hexachord

[ hek-suh-kawrd ]

noun

, Music.

1. a diatonic series of six tones having, in medieval music, a half step between the third and fourth tones and whole steps between the others.

hexachord

/ ˈhɛksəˌkɔːd /

noun

1. (in medieval musical theory) any of three diatonic scales based upon C, F, and G, each consisting of six notes, from which solmization was developed

Word History and Origins

Origin of hexachord¹

First recorded in 1685–95, hexachord is from the Late Greek word hexáchordos having six strings. See hexa-, chord ¹

Example Sentences

“I used the hexachord, but transposed, that I had used to generate the old String Trio, which is now 50 years old,” he said.

From New York Times

But Babbitt’s music, despite its use of concepts with names like superarray and all-combinatorial hexachord, sparkles with a hip lucidity.

From New York Times

Hexachord, hek′sa-kord, n. a diatonic series of six notes, having a semitone between the third and fourth.

From Project Gutenberg

Running longitudinally, there are four channels in it if it is a tetrachord; six, if it is a hexachord; eight, if it is an octachord.

From Project Gutenberg

The next three hexachords were treated in the same manner; the last or seventh hexachord was merely a repetition of the first and the fourth.

From Project Gutenberg