we have to note the comparative disuse of the Enharmonic and Chromatic divisions of the tetrachord.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro

In practice it appears that musicians tuned the tetrachord b-e of this scale with the Pythagorean two Major tones and leimma.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music|David Binning Monro

British Dictionary definitions for tetrachord

tetrachord

/ (ˈtɛtrəˌkɔːd) /

noun

(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

Derived Formstetrachordal, adjective

Word Origin for tetrachord

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

tetrachord

Nearby words

Origin of tetrachord

Examples from the Web for tetrachord

British Dictionary definitions for.css-ylq2vz{color:#1a1a1a;} tetrachord

tetrachord

noun

Word Origin for tetrachord

British Dictionary definitions for tetrachord