Assignment: In Textbook of Gregorian Chant, read/review lessons 1-3 on pages 1-6.
Where do the pitches get their name?
We owe the names of the pitches to the Benedictine, Guido d'Arezzo ( d. 1050 ), who took the first syllables of each phrase from verse one of the Vespers Hymn of Saint John the Baptist, Ut queant laxis. In Latin, the letters i and j are interchangeable. The syllable si is achieved by combining the 's' in Sancte and the 'i' in Ioannes. The resulting scale was Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si. |