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Heptachord

Heptachord, from Greek ', from ancient greek ἑπτάχορδος (heptákhordos, "seven-stringed"), from ἑπτά (heptá, "seven") + χορδή (khordḗ, "chord"), is a 7-stringed lyre of ancient Greece, the interval of a seventh, or a (diatonic) scale of seven notes or tones.

7-stringed lyre

Most of the ancient greek lyres had 7 strings. Early lyres originate in ancient Mesopotamia.

Interval of a seventh

Two intervals are possible:

Scale of seven notes

A heptachord is based on two consecutive tetrachords.

Basic tetrachords

1½1, ½11, 11½

and the tritone<br> 111

7 modes

The 7 modal patterns for the Babylonian heptachords are:

2 consecutive heptachords

7 consecutive heptachords

6 cyclic consecutive heptachords

Tuning

A tuning procedure ‘loosening’ (TU.LU) in Music of Mesopotamia for a 7-stringed instrument based on a transposition to D/D:

‘tightening’ (GÍD.I)

Basic tetrachord with 4 semitones

½1½

Heptachords with 9 semitones

½1½1½1 and 1½1½1½

References

Further reading

External links