The Renaissance musical scale is known as the Gamut.[1]Although the Gamut can be thought of as scalar, it is important to note that it is not strictly diatonic due to the structural nature of both Bb and B natural.
Its lowest note, known as ‘Gamma Ut’ or simply Γ, is the equivalent of the lowest G of the bass clef:
Its highest note is the equivalent of the highest E of the treble clef:[2]Although these are the canonical limits of the Gamut, Renaissance theorists frequently added notes above and below. Notes outside of the Gamut are referred to as musica ficta and are built on … Continue reading
In modern notation, the Gamut looks like this:[3]Notice that when the Gamut begins, as is typical on Gammut Ut, the lowest B appears only in its natural form. In order for this low B to be sung as Fa, and by extension sung as Bb, a hexachord needs … Continue reading
This is a typical fifteenth-century representation of the Gamut, adapted from Johannes Tinctoris’ c.1472 Expositio Manus:[4]See Johannes Tinctoris, “Expositio Manus,” ed. Ronald Woodley, www.stoa.org, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.stoa.org/tinctoris/expositio_manus/expositio_manus.html or Albert Seay, “The … Continue reading
On the left-hand side you can see the letter names (‘litterae’) running upwards from lowest to highest.[5]The exact nature of the Gamut is quite complex. There are several relevant and overlapping concepts: Voces: The term voces refers to the six solmisation syllables, which indicate the relationships … Continue reading On the right hand side, you can see an overlapping series of solmisation syllables (‘voces’) arranged in groups of six notes, or hexachords.[6]The primary meaning of the term hexachordum is the interval of a major or minor sixth until the end of the fifteenth century. The more common term used to describe the six Guidonian syllables during … Continue readingThe six solmisation syllables are Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, and La.[7]The earliest explicit description of a seven-note solmisation system is by the fifteenth century Spanish music theorist Ramos de Pareja, although calls for reform to the Guidonian six-note system can … Continue reading They can start on C, in the natural (‘naturalis’) hexachord:
on G, in the hard (‘durum’) hexachord:
or F, in the soft (‘mollis’) hexachord:
In modern notation, these three hexachords overlap like this:
Before moving on to our next section, in which we’ll explore the practical application of solmisation syllables more thoroughly, why not try some of our practice material to make sure you’ve really grasped the material we’ve covered so far?
Printable worksheet 1 – The Gamut
Now that the basic structure of the Gamut is clear, we have to learn about the two clefs of plainchant.[8]From the mid-fifteenth century theorists began to distinguish between claves signatae, which referred to clefs and accidentals, and claves non signatae. See Karol Berger, Musica Ficta: Theories of … Continue reading
The first clef is a C-clef, which indicates the location of what we today call middle C. Notice that in plainchant we only use four lines on our stave:[9]Although there appears to be overlaps with the modern notation of pitch, the pitches of the Gamut do not refer to a specific frequency, but are purely relative for the period in question. Their … Continue reading
This clef can be moved to any line of the stave, even in the middle of a piece. Another common location for the C-clef is the following:
The next clef is an F-clef, which indicates the F below middle C:
This clef can also move, just like the C-clef:
The combination of these two elements, letter and syllable, is part of what makes the Medieval musical system so flexible. If you feel like you’ve understood the contents of this page, please continue to the next section in which you’ll be introduced to a tool that will help you get to know all of this and more like the back, or palm, of your hand…
References
| ↑1 | Although the Gamut can be thought of as scalar, it is important to note that it is not strictly diatonic due to the structural nature of both Bb and B natural. |
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| ↑2 | Although these are the canonical limits of the Gamut, Renaissance theorists frequently added notes above and below. Notes outside of the Gamut are referred to as musica ficta and are built on transposed hexachords or coniunctae. |
| ↑3 | Notice that when the Gamut begins, as is typical on Gammut Ut, the lowest B appears only in its natural form. In order for this low B to be sung as Fa, and by extension sung as Bb, a hexachord needs to be built on the F below Gamma Ut. |
| ↑4 | See Johannes Tinctoris, “Expositio Manus,” ed. Ronald Woodley, www.stoa.org, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.stoa.org/tinctoris/expositio_manus/expositio_manus.html or Albert Seay, “The Expositio Manus of Johannes Tinctoris,” Journal of Music Theory 9, no. 2 (1965): 194–232. |
| ↑5 | The exact nature of the Gamut is quite complex. There are several relevant and overlapping concepts:
Voces: The term voces refers to the six solmisation syllables, which indicate the relationships between notes, i.e., whether they are surrounded tones or semitones. Litterae: The litterae are the seven letter names which repeat every octave. Loci: The loci are literally the places or positions of each note, commonly mapped onto the joints of the hand or the lines and spaces of the staff. The term is derived from the rhetorical practice of using imaginary places for the purpose of fixing the contents of a speech in one’s memory. Claves: The nature of the claves is complex and diverse, with likely etymological derivations to be found in Medieval computus terminology. For many authors they represent the combination of both vox and littera. Additional meanings include the keys of a keyboard, an accidental, or a clef (see footnote 6.) For more information see in particular Stefano Mengozzi, “Virtual Segments: The Hexachordal System in the Late Middle Ages,” Journal of Musicology 23, no. 3 (2006): 426–67; Margaret Bent, “Diatonic Ficta,” Early Music History 4 (October 1984): 1–48; Karol Berger, Musica Ficta: Theories of Accidental Inflections in Vocal Polyphony from Marchetto Da Padova to Gioseffo Zarlino (Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004); and Carol Berger, “The Hand and the Art of Memory,” Musica Disciplina 35 (1981): 87–120. |
| ↑6 | The primary meaning of the term hexachordum is the interval of a major or minor sixth until the end of the fifteenth century. The more common term used to describe the six Guidonian syllables during this period is deductio. Each note has its own proprietas, or property, which describes the intervallic context surrounding each clavis. By the thirteenth century however, the term proprietas began to be commonly used to describe the properties of the three overlapping Guidonian segments; the hard, soft, and natural. See in particular Stefano Mengozzi, “Virtual Segments: The Hexachordal System in the Late Middle Ages,” Journal of Musicology 23, no. 3 (2006): 426–67. |
| ↑7 | The earliest explicit description of a seven-note solmisation system is by the fifteenth century Spanish music theorist Ramos de Pareja, although calls for reform to the Guidonian six-note system can be traced as early as the thirteenth century. The use of Si as a seventh solmisation syllable arose in Flanders towards the end of the sixteenth century, possibly pioneered by the Flemish music theorist Hubert Waelrunt. The first theoretical source to suggest the use of Si for a seventh syllable is Joachim Burmeister’s Musicae Practicae of 1601. Despite its strong association with Renaissance and Medieval music theories, a six-note system remains in use, particularly in Italian sources, well into the eighteenth century. For more information see Gene H. Anderson, “La Gamme Du Si: A Chapter in the History of Solmization,” Indiana Theory Review 3, no. 1 (1979): 40–47; and Nicholas Baragwaneth, The Solfeggio Tradition: A Forgotten Art of Melody in the Long Eighteenth Century (Oxford University Press, 2020). |
| ↑8 | From the mid-fifteenth century theorists began to distinguish between claves signatae, which referred to clefs and accidentals, and claves non signatae. See Karol Berger, Musica Ficta: Theories of Accidental Inflections in Vocal Polyphony from Marchetto Da Padova to Gioseffo Zarlino (Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 190. |
| ↑9 | Although there appears to be overlaps with the modern notation of pitch, the pitches of the Gamut do not refer to a specific frequency, but are purely relative for the period in question. Their sounding frequency depends on the voice(s) or instruments available at any given moment. For more information see Scott Metcalfe, “Clefs, Pitch, and Transposition in Vocal Music before 1600,” Journal of the Alamire Foundation 14, no. 2 (September 2022): 285–329. |
