Monochord

See also: Polychord
A string, tied at A, is kept in tension by W, a suspended weight, and two bridges, B and the movable bridge C, while D is a freely moving wheel,[1] density may be tested by using different strings

A monochord, also known as sonometer[citation needed] (see below), is an ancient musical and scientific laboratory instrument, involving one (mono-) string (chord). The term monochord is sometimes used as the class-name for any musical stringed instrument having only one string and a stick shaped body, also known as musical bows. According to the Hornbostel–Sachs system, string bows are bar zithers (311.1) while monochords are traditionally board zithers (314). The "harmonical canon", or monochord is, at its least, "merely a string having a board under it of exactly the same length, upon which may be delineated the points at which the string must be stopped to give certain notes," allowing comparison.[2]

A string is fixed at both ends and stretched over a sound box. One or more movable bridges are then manipulated to demonstrate mathematical relationships among the frequencies produced. "With its single string, movable bridge and graduated rule, the monochord (kanōn [Greek: law]) straddled the gap between notes and numbers, intervals and ratios, sense-perception and mathematical reason."[3] However, "music, mathematics, and astronomy were [also] inexorably linked in the monochord."[4] As a pedagogical tool for demonstrating mathematical relationships between intervals, the monochord remained in use throughout the Middle Ages.[5]

  1. ^ Jeans, Sir James (1937/1968). Science & Music, p.62. Dover. ISBN 0-486-61964-8.
  2. ^ Crotch, William (1861-10-01). "On the Derivation of the Scale, Tuning, Temperament, the Monochord, &c". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 10 (224): 115–118. doi:10.2307/3355208. JSTOR 3355208.
  3. ^ Creese, David (2010). The Monochord in Ancient Greek Harmonic Science, p. vii. Cambridge. ISBN 9780521843249.
  4. ^ Terpstra, Siemen (1993). "An Introduction to the Monochord", Alexandria 2: The Journal of the Western Cosmological Traditions, Volume 2, pp. 137-9. David Fideler, ed. Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN 9780933999978.
  5. ^ Its common use is attested to by illustrations such as this one from an 11th century Norman manuscript: "Hybride tenant un monocorde et chantant" Musiconis Database. Université Paris-Sorbonne. Accessed January 5, 2018.