Genus (music)

Genus (Gr.: γένος [genos], pl. γένη [genē], lat. genus, pl. genera "type, kind") is a term used in the Ancient Greek and Roman theory of music to describe certain classes of intonations of the two movable notes within a tetrachord.

Aristoxenos (in his fragmentary treatise on rhythm) names 'genera' some patterns of rhythm. The tetrachordal concept is also found in the modal theory of Byzantine music and relates to the jins of Arabic music.

Tetrachords