The Guidonian Hand is a memory aid which helps us to map the pitches of the Gamut onto the joints of our own hands while singing, the ‘instrument’ we play as we learn to sing plainchant.
Here is an example from Johannes Tinctoris’ Expositio Manus:[1]While this is the most common, there are several notable variants in terms of the layout of the Guidonian Hand. The essential principle, however, is the same; that the claves of the Gamut are plotted … Continue reading
At each joint appears one or more syllables. This provides a comprehensive way of naming all the notes of the Gamut.
For example, middle C (at the tip of the ring finger) is referred to as C sol fa ut: sol in the soft hexachord, fa in the hard hexachord, and ut in the natural hexachord.
Let’s examine each hexachord on the hand individually. As we go through them, point to the relevant joints on your left hand, saying or singing the syllables out loud:[2]Johannes Tinctoris describes two different ways of pointing to the relevant joints on the Hand as follows: ‘it is more convenient to indicate the musical positions on this left hand with the index … Continue reading
The Low Hard Hexachord
The Low Natural Hexachord
The Low Soft Hexachord
The High Hard Hexachord
The High Natural Hexachord
The High Soft Hexachord
The Very High Hard Hexachord
NB The final e La of this hexachord is found on the back of your middle finger!
The most important thing is to practice this regularly so that it becomes second nature. You can either sing along with us in our solmisation workout videos, or spend some time with our worksheet below:
[SOLMIZATION WORKOUT VIDEO 1 – the hexachords]
Printable Worksheet 2 – The Hexachords
[SOLMIZATION WORKOUT VIDEO 2 – naming the notes]
Mutation is the act of changing from one hexachord to another.[3]In historical sources, mutation is typically described as ‘the changing of one pitch name [vox] into another.’ See for example Johannes Tinctoris, “Expositio Manus,” ed. Ronald Woodley, … Continue reading
The two essential rules for mutation are as follows:[4]There are several different approaches to mutation throughout the period in question, which reflect different priorities and ways of conceptualising the Gamut. The type described and practised here … Continue reading
When ascending, you replace the relevant syllable of the previous hexachord with Re of the new hexachord.
OR
When descending, you replace the relevant syllable of the previous hexachord with La of the new hexachord.
OR
Furthermore, there are a few additional guidelines to help you choose which hexachord to use:
- Since the soft hexachord contains Bb and the hard contains B natural, your choice of hexachord is dependent on the melodic content, which is often indicated through the use of a Bb sign, either at the beginning of a line or inserted in a piece.
- In general, mutation should mostly occur between the hard and the natural or the soft and the natural hexachords.[5]This is a guideline which is frequently stated in the sixteenth century accompanying the more ‘scalar’ approach to mutation (see footnote 4.) However, sources which describe a more ‘modular’ … Continue reading
- One should stay in a single hexachord for as long as possible before mutating.
Finally, there are three additional rules to bear in mind which can help you determine which hexachord to use. The use of Bb, and by extension the soft hexachord, is not always notated but sometimes must be determined from the context. Its purpose is to avoid the sound of a melodic tritone, typically found between F and B natural:
1. If a melody rises to B and then descends to F, then it is necessary to sing a Bb and to use the soft hexachord.
2. However, if a melody rises to B and then ascends to C before returning to F, then it is permitted to use a B natural and the hard hexachord.[6]For more information see the relevant chapters of Karol Berger, Musica Ficta: Theories of Accidental Inflections in Vocal Polyphony from Marchetto Da Padova to Gioseffo Zarlino (Cambridge ; New York: … Continue reading
3. If a melody ascends only a single note above the given hexachord before returning, then it is permitted to simply sing Fa above La without mutating. This rule is known as ‘Fa super La’ (‘Fa above La’) and can be remembered through the simple rhyme ‘una nota super La, semper est canendum Fa’ (‘One note above La is always sung Fa.’)[7]This rule is quite controversial and, while it seems to have been widespread in the sixteenth century, it cannot always be assumed to be true, especially in earlier repertoire. See Karol Berger, … Continue reading
And now, as promised, here is some further material for your own personal practice before continuing to the next section:
[SOLMIZATION WORKOUT VIDEO 3 – introduction to mutation]
Printable Worksheet 3 – Basic Mutation Exercises
References
| ↑1 | While this is the most common, there are several notable variants in terms of the layout of the Guidonian Hand. The essential principle, however, is the same; that the claves of the Gamut are plotted onto the loci of the Hand. For variants of the Guidonian Hand see for example Vicente Lusitano, Introduttione Facilissima (Rome: Antonio Blado, 1553); and Adam Gumpelzhaimer, Compendium Musicae (Augsburg: Valentini Schönigis, 1591). |
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| ↑2 | Johannes Tinctoris describes two different ways of pointing to the relevant joints on the Hand as follows: ‘it is more convenient to indicate the musical positions on this left hand with the index finger of the right. Having said this, there are some who find it most convenient to indicate the positions on the left thumb with the index finger of the same, and the positions on the remaining fingers similarly with the thumb of the same. As a result, they use only the one hand, that is, the left, in this particular method of instruction.’ This method of pointing to the joints of the Hand with the same hand will be essential when practising more advanced techniques which require the use of both hands. Johannes Tinctoris, “Expositio Manus,” ed. Ronald Woodley, www.stoa.org, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.stoa.org/tinctoris/expositio_manus/expositio_manus.html. |
| ↑3 | In historical sources, mutation is typically described as ‘the changing of one pitch name [vox] into another.’ See for example Johannes Tinctoris, “Expositio Manus,” ed. Ronald Woodley, www.stoa.org, accessed January 25, 2022, https://www.stoa.org/tinctoris/expositio_manus/expositio_manus.html |
| ↑4 | There are several different approaches to mutation throughout the period in question, which reflect different priorities and ways of conceptualising the Gamut. The type described and practised here seems to have become widespread in German sources around the turn of the sixteenth century, and quickly adopted throughout Europe. It emphasises the scalar element of the Gamut by providing a regular point of mutation. In many ways it is a simplification of an earlier, more modular, method of mutation, in which mutation is possible on every locus with more than one vox. Interestingly, English sources at the end of the sixteenth century demonstrate a unique method of mutation which discards the use of Ut and Re totally, and only accepts the use of Mi occasionally. See Adam Whittaker, “Signposting Mutation in Some Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Music Theory Treatises,” Plainsong and Medieval Music 26, no. 1 (March 20, 2017): 37–61; and Jessie Ann Owens, “Concepts of Pitch in English Music Theory, C.1560-1640,” in Tonal Structures in Early Music (New York NY: Routledge, 1998), 184–246. |
| ↑5 | This is a guideline which is frequently stated in the sixteenth century accompanying the more ‘scalar’ approach to mutation (see footnote 4.) However, sources which describe a more ‘modular’ approach to solmisation explicitly contradict this, with mutation between the soft and hard hexachords being equally common; indeed, for much chant repertoire, mutation between the soft and hard hexachords is explicitly necessary. See Peter Urquhart, Sound and Sense in Franco-Flemish Music of the Renaissance (Leuven; Paris; Bristol: Peeters, 2021). |
| ↑6 | For more information see the relevant chapters of 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 Peter Urquhart, Sound and Sense in Franco-Flemish Music of the Renaissance (Leuven; Paris; Bristol: Peeters, 2021). |
| ↑7 | This rule is quite controversial and, while it seems to have been widespread in the sixteenth century, it cannot always be assumed to be true, especially in earlier repertoire. 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), 77-80. |
