The word limma or leimma (from Greek: λείμμα, leimma; meaning "remnant") can refer to several different musical intervals, and one form of breath-mark to indicate spacing within lyrics; their only common property is that all are very small either in pitch difference or in time.
Pitch
editMore specifically, in Pythagorean tuning (i.e. 3-limit):
- The original Pythagorean limma, 256 / 243 , a Pythagorean interval ().
and in 5-limit tuning:
- The 5-limit diatonic semitone, 16 / 15 (). Although closer in size to the Pythagorean apotome than to the limma, it has been so called because of its function as a diatonic semitone rather than a chromatic one.
- The 5-limit limma (now a diesis), 128 / 125 , the amount by which three just major thirds fall short of an octave ().
- The major limma, 135 / 128 , which is the difference between two major whole tones and a minor third ().
Metre
editA leimma is also the name of a musical / metrical symbol (𝉅) for the timing of sung lyrics. If written over lyrics to it directed the singer to insert the shortest possible pause between words or syllables it was placed over.[1]
Modern equivalents are:
- a breath mark
- a comma [,]
- a sixteenth rest (𝄿 ) or perhaps a thirty-second rest (𝅀 )
References
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This set index article includes a list of related items that share the same name (or similar names).
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