a. Mus. [f. Gr. o σύντονος strained tight, high-pitched, intense, severe, f. συντείνειν to strain tight, f. σύν SYN- + τείνειν to stretch: see -OUS.] An epithet for the ordinary form of diatonic scale (διάτονον σύντονον) in ancient Greek music, in which the tetrachord was divided into a semitone and two tones, the third note of it being thus tuned to a higher pitch than in the other scales; nearly corresponding to the modern diatonic scale.
1789. Burney, Hist. Mus., III. ii. 164. In describing the diatonic genus, in which the tetrachord is divided into tone major, tone minor, and major semitone:… for which division, commonly called the syntonous, or intense of Ptolemy, he [sc. Zarlino] constantly contends.
1889. W. S. Rockstro, in Grove, Dict. Mus., IV. 502/1. The Syntonous Diatonic of Ptolemy coincided … with the system advocated by Kepler, Mersenne, Des Cartes, and all the most learned theoretical writers of later date.
