tetratonic

Adjective

tetratonic (not comparable)

1. Made of four different musical notes.
   • The two Creek Indian "Duck Dance Songs" from the north- eastern United States illustrate the use of a tetratonic scale, A, C, D, E ( Example 5a ), and a pentatonic scale, A, C, D, E, G ( Example 5b ).1976, Bruno Nettl, Helen Myers, Folk Music in the United States, page 38
   • Pentatony can also come about through the simple complement and melodic development of the tetratonic melodic nucleus.1994, János Kárpáti, Bartók's Chamber Music, page 111
2. Pertaining to or using a tetratonic scale.
   • Of course such tetratonic music is capable of powerful expression in its own particular mood but there has apparently been no attempt to evolve form as such.1974, I. E. N. Chauhan, Ethnomusicology-tribal Music: The Music of Kinnaur, page 20
   • Beyond these areas Sasak music largely diverges from pélog and slendro tonality, and there are a number of tetratonic forms — in compositions for gamelan beleq and kamput, for example.2006, David D. Harnish, Bridges to the Ancestors: Music, Myth, And Cultural Politics, page 232
3. (rare) Made of four amino acids.
   • PHOSPORUS/ELECTRON-MOLECULE COLLISIONS: High temperature negative ions, Electron impact study of tetratonic phosphorus vapor1974, Nuclear Science Abstracts - Volume 30, Part 5, page 139
   • This tetratonic polymer proved to be more active than any of the tritonic polymers, showing the maximal inhibition recordable under standard test conditions.2009, G. E. W. Wolstenholme, David W. FitzSimons, Julie Whelan, Submolecular Biology and Cancer, page 179