The first tone is a diatonic tone which is based on πα. The proper isokratima (drone) note for this tone is also (generally) centered on πα. The first tone is roughly a minor diatonic key, except that ζω is not flatted in the ascent.
When applying the first tone to a text, a comma or semicolon in a phrase should end on δι or occasionally low ζω or or high πα′. A full stop (i.e. period) should end on πα.
A note-name apikhima for this tone is as follows:
The traditional nonsense-word used in Greek apikhimata for this tone is “ananes”:
(The apikhima is a mnemonic device which the chanter chants before a hymn written in that tone in order to “get into” the prescribed mode.)
An exception to these rules is the special melody Τον Ταφον Σου, Σωτηρ, which bears no resemblance to anything else in the first tone. This melody, whose original is the first Resurrectional kathisma, is essentially a second tone melody. It is in the soft chromatic mode with the isokratima on δι. This melody is one of the two most common melodies for kathismata in the first tone, the other being the melody of the Resurrectional Apolytikion of the first tone.
