hexachord

hexachord, in music, six-note pattern corresponding to the first six tones of the major scale (as, C–D–E–F–G–A). The names of the degrees of the hexachord are ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la (also called solmization [q.v.] syllables); they were devised by the 11th-century teacher and theorist Guido of Arezzo. The hexachord was described in medieval and Renaissance musical theory and was extensively used in the teaching of singing. Its value was that it gave the singer a fixed set of pitch relations by which he could orient himself as he sang; as a practical device it proved an effective way to teach the sight-reading of music and to teach individual melodies. Modifications of the system to encompass a full octave are still in use.

The essence of the hexachord system is that each hexachord includes only one semitone—between mi and fa. A series of seven overlapping hexachords completed the gamut of formally recognized musical tones, a span of two and one-fourth octaves, containing the notes of the C major scale plus B♭.

There were three varieties of hexachord—natural, hard, and soft. In the natural hexachord, which started on C, mi is E and fa is F. In the hard hexachord, which started on G, mi is B (B♮) and fa is C. In the soft hexachord, which started on F, mi is A, but fa cannot be B♮, for B♮ is a whole tone, not a semitone, above A; fa is therefore B♭. Both B♭ and B♮ were thus fitted into a system of hexachords that always kept the same relative pitches between ut and la and therefore provided one set of pitches that the singer could always use to orient himself.

Britannica Quiz

Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz

The pupil learned to sing his gamut by memorizing the sound of the series ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la as it was sung. He then knew at what point to make the semitone interval mi–fa, whether or not the music included B♭ or B♮. If he needed to sing B♮ he used the hard hexachord; if he needed to sing B♭, he used the soft hexachord.

The chart shows four of the seven overlapping hexachords of the gamut.Click Here to see full-size table Ascending the hard hexachord to its fourth note, C fa, the singer would find himself on a level with the first note, C ut, of the natural hexachord. The full name of this note is, therefore, C fa ut. He could then think himself into the overlapping hexachord by taking this C as ut and continuing from there. This process of transferring to an overlapping hexachord at the pivotal points is called mutation. It enabled the singer to apply the solmization syllables to any series of notes he encountered, although he would take musical context into consideration in choosing the best note on which to mutate. See also gamut.