tetrachord

American  

[te-truh-kawrd] / ˈtɛ trəˌkɔrd /

noun

Music.

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

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tetrachord British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• tetrachordal
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of tetrachord

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tetrachord

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.

From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2022

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

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

These three classes differ in their arrangement of the tetrachord.

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

There are four notes of the tetrachord, and there are three ratios of metre, 3/2, 2/2, 2/1, which have all their characteristics, and the feet have different characteristics as well as the rhythms.

From The Republic by Benjamin Jowett

From them it appears that the basis of their scale was the tetrachord of four tones, placed at an interval of two steps and a half step.

From A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present by W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock) Mathews

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