These were fixed sounds, but the tuning of the remaining six strings
_might be changed_ at will; therefore, a series of sounds belonging
to any one of these scales could be made; and it will be seen, on
examining the following table, that all the seven scales may be
represented _without changing the extreme notes_, A to A. Suppose we
make the B flat. Now B-flat is the characteristic note of the Dorian
Scale, in our term, its signature. Therefore this octave would be
called the Dorian Octave, _not_ Dorian Scale. We speak of a scale as
beginning and ending on its _keynote_; if it does not, we call it a
scale passage in such and such a key.
The notes marked + are the keynotes (_Mese_). It will be seen at
once that the positions of the halftones differ in _each_ of these
octaves. One cannot help feeling a slight suspicion that some confusion
between scale and octave had a great deal to do with the growth of the
Ecclesiastical Scales.
One of the latest of the ancient writers on music, =Claudius Ptolemy=
(about 130 A. D.), proposed that all these octaves should be transposed
a _fourth lower_; this made the Dorian Octave E to E (all naturals).
One result of this change is that many authorities at the present
time call this the Dorian Scale, whereas it is evident that it is
simply the Dorian Octave, as given above, transposed a _fourth lower_.
Other scales were added from time to time, called _Hyper_-Dorian,
_Hyper_-Phrygian, etc., a _fourth above_ the standard scales; but it is
very uncertain whether they were in practical use; they were probably
purely matters of theory.
=Characteristics Attributed to the Different Greek Scales=.—The
Greeks attributed many fanciful characteristics to the various modes
or scales, much as some modern musicians, Berlioz, for example, do
to the different keys. But all seem to have agreed as to the Dorian.
This was considered the true Greek mode, and was called severe,
firm and manly, suitable for martial songs. The Lydian mode was
esteemed to be effeminate, suited to love songs, possibly because
the Lydian Octave corresponds with the scale of A major, and a major
scale was not relished by the Greeks, any more than it was by the
early ecclesiastical musicians. A more probable explanation of this
attribution of different characters to the different scales is, that it
was customary to use certain modes for songs on certain subjects, and
the character of the poetry was transferred to the music.
=The Greek Chromatic Scale= differed altogether from what _we_ call a
chromatic scale. It was made by _lowering_ the pitch of the _fourth_
and _seventh_ strings above the _keynote_ a halftone. Supposing the
octave lyre to be tuned to the Hypo-Dorian Mode or Scale, it would
begin and end on the Keynote (_Mese_), thus:
[Music]
Now, by lowering D and G we get the following scale:
[Music]
This is the scale that was called Chromatic. It is said to have been at
one time the most popular of all the scales, a statement we can easily
credit, since it contains in itself the two world-wide five-note or
_Pentatonic_ Scales, commonly known as the Scotch or Irish Scales, the
most widely distributed of all scales in Europe, Asia and America.
[Music: Major pentatonic scale Minor pentatonic scale]
=The Greek Enharmonic Scale=.—The scale called Enharmonic was made
thus: The fourth and seventh strings were lowered a whole tone; that
is, to the pitch of the second and sixth, the second and sixth were
lowered a _quartertone_, thus:
[Music]
C-flat is supposed to be halfway between B and C; F-flat halfway
between E and F. Our modern system does not provide for the notation of
quartertones.
[Illustration: LYRE. CITHARA. LYDIAN MAGADIS.]
=Greek Instruments=.—The standard instrument of the Greeks was the
=Lyre=. It bore many names, as Lyre, Tetrachordon, Chelys, Phorminx,
Cithara, etc. There may have been slight _differences_ in the _size
and the number of the strings_, but great uncertainty prevails on this
point. Under the name of =Flute= (_Aulos_) they seem to have included
both _Flutes_ proper and instruments of the _hautboy_ or _clarinet_
family. These instruments bore a bewildering number of names, the exact
meaning of which is lost. Judging from the pictorial representations
that remain, the Greek instruments were inferior both in variety and
extent to those of the Egyptians. They seem to have made little use
of the Harp, of which instrument the Egyptians had a great variety.
The Greeks seem to have used instruments chiefly, if not solely, to
accompany the voice; and they appear never to have combined large
numbers of instruments for any purpose. Even in their tragedies, which
were performed in immense theatres open to the sky, the Chorus was
limited to fifteen men, accompanied by two flutes. When accompanying
the voice with the lyre they may have occasionally struck the fourth,
fifth or octave of the vocal melody; but, in general, they played the
voice part. Their most highly developed instrument was a variety of
lyre, the strings of which passed over a bridge placed one-third of the
strings’ length from the lower end of the lyre, thus causing the lower
part of the string to sound the octave of the upper part. The shorter
part of the string was played with a plectrum in the right hand, the
longer part by the fingers of the left hand. This instrument was called
=Magadis=—from _Magas_, a bridge. The term _Magadize_ was eventually
used to signify playing or singing in octaves, and was _synonymous_
with _Antiphony_.
[Illustration: DOUBLE FLUTE. JOINED FLUTE. PHORBEIA.]
=Greek Musical Notation=.—Our knowledge of Greek musical notation is
very defective, being derived from only four or five specimens of
ancient music, and a few small fragments. They appear to have used a
_separate notation for each mode_, and these four hymns are apparently
all in the same mode, but authorities differ as to the mode. They
used the letters of their alphabet, both capital and small, written
in various positions, sometimes upright, sometimes lying on one side.
The notation for the lyre differed from that used for the voice. The
letters representing the _vocal_ part were written _above the words_,
those representing the _instrumental_ part, _below_ the _words_. These
_letters represented_ the _pitch_ of the sounds, but _not_ their
_duration_. The duration was regulated by the _meter_ of the poetry.
Instead of a portion of one of these hymns, the first three lines of
our National Hymn are given as a sample of this notation:
R R Φ Γ R Φ σ σ Ρ σ Φ R Φ R Γ R
My country ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing.
These letters have been interpreted as indicating the following sounds,
the transposed Hypo-Lydian Scale in its old form; that is, the Lesser
Perfect System with G sharp as its keynote.
[Music]
=Greek View of Harmony=.—The question has been much debated as to
whether or not the Greeks practiced harmony. It seems hardly possible
with such a defective notation; but the best argument against it
is, that there is not a word in any of the extant treatises as
to combinations and successions of these combinations, and it is
impossible that any art of harmony should have existed unless some
rules for its employment should have been evolved.
=Greek Terms in Music=.—The modern terminology of music is largely
indebted to the Greek system, although many of the words have entirely
changed their significance. The word Music itself, to the Greek, meant
the whole circle of the sciences, especially Astronomy and Mathematics.
Melody meant the rising and falling of the voice in either speaking or
singing. Harmonia meant rather what we call Melody than our Harmony.
This latter, namely, the sounding together of different sounds, was
called Symphony. Antiphony originally meant singing in octaves, that
is, men with women or boys. Chromatic and Enharmonic have already been
explained. Diapason, now applied chiefly to organ stops, originally
meant the octave; that is, “through all.” Diatonic has nearly retained
its original meaning. Tone, Semitone and Tetrachord have retained their
meaning, with the exception that in the modern tetrachord the halftone
is at the other end.