In music notation Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis, using the color or shape of the note head In music, a note head is the elliptical part of a note. Noteheads may be coloured completely black or white, indicating the note value . In a whole note, the note head is the only component of the note. Shorter note values attach a stem to the note head, and possibly beams or flags. The longer double whole note can be written with vertical lines, the presence or absence of a stem Stems are the lines which extend from the notehead. Stems may point up or down. Different-facing stems indicate the voice for polyphonic music written on the same staff. For single-note melodies, the stems usually point down for notes on the middle line or higher, and up for those below. If the stem points up from a notehead, the stem originates, and the presence or absence of flags.

A rest A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value: indicates a silence of an equivalent duration.

Note Rest American name British name
longa longa
breve In music, a double whole note or breve (British or "classical" terminology) is a note lasting twice as long as a whole note (or semibreve). In medieval mensural notation, the brevis (ancestor of the modern breve) was one of the shortest note lengths (hence its name, which is the Latin cognate of "brief"), and could be either a (or double whole note) breve
whole note In music, a whole note or semibreve (British) is a note represented by a hollow oval note head, like a half note (or minim), and no note stem (see Figure 1). Its length is typically equal to four beats in 4/4 time. Most other notes divide the whole note; half notes are played for one half the duration of the whole note, quarter notes (or crotchets) semibreve
half note In music, a half note or minim (British) is a note played for half the duration of a whole note (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a quarter note (or crotchet). In time signatures with a denominator of 4, such as 4/4 or 3/4 time, the half note is two beats long minim
quarter note A quarter note or crotchet (British) is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem usually points upwards if it is below the middle line of the stave or downwards if it is on or above the middle line. However, this crotchet
eighth note An eighth note or a quaver (other English-speaking countries) is a musical note played for one eighth the duration of a whole note, hence the name quaver
sixteenth note In music, a sixteenth note or semiquaver (also occasionally demiquaver) is a note played for one sixteenth the duration of a whole note, hence the name. The semiquaver is half of a quaver which is an eighth note semiquaver
thirty-second note demisemiquaver
sixty-fourth note hemidemisemiquaver
hundred twenty-eighth note Quasihemidemisemiquaver / Semihemidemisemiquaver

Contents

Variations

Variants of the breve

The breve appears in several different versions, as shown at right.

Sometimes the longa is used to indicate a very long note of indefinite duration, as at the end of a piece.

When a stem is present, it can go either up (from the right side of the note head) or down (from the left side, except in the case of the longa). In most cases, the stem goes down if the notehead is on the center line or above, and up otherwise. Any flags always go to the right of the stem.

Beamed notes

When two or more notes which would normally have flags (eighth notes An eighth note or a quaver (other English-speaking countries) is a musical note played for one eighth the duration of a whole note, hence the name or shorter) appear successively, the flags may be replaced by beams A beam in musical notation is a thick line frequently used to connect multiple consecutive eighth notes , or notes of shorter value (indicated by two or more beams), and occasionally rests. Beamed notes or rests are groups of notes and rests connected by a beam; the use of beams is called beaming, as shown at right. Notes are typically beamed only if they appear in the same beat within the bar In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by a time signature (such as 3/4). Beams also imply that the notes should be slightly more connected than non-beamed notes.

Modifiers

A note value may be augmented In music and music theory augmentation is the lengthening or widening of rhythms, melodies, intervals or chords. The opposite is diminution by adding a dot after it. This dot In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. The dot adds a half as much again to the basic note's duration. If the basic note lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note lasts 3 beats. A dotted note is equivalent to writing the basic note tied to a note of half the value, or with more than one dots, adds the next lower note value, making it one and a half times its original duration. Two dots In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. The dot adds a half as much again to the basic note's duration. If the basic note lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note lasts 3 beats. A dotted note is equivalent to writing the basic note tied to a note of half the value, or with more than one dots, add two lower note values, making a total of one and three quarters times its original duration. The rare three dots In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. The dot adds a half as much again to the basic note's duration. If the basic note lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note lasts 3 beats. A dotted note is equivalent to writing the basic note tied to a note of half the value, or with more than one dots, make it one and seven eights the duration, and so on.

To divide a note value into three equal parts, or some other value than two, tuplets In music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the time-signature (e.g., triplets, duplets, etc.)" (Humphries 2002, 266). This is indicated by a number (or sometimes two), indicating the fraction involved. The notes involved are also often may be used. However, see swung note In music, a swung note or shuffle note is a performance practice, mainly in jazz-influenced music, in which some notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short. It follows similar principles to notes inégales of the Baroque and Classical music eras. A swing or shuffle rhythm is the and notes inégales In music, notes inégales refers to a performance practice, mainly from the Baroque and Classical music eras, in which some notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short. The practice was especially prevalent in France in the 17th and 18th centuries, with appearances in other.

History

Gregorian chant

Although note heads of various shapes, and notes with and without stems appear in early Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. It is named after Pope Gregory I, Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, who is traditionally credited for having ordered the simplification and cataloging of manuscripts, most scholars agree that these symbols do not indicate different durations, although the dot is used for augmentation. See neume A neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word is a Middle English corruption of the ultimately Ancient Greek word for breath (pneuma - πνεῦμα).

In the 13th century, chant was sometimes performed according to rhythmic modes, roughly equivalent to meters Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry, where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented . Hence it may also refer to the pattern of lines and accents in the verse of a hymn or ballad,; however, the note shapes still did not indicate duration in the same way as modern note values.

Mensural notation

Around 1250, Franco of Cologne invented different symbols for different durations, although the relation between different note values could vary; three was the most common ratio. Philippe de Vitry Philippe de Vitry was a French composer, music theorist and poet. He was an accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, and may also have been the author of the Ars Nova treatise's treatise Ars nova (1320) described a system in which the ratios of different note values could be 2:1 or 3:1, with a system of mensural time signatures The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat to distinguish between them.

This black mensural notation Mensural notation is the musical notation system which was used in European music from the later part of the 13th century until about 1600. "Mensural" refers to the ability of this system to notate complex rhythms with great exactness and flexibility. Mensural notation was the first system in the development of European music that gave way to white mensural notation around 1450, in which all note values were written with white (outline) noteheads. In white notation the use of triplets In music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the time-signature (e.g., triplets, duplets, etc.)" (Humphries 2002, 266). This is indicated by a number (or sometimes two), indicating the fraction involved. The notes involved are also often was indicated by coloration, i.e. filling in the noteheads to make them black (or sometimes red). Both black and white notation periodically made use of ligatures In music notation, a ligature is a graphic symbol that represents two or more notes that are written and sung in a single gesture, and on a single syllable, primarily in use ca. 800-1650 AD. The actual notation and meaning of ligatures has changed significantly throughout the history of western music, and their precise interpretation has been a, a holdover from the clivis and porrectus neumes A neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word is a Middle English corruption of the ultimately Ancient Greek word for breath (pneuma - πνεῦμα) used in chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. It is named after Pope Gregory I, Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, who is traditionally credited for having ordered the simplification and cataloging of.

Around 1600 the modern notational system was generally adopted, along with barlines In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by a time signature (such as 3/4) and the practice of writing multipart music in scores rather than only individual parts. In the 17th century, however, old usages came up occasionally.

Origins of the names

The British names go back at least to English renaissance music, and the terms of Latin origin had international currency at that time. Obviously, longa means 'long', and the rest mostly indicate relative shortness. Breve is from Latin brevis, 'short', minim is from minimus, 'very small', and quaver refers to the quivering effect of very fast notes. The elements semi-, demi- and hemi- mean 'half' in Latin, French and Greek respectively, while quasi- means 'almost'. The chain semantic shift whereby notes which were originally perceived as short came progressively to be long notes is interesting both linguistically and musically. However, the crotchet is named after the shape of the note, from the Old French for a 'little hook', and it is possible to argue that the same is true of the minim, since the word is also used in palaeography to mean a vertical stroke in mediaeval handwriting.

The American names are loan translations In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word (Latin: "verbum pro verbo") or root-for-root translation of the German terms: when American orchestras were first established in the 19th century they were populated to a significant degree by German emigrants.

External links

Musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols and development In European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end. Development is carried out upon portions of
Staff In standard Western musical notation, the staff or stave is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces, each of which represents a different musical pitch, or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect, are placed on the staff according to their Bar & Bar line In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by a time signature (such as 3/4) · Clef A clef is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff may be determined · Da Capo Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning . It is often abbreviated D.C. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C. might occur after one or more repeats of small sections, indicating a return to the very · Dal Segno In music notation, Dal segno (often abbreviated D.S.) is used as a navigation marker. From Italian for "from the sign," D.S. appears in sheet music and instructs a musician to repeat a passage starting from the sign shown at right, sometimes called the "segno" in English · Key signature In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of · Ledger line A ledger line or leger line is musical notation to inscribe notes outside the lines and spaces of the regular musical staffs. A line slightly longer than the note is drawn parallel to the staff, above or below, spaced at the same distances as the notes within the staff · Musical mode In addition, from the end of the eighteenth century, the term began to be used in ethnomusicological contexts to describe pitch structures in non-European musical cultures, sometimes with doubtful compatibility · Musical scale In music, a scale is a group of musical notes collected in ascending and descending order, that provides material for or is used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony. Scales are ordered in pitch or pitch class, with their ordering providing a measure of musical distance · Rehearsal letter A rehearsal letter is a boldface letter of the alphabet in an orchestral score, and its corresponding parts, that provides a convenient spot from which to resume rehearsal after a break. Rehearsal letters are most often used in scores of the Romantic era, beginning with Louis Spohr. They may also be generically called rehearsal marks or rehearsal · Repeat sign In music, a repeat sign is the sign which indicates a section should be repeated. If the piece has one repeat sign alone, then that means to repeat from the beginning, and then continue on . A corresponding sign facing the other way indicates where the repeat is to begin. These are analogous to the instructions da capo and dal segno · Time signature The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat · Transposition In music transposition refers to the process of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval. For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key. Similarly, one might transpose a tone row or an unordered collection of pitches such as a chord so that it begins on another pitch. See also Transposing · Transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. On a transposing instrument, a concert C is written as a different note; the concert pitch that is played for a written C determines the key that an instrument
Notes Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis Accidental (Flat · Natural · Sharp) · Dotted note · Grace note · Note value (Beam · Note head · Stem) · Pitch · Rest · Interval · Letter notation
Articulation Dynamics · Ornament (Trill · Mordent · Grace note) · Ossia · Portato · Accent · Legato · Tenuto · Marcato · Staccato · Staccatissimo · Tie · Slur · Fermata
Development Coda · Exposition · Harmony · Melody · Motif · Recapitulation · Rhythm (Beat · Meter · Tempo) · Theme · Tonality · Atonality
Related Chord chart · Figured bass · Graphic notation · Lead sheet · Eye music · Modern musical symbols · Neume · Tablature

Categories: Musical notation

 

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