All Topics  
Trichord

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Trichord
 
 
  Topics Trichord Topic Home

Depending on the context, a trichord is either a contiguous segment of a musical scale or of a twelve-tone row, or (in accord with Allen Forte
Allen Forte

Allen Forte is a music theory and musicologist. He was born in Portland, Oregon and fought in the Navy at the close of World War II before moving to the East Coast....
's redefinition of the term) a musical triad, that is, any three-note pitch collection.

Just as a diatonic scale is conventionally said to be constructed of two disjunct tetrachords (CDEF+GABC=CDEFGABC), a pentatonic scale
Pentatonic scale

A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitch per octave in contrast to an heptatonic scale scale such as the major scale. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found all over the world, including but not limited to Celtic music, Hungarian folk music, West African music, African-American spiritual , Jazz, American blues music a...
 can be constructed of two disjunct trichords (ACD+EGA=ACDEGA; GAC+DEG=GACDEG).

Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt

Milton Byron Babbitt is an American composer. He is particularly noted for his pioneering Serialism, and electronic music....
's serial theory of combinatoriality makes much of the properties of three-note, four-note, and six-note segments of a twelve-tone row, which he calls, respectively, trichords, tetrachords, and hexachords, extending the traditional sense of the terms and retaining their implication of contiguity.

Allen Forte in his The Structure of Atonal Music redefines the term trichord to mean what other theorists (notably including Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson

Howard Harold Hanson was an United States of America composer, conducting, educator, music theorist, and ardent champion of American classical music....
 in his Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale and Carlton Gamer
Carlton Gamer

Carlton Gamer is an American composer and music theorist. He has taught at Princeton University, the University of Michigan, and Colorado College....
 in his "Some Combinational Resources of Equal-Tempered Systems") mean by the term triad, a three-note pitch collection which is not necessarily a contiguous segment of a scale or a tone row and not necessarily (in twentieth-century music) tertian or diatonic either.








Discussion
Ask a question about 'Trichord'
Start a new discussion about 'Trichord'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Depending on the context, a trichord is either a contiguous segment of a musical scale or of a twelve-tone row, or (in accord with Allen Forte
Allen Forte

Allen Forte is a music theory and musicologist. He was born in Portland, Oregon and fought in the Navy at the close of World War II before moving to the East Coast....
's redefinition of the term) a musical triad, that is, any three-note pitch collection.

Just as a diatonic scale is conventionally said to be constructed of two disjunct tetrachords (CDEF+GABC=CDEFGABC), a pentatonic scale
Pentatonic scale

A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitch per octave in contrast to an heptatonic scale scale such as the major scale. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found all over the world, including but not limited to Celtic music, Hungarian folk music, West African music, African-American spiritual , Jazz, American blues music a...
 can be constructed of two disjunct trichords (ACD+EGA=ACDEGA; GAC+DEG=GACDEG).

Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt

Milton Byron Babbitt is an American composer. He is particularly noted for his pioneering Serialism, and electronic music....
's serial theory of combinatoriality makes much of the properties of three-note, four-note, and six-note segments of a twelve-tone row, which he calls, respectively, trichords, tetrachords, and hexachords, extending the traditional sense of the terms and retaining their implication of contiguity.

Allen Forte in his The Structure of Atonal Music redefines the term trichord to mean what other theorists (notably including Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson

Howard Harold Hanson was an United States of America composer, conducting, educator, music theorist, and ardent champion of American classical music....
 in his Harmonic Materials of Modern Music: Resources of the Tempered Scale and Carlton Gamer
Carlton Gamer

Carlton Gamer is an American composer and music theorist. He has taught at Princeton University, the University of Michigan, and Colorado College....
 in his "Some Combinational Resources of Equal-Tempered Systems") mean by the term triad, a three-note pitch collection which is not necessarily a contiguous segment of a scale or a tone row and not necessarily (in twentieth-century music) tertian or diatonic either.

See also

  • Triad
    Triad (music)

    In music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:...