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The Gamut made use of the seven letters of Saint Gregory: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. It represents the twenty notes of “true music” (musica recta), from low G to high e2.

The Gamut

Why was the lowest note in Guido of Arezzo’s system Ut on G instead of Ut on A? Is it simply that the lowest letter was originally notated as the Greek letter gamma?

Giovanni
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    I don't remember the answer, so watching with interest, but the etymology is involved: "gamma" plus "ut" = gamut. As for "why not A," it's because these were arranged as tetrachords, C-D-E-F or G-A-B-C. So the "lowest tetrachord" was going to start on either a C or a G. (That still doesn't answer why we "decided" to associate the first letter of the alphabet with the second note of a tetrachord...) – Andy Bonner Oct 25 '22 at 18:24
  • @AndyBonner Had the letter-names started with C, there would be a whole step (A-B) where there should be a half step (E-F). – Aaron Oct 25 '22 at 18:30
  • @Aaron I just mean, why isn't C "called" A? If we're going to start stacking tetrachords, and we're going to assign letters of the (Greco-)Roman alphabet to them, why start the tetrachord with the third letter of the alphabet? – Andy Bonner Oct 25 '22 at 18:42
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    @AndyBonner Initially A was the "first" note, but as the primary mode switched from minor the major, C took over. Take a look at How did the notes of the Western musical scale get their letter names?, which is a duplicate but has links to other posts of value. – Aaron Oct 25 '22 at 18:49
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    In the linked duplicate, read Athanasius's outstanding post, which gives a thorough history of how the lettering convention came to be. – Aaron Oct 25 '22 at 18:53
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    @Aaron Thank you for linking Athanasius's post. I like their idea that the Gamut may have been extended as a result of the major mode becoming more popular. However, I'm disappointed that this question was closed, because the linked questions/answers are more focused on the history of C major, which is a slightly different question than the range of the Gamut. – Giovanni Oct 25 '22 at 20:39
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    I suggest editing your post away from the alphabet and more clearly toward the question of the gamut's range. You can then propose it for re-opening, which, given a sufficient edit, I would support. – Aaron Oct 25 '22 at 21:05
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    @Giovanni it's not G, it's Γ. Basically the scale started with A and then someone needed one more pitch below A, so they called it Γ. Perhaps the need for the pitch arose because Guido wanted a complete hexachord. – phoog Oct 26 '22 at 00:51
  • @phoog I love your answer! That would make sense that Guido would need an extra note to complete the hexachord and fits within the context of twenty notes of “true music." I am working on an independent research study, and would love to dive deeper on this topic. Do you know of any references/texts that could point me in the right direction? – Giovanni Oct 26 '22 at 15:48
  • @Giovanni, where did you get the particular page of the gamut? What book? – Michael Curtis Oct 26 '22 at 19:25
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    @MichaelCurtis the particular page is from Dictionary of Musical Terms by Johannes Tinctoris: An English translation of TERMINORUM MUSICAE DIFFINITORIUM, but it is also shown with Ut on Γ (G) in Sebastian Virdung’s Musica Getutscht of 1511, and The Solfeggio Tradition by Nicholas Baragwanath. – Giovanni Oct 26 '22 at 20:08
  • I think I've found a reference to phoog's answer in English Etymology (1783) by George William Lemon. He writes, "... afterwards, he placed ... the following seven letters, a, b, c, d, e, f, g; and, by reason that he placed the letter G on the note which he had added to his antient system, the whole scale was therefore denominated..." – Giovanni Oct 26 '22 at 20:18
  • However, why didn't Guido simply shift the letter names down to Ut on A? – Giovanni Oct 26 '22 at 20:25
  • The only thing I can think of is that Guido liked having the Gamut (from, Γaμμa) start with the letter Γ for pedagogical purposes. – Giovanni Oct 26 '22 at 20:36

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