As you point out, a diatessaron is the interval of a fourth. The prefix "dis" means "apart" or "reversal". As we know, the interval between the second and third strings (Smale meane and Great meane) is an interval of a third. Someone else may offer a better answer but I assume that Besard, Dowland, or whomever compiled the tuning chart meant to describe a fourth minus one, or a third. RA > Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2015 14:34:59 +0900 > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Subject: [LUTE] Disdiatessaron > > Dear Collective wisdom, > > I am perusing the diagram at the end of the chapter "Of tuning the lute" of > "Other necessary observations" by John Dowland and found > the interval between Smale meane and Great meane is "disdiatessaron" not > "diatessaron" > as seen between Treble-Smale meane, Contratenore-Tenor and Tenor-Base. > > Could anyone help me with clarifying the reason? > > I am not quite sure of the term for "disdiatessaron" either... ("Octave > plus perfect fourth"??) > > regards, > > Tomoko > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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