Dear Thomas and lutenists, on Thu, 25 Sep 2003, Thomas Schall wrote:
> I've read somewhere that there is a reason why it's not a b c d e f g I think the explanation is to be found in the hexachord solmisation, where they had only the six notes c, d, e, f, g, a; or more properly ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la. And when the melody went over la or under ut, they changed the "reference point". But why is that so, exactly? Why the b is missing? In the hexachord, if they wanted the "high thing" (my h, English b), they changed the former sol to a new ut, and got their new mi as the major third on the "g". And if they changed the original fa to a new ut, their new fa was the minor third on the "g". But why was the "b" lacking in the system od the "old Europe"? ;) Or was it really? Arto
