Guidonic hand

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An example of the guidonic hand from a manuscript from Mantua, late 15th century.

The guidonian hand was from the Middle Ages in until the Early Modern an aid to orientation in the sound system ; it served as a visual object and as a reminder . A certain pitch of the hexachord system is assigned to each phalanx . Such an aid may already have been used by Guido von Arezzo (around 992-1050), who wrote instructions for learning chorales and reading music. The hand as an object of illustration appears in some writings before Guido's time; the final form, however, is only found from the 12th century, for example by Sigebert von Gembloux (1030–1112).

functionality

Guido von Arezzo established a six-step scale with the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la (hexachord syllables). These were the initial syllables of the verses of the first stanza of the John's hymn, each beginning one note higher .

Medieval music theory knew three hexachords (durum, naturale, molle), which interlocked over three octaves . The change from one hexachord to the next was called a mutation. The decisive factor for this was the position of the semitone, which always had to fall on the syllables mi and fa . Even pupils who had no previous musical training could easily be taught Gregorian chant with these hexachords .

The Guidonic hand is strongly connected to the new music theory and the new music teaching methods of Guidos, with hexachords and solmization . The idea is that each specific part of the hand represents a specific note within the hexachord system, which extends over almost three octaves, from "Γ ut " (pronounced " gamma ut ", ie " gamut ", which in turn indicates the entire pitch range) can) to "ee la ". In modern western music this would correspond to a range from G at the lower end to the high e ".

During the lesson, the teacher or choir director could set the exact tone sequence by displaying the position on the left hand. This was roughly equivalent to the method of solving with a show of hands. There have been a number of variations in the position of certain notes on the hand, and none of the variations are to be considered primary; In the example attached, the notes of the gamut were mentally placed on the limbs and fingertips of the left hand. "Γ ut " (two G below the middle c) corresponds to the tip of the thumb of the left hand, "A re " is located on the middle phalanx, "B mi " on the inside of the ball of the thumb, "C fa ut " on the first phalanx (metacarpal bone) of the index finger and so on counterclockwise in a spiral line up to the middle “c sol fa ut ”, then over the “dd la sol ” until you reach the “ee la ”, which is nine tones above the middle c. This “ee la ” is the only note on the back of the hand.

In order to display the various (church) keys, a nomenclature that is linked to the current naming of the tones, based on the Guidonic hand and tables created from it, was used from the Middle Ages and in Italian music schools to modern times as a "donkey bridge", which ( based on the diatonic scale beginning with Do) with Befami (for B - Fa - Mi) the mode beginning on the seventh level, with Cesolfaut (C - Sol - Fa - Ut) the mode beginning on the first level, with Delasolre (D - La - Sol - Re) den on the second level, with Elami (E - La - Mi) den on the third, with Fefaut (F - Fa - Ut) den on the fourth, with Gesolreut (G - Sol - Re - Ut ) denotes the mode beginning on the fifth level and with Alamire (A - La - Mi - Re) on the sixth level.

The guidonic hand makes it possible to visualize pitches and at the same time to recognize where the half steps of the tone sequences are. You could also see where the connection points of the hexachords are. The system was reproduced in various forms over the course of the Middle Ages.

Linking stimuli is also today an important means of unconscious learning ( conditioning ) in terms of learning psychology . Singing, seeing and grasping the tones lead in the sense of the word to comprehension. Today's methods of haptic recording are the silent keyboard and flexible concepts such as the sound staircase or the sound column.

The medieval hexachord system
( c = middle c ')
mutation
1. 2. 3. 4th 5. 6th 7th
Tone label
today Guido Solmization
e " ee la
d " dd la Sol
c " cc Sol fa
H' ♮ ♮   mi
b ' ♭ ♭ fa  
a ' aa la mi re
G' G Sol re ut
f ' f fa ut
e ' e la mi
d ' d la Sol re
c ' c Sol fa ut
H ♮   mi
b ♭ fa  
a a la mi re
G G Sol re ut
f F. fa ut
e E. la mi
d D. Sol re
c C. fa ut
H B. mi
A. A. re
G Γ ut

Guidonic hand

The hexachord

Main contribution: Hexachord

The hexachord is an extension of the Greek tetrachord , which in the 9th century (around Hucbald ) was shifted one tone down to the final tones of the four modes (church modes) in Gregorian chant d, e, f and g. A whole step has been added to the tetrachord (d, e, f, g) above and below (c, and a). With a second hexachord built according to the same pattern, an octave could now be covered by overlapping the two hexachords. In each hexachord the two middle tones (mi – fa) are a semitone step apart , all others are a whole step apart. With the hexachord, the largest possible section of the tone supply (G – e ") was achieved, which could represent at least one octave with two similarly structured overlapping scale sections. The hexachords were based on G, C or F, accordingly there were three types of hexachords: the hexachordum durum (hard hexachord) G – A – H – c – d – e, the hexachordum naturale (natural hexachord) c – d – e – f – g – a, and the hexachordum molle (soft hexachord) f – g– a – b – c'– d '. With a total of seven hexachords (on G, c, f, g, c', f 'and g'), the range of medieval music was covered by almost three octaves (G – e ") and structured.

Guido von Arezzo underscored the tones of the hexachord with the solmization syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, which he took from the John's hymn Ut queant laxis . In the writing Micrologus he explained in great detail how to sing and compose polyphonically. From the names hexachordum durum and hexachordum molle , the names of our current tones major and minor are derived .

context

Main contribution: Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant, or Western medieval music in general, was influenced by Jewish music and Eastern church traditions. Music traditions that can be found today in Turkish and Arabic music were also reflected. This made it difficult to develop a uniform theoretical system. It was traditionally passed on through oral transmission and the use of hand signals. A political request by Charlemagne in his Admonitio generalis of March 23, 789, Et ut scolae legentium puerorum fiant, was also decisive for the recording . Psalmos, notas, cantus, compotum, grammaticam per singula monasteria vel episcopia et libros catholicos bene emendate; […] Et si opus est evangelium, psalterium et missale scribere, perfectae aetatis homines scribant cum omni diligentia. […] Charlemagne called in this pamphlet to create a written basis for the transmission of cultural heritage. “The best scribes of the age are to be taken with all due care ...” After the church was used as an administrative organ, everything should be standardized according to the Roman model. This also included the liturgy with its Gregorian chant. This led to the fact that the song texts, which had been handed down in collections without notation, were provided with symbols from the 9th century onwards. These neumes ("Winke") , partly transferred from rhetoric and partly connected with the conducting movements of the Cantor , enabled a skilled singer to recall a melody with all its nuances and to recite it in its melodic form through pre-singing and post-singing. A large number of differently designed individual and group neumes were used . It is also discussed whether the writers had a written archetype that has since been lost.

Over the course of a few centuries, this “accent notation” experienced a fundamental change towards diastematic notations. Based on the Dasia notation 1025, Guido von Arezzo invented the four-line system in the interval of thirds and two clefs , the F and the C clef. Based on this, musical notation developed into square notation .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jerry Willard (Ed.): The complete works of Gaspar Sanz. 2 volumes, Amsco Publications, New York 2006 (translation of the original manuscript by Marko Miletich), ISBN 978-082561-695-2 , pp. 13 and 80 f.
  2. ^ RG Kiesewetter : Guido von Arezzo. His life and work. Breitkopf and Härtel, Leipzig 1840, p. 35.
  3. ↑ MGH Cap. Vol. 1, p. 60: online
  4. ↑ Clergy and War in the Early Middle Ages: Investigations into the role of the church in building up royal rule. Stuttgart: Hiersemann 1971. (Monographs on the history of the Middle Ages. 2) ISBN 3-7772-7116-0 . (Monographs on the history of the Middle Ages, ...). Stuttgart 1971, pages 101 and 91.
  5. ↑ The Franconian Empire. 3rd edition, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-486-49693-X , page 35
  6. ↑ Hartmut Möller u. Rudolph Stephan (ed.): The music of the Middle Ages . Laaber 1991, pp. 54ff.
  7. ^ Eugene Cardine: Gregorian Semiology . Solesmes 2003, Chapter XX and a summary in the appendix
  8. ↑ Eugène Cardine : Gregorianische Semiologie Solesmes, 2003, chapters I-XIX and the neum table p. 6
  9. ^ Luigi Agustoni: Gregorian Chant. Elements and lecture theory with special consideration of the Neumenkunde . Freiburg im Breisgau 1963
    Johannes Berchmanns Göschl: On the necessity of a contextual interpretation of neumes . In: Contributions to Gregorian chant 13/14. Cantando praedicare. Godehard Joppich on his 60th birthday . Pp. 53-64
  10. ↑ Kenneth Levy: Charlemagne's Archetype of Gregorian Chant . In: Journal of the American Musicological society . Volume 40, 1987, pp. 1-30.
  11. ↑ Hartmut Möller, Rudolph Stephan (ed.): The music of the Middle Ages . Laaber 1991, pp. 153f.

literature

  • History of Music: The First Times of the New Christian World and Art. The development of polyphonic singing. 1864. Vol. 3. During the Renaissance, up to Palestrina. 1868, History of Music: Volume 2, Wilhelm Bäumker, 1864, page 175 online
  • Christian Berger : Cithara, cribrum and caprea. Paths to the Hexachord. In: Martin Kintzinger , Sönke Lorenz , Michael Walter (eds.): School and students in the Middle Ages. Contributions to the European history of education from the 9th to 15th centuries. Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 1996, ISBN 3-412-08296-1 ( supplements to the Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 42), pp. 89-109 ( online ).
  • Christian Berger: Hexachord (I.-V.). In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): Music in the past and present. General encyclopedia of music. Material part volume 4: Hamm - Kar. 2nd revised edition. Bärenreiter u. a., Kassel u. a. 1996, ISBN 3-7618-1105-5 , Sp. 279-286.
  • Christian Berger: Hexachord and Modus: Three Rondeaux by Gilles Binchois. In: Basler Jahrbuch für historical Musikpraxis. 16, 1992, ZDB -ID 550278-0 , pp. 71-87 ( online ).
  • Christian Berger: La quarte et la structure hexacordale. In: L'enseignement de la musique au Moyen Age et à la Renaissance. Rencontres de Royaumont, les 5 and 6 juillet 1985. Ed. Royaumont, Royaumont 1987, pp. 17-28 (on- line ).
  • Jacques Chailley : "Ut queant laxis" et les origines de la gamme. In: Acta Musicologica . 56, 1984, ISSN  0001-6241 , pp. 48-69.
  • Andrew Hughes: Solmization. In: Laura Macy (Ed.): Grove Music Online . grovemusic.com (subscription access).
  • Claude V. Palisca: Guido of Arezzo. In: Laura Macy (Ed.): Grove Music Online . grovemusic.com (subscription access).
  • Klaus-Jürgen Sachs: Musical elementary teaching in the Middle Ages. In: Frieder Zaminer (ed.): History of music theory. Volume 3: Michael Bernhard u. a .: Reception of the ancient subject in the Middle Ages. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1990, ISBN 3-534-01203-8 , pp. 105-162.

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