Mr.

Reilly's Music Class

Day 1
Pythagoras
• c. 570-495 B.C.
• Mathematician and philosopher
• Credited with discovering the overtone series
• This discovery led to the development of Pythagorean tuning
The Overtone/Harmonic Series
Lyre
• predecessor to the harp
• plucked string instrument
• tuned with Pythagorean tuning
• various types
Song of Seikilos
Ancient Greek Music Theory
• Aristoxenus' Harmonic Elements and Rhythmic Elements (ca. 330 BC)
• First to define concepts such as notes, intervals, and scales
• Tetrachord: A group of four notes, spanning an interval of a perfect fourth
• Cleonides
• Species of consonances: different ways to divide the perfect intervals (fourth,
fifth, and octave)
• Greek modes
Homework
• Discussion: Do you think the discoveries of the ancient Greeks are still
relevant today? Why or why not?
• Due next cycle
• Read Chapter 12: Sacred Music in the Middle Ages
• Question will be posted next cycle
jreilly@msgrfarrellhs.org