gamut
gam·ut / ˈgamət/ • n. (the gamut) 1. the complete range or scope of something: the whole gamut of human emotion.2. Mus. a complete scale of musical notes; the compass or range of a voice or instrument. ∎ hist. a scale consisting of seven overlapping hexachords, containing all the recognized notes used in medieval music, covering almost three octaves from bass G to treble E. ∎ hist. the lowest note in this scale.PHRASES: run the gamut experience, display, or perform the complete range of something: wines that run the gamut from dry to sweet.
gamut
gamut a complete scale of musical notes; the compass or range of a voice or instrument. Earlier, a scale consisting of seven overlapping hexachords, containing all the recognized notes used in medieval music, covering almost three octaves from bass G to treble E. The word comes from medieval Latin gamma ut, originally the name of the lowest note in the medieval scale (bass G an octave and a half below middle C), then applied to the whole range of notes used in medieval music. The Greek letter Γ (gamma) was used for bass G, with ut indicating that it was the first note in the lowest of the hexachords or six-note scales.
Notes in each hexachord were named using syllables of a Latin hymn for St John the Baptist's Day, in which each line began on the next note of the scale: ‘Ut queant laxis resonare fibris Mira gestorum famuli tuorum, Solve polluti labii reatum, Sancte Iohannes.’ A seventh note, si, was added later, from the initial letters of Sancte Iohannes. The scheme was adapted in the 19th century to form solmization systems such as the Tonic Sol-fa.
The system of naming the notes of a scale by syllables is attributed to the Italian Benedictine monk and musical theorist Guido d'Arezzo (c.990–1050).
run the gamut experience, display, or perform the complete range of something.
Notes in each hexachord were named using syllables of a Latin hymn for St John the Baptist's Day, in which each line began on the next note of the scale: ‘Ut queant laxis resonare fibris Mira gestorum famuli tuorum, Solve polluti labii reatum, Sancte Iohannes.’ A seventh note, si, was added later, from the initial letters of Sancte Iohannes. The scheme was adapted in the 19th century to form solmization systems such as the Tonic Sol-fa.
The system of naming the notes of a scale by syllables is attributed to the Italian Benedictine monk and musical theorist Guido d'Arezzo (c.990–1050).
run the gamut experience, display, or perform the complete range of something.
gamut
gamut.
1. Properly, the note G at the pitch now indicated by the lowest line of the bass staff. Greek G or ‘gamma’ was used for its designation, and as the note just mentioned was the ‘ut’ (‘doh’) of the lowest hexachord, this portmanteau word was adopted as a name for it.
2. By extension, the word came to be used as a comprehensive name for the whole series of hexachords as displayed in writing.
3. By a further extension it came to mean ‘scale’ in general (Fr. gamme).
4. Also came to mean the whole range of mus. sounds from the lowest to the highest; and to be applied in a metaphorical way to a singer's or actor's range, e.g. ‘He covered the whole gamut of tragic expression’.
1. Properly, the note G at the pitch now indicated by the lowest line of the bass staff. Greek G or ‘gamma’ was used for its designation, and as the note just mentioned was the ‘ut’ (‘doh’) of the lowest hexachord, this portmanteau word was adopted as a name for it.
2. By extension, the word came to be used as a comprehensive name for the whole series of hexachords as displayed in writing.
3. By a further extension it came to mean ‘scale’ in general (Fr. gamme).
4. Also came to mean the whole range of mus. sounds from the lowest to the highest; and to be applied in a metaphorical way to a singer's or actor's range, e.g. ‘He covered the whole gamut of tragic expression’.
gamut
gamut (hist.) lowest note of the medieval musical scale XV; Guido d'Arezzo's ‘great scale’ comprising the seven hexachords and so all the notes used in medieval music XVI; (gen.) compass, range XVII. Earliest forms gammuthe, -othe, -outh(e), contr. of medL. gamma ut, i.e. gamma note one tone lower than A + UT.
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gamut