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In Ancient Greece, certain musical tribes used a lyre, a four-stringed
harp called the tetrachordon (tetra meaning four). The four tones
encompassed by this instrument constituted a perfect 4th, and were called a
tetrachord. This was the building block that was to become the basis for
our modern scales.
The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (around 500 BC) is credited with the discovery
of the numerical ratios corresponding to the p rincipal intervals of the musical
scale. With an instrument known as a monochord, consisting of one
string stretched over a long sounding-board, Pythagoras found that by dividing
the string into 2 equal parts, one part, when vibrated, would give a tone
exactly one octave above the natural tone of the whole string. By
sounding 1/3 of the length of the string, the interval of a 5th above the natural
tone would be produced. By sounding 3/4 of the length of the string, the
interval of a 4th would be produced. In this manner, the ratios of all
the notes of the scale were discovered. This was accomplished by the use
of a moveable bridge which was positioned according to these calibrations.
---excerpted from The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences
by Palmer, Manus and Lethco (Alfred Publishing, 1994)
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