The score in the history of music
Types of Musical Notation
Square Notation
Adiastematic pneumatic notation
Baroque Notation and Ciphered Basses
C. XX
Diastematics
Renaissance Notation and Tablatures
Ancient Greece
Classicism and Romanticism
Renaissance Notation and Tablatures
In the Renaissance, 15th and 16th centuries, many elements of the notation style typical of the Ars Nova were maintained, however, as the years progressed it seems that the custom of not filling the figures was adopted, emerging a new style of notation that was called “White Notation”. The notes of greater value such as the duplex longa, the longa and the breve also disappeared. The most valuable note in use was the semibreve, which over time became the current round.
The tablature writing system emerged in the 16th century. This system, which persists today (especially for those who are unaware of the traditional system), was used by plucked string players during this period. The rhythm was indicated with musical figures placed above the horizontal lines that show the 6 strings that make up the instrument. Symbols, numbers or letters were placed on them that served to indicate the position of the fret that should be played.
Adiastematic Pneumatic Notation
Little by little the monks were making small notes that reminded them of the approximate evolution of the melody. These notations consisted of straight and curved lines that imitated the movement of the melody and the hand of the choir director: they were the "Neumas". These neumes were placed above the lyrics to be sung. In principle, each pneuma was placed behind the previous one, at the same height. This was called adiastematic or pneumatic notation. In any case, it was necessary to know the melody to be able to sing it, that is, it was only useful for remembering, not for learning.
Notation in the 20th Century and New Graphics
During the 20th century, numerous ways of creating music will be revealed and new instruments will emerge (electronic, mechanical, etc.). Each composer will look for new forms of experimentation with the score and this will lead to traditional spellings becoming obsolete in the face of the new musical styles and effects that are going to be developed. Thus, new symbols and new forms of writing emerge, which can be associations of colors to symbols, geometric shapes, mathematical formulas, etc. (Anything the composer has in his imagination). Some examples of contemporary notation are:
Diastematic Notation
Shortly afterwards, an advance of great relevance for the evolution of musical notation emerged. This advancement consisted of placing each neuma at a different height to indicate the exact interval and melodic direction. This writing system is known as diastematic notation. Soon one or two horizontal lines began to be used to indicate specific notes, this being the immediate antecedent of what centuries later would be the staff. With the invention of lines it was possible to write exactly the pitch of each musical note.
With the development of these lines, the tetragram will first develop and in the centuries to come the pentagram. A new type of composition will emerge, the "Organum". This genre consisted of superimposing two or more melodies that were performed at a certain interval distance, generally at the fourth, fifth and octave. These sonorities gradually gave way to the emergence of polyphony.
Notation in Classicism and Romanticism
During the first part of Classicism, the 18th century, not many changes were made in terms of notation. The first changes that are attributed to this period and to romanticism, 19th century, will take place in the mid-18th century, where a revolution in musical aesthetics will occur. A new vocabulary is created and symbols are invented to show musicians how to interpret certain musical moments. Agogic nuances: Adagio, vivo, con moto, rallentando etc.Dynamic nuances: Crescendo, piano, forte etc.Expressive nuances: painful, agitato, heroic, maestoso etc.
Musical Notation in Ancient Greece
The different sounds of the current system were related to a sign (letters of the alphabet), and the possible musical notation was carried out with these symbols. In the image we can see the sound-sign relationship corresponding to the sounds of the diatonic major mode:
To determine the rhythm, to the different signs that indicated the pitch, others were added that served to show the duration of the note in relation to the unit of pulse:
Notation in the Baroque
In the Baroque, 17th century, dividing lines began to be used, this meant a before and after in the rhythmic panorama. What is known as “Ciphered Bass” also arises, used to simplify the harmony that the instrumentalists who played the continuous basses had to use. Thanks to this writing method, composers only had to write the melody and the bass, so that the intermediate voices emerged from the interpretation of that coded bass. It consisted of a system of numbers that were placed in the deep voice. Thanks to them the instrumentalist had a guide to improvise the rest of the voices.
Rosary Sonata X “The Crucifixion” by H. I. von Biber.
Square Notation
The square notation takes place in France, towards the end of the 12th century, specifically in the "School of Notre Dame", as an evolution of previous pneumatic notations. It is developed on the tetragram. At the beginning of each tetragram is the key, an indicative element necessary to locate the pitch of the notes. The first two keys used were DO and FA, which can be placed on any of the four lines.
The symbols, which are identified with the notes, are called "Neumas". These may refer to a single sound orseveral that are intoned on the same syllable.
NEUMAS
Due to the increase in the complexity of music in the 13th century, a new rhythmic system was developed. This is how the Franconian notation was born. It was named in honor of its creator, the theorist Franco of Cologne (ca. 1215-1270), and was collected in his treatise on the "Art of Measurable Music". According to his treatise, individual values associated with different duration times are designated.
The longest value was for the long duplex and the shortest value was for the semi-short one.
Types of Notation in Music History
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Created on October 18, 2023
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Transcript
The score in the history of music
Types of Musical Notation
Square Notation
Adiastematic pneumatic notation
Baroque Notation and Ciphered Basses
C. XX
Diastematics
Renaissance Notation and Tablatures
Ancient Greece
Classicism and Romanticism
Renaissance Notation and Tablatures
In the Renaissance, 15th and 16th centuries, many elements of the notation style typical of the Ars Nova were maintained, however, as the years progressed it seems that the custom of not filling the figures was adopted, emerging a new style of notation that was called “White Notation”. The notes of greater value such as the duplex longa, the longa and the breve also disappeared. The most valuable note in use was the semibreve, which over time became the current round.
The tablature writing system emerged in the 16th century. This system, which persists today (especially for those who are unaware of the traditional system), was used by plucked string players during this period. The rhythm was indicated with musical figures placed above the horizontal lines that show the 6 strings that make up the instrument. Symbols, numbers or letters were placed on them that served to indicate the position of the fret that should be played.
Adiastematic Pneumatic Notation
Little by little the monks were making small notes that reminded them of the approximate evolution of the melody. These notations consisted of straight and curved lines that imitated the movement of the melody and the hand of the choir director: they were the "Neumas". These neumes were placed above the lyrics to be sung. In principle, each pneuma was placed behind the previous one, at the same height. This was called adiastematic or pneumatic notation. In any case, it was necessary to know the melody to be able to sing it, that is, it was only useful for remembering, not for learning.
Notation in the 20th Century and New Graphics
During the 20th century, numerous ways of creating music will be revealed and new instruments will emerge (electronic, mechanical, etc.). Each composer will look for new forms of experimentation with the score and this will lead to traditional spellings becoming obsolete in the face of the new musical styles and effects that are going to be developed. Thus, new symbols and new forms of writing emerge, which can be associations of colors to symbols, geometric shapes, mathematical formulas, etc. (Anything the composer has in his imagination). Some examples of contemporary notation are:
Diastematic Notation
Shortly afterwards, an advance of great relevance for the evolution of musical notation emerged. This advancement consisted of placing each neuma at a different height to indicate the exact interval and melodic direction. This writing system is known as diastematic notation. Soon one or two horizontal lines began to be used to indicate specific notes, this being the immediate antecedent of what centuries later would be the staff. With the invention of lines it was possible to write exactly the pitch of each musical note.
With the development of these lines, the tetragram will first develop and in the centuries to come the pentagram. A new type of composition will emerge, the "Organum". This genre consisted of superimposing two or more melodies that were performed at a certain interval distance, generally at the fourth, fifth and octave. These sonorities gradually gave way to the emergence of polyphony.
Notation in Classicism and Romanticism
During the first part of Classicism, the 18th century, not many changes were made in terms of notation. The first changes that are attributed to this period and to romanticism, 19th century, will take place in the mid-18th century, where a revolution in musical aesthetics will occur. A new vocabulary is created and symbols are invented to show musicians how to interpret certain musical moments. Agogic nuances: Adagio, vivo, con moto, rallentando etc.Dynamic nuances: Crescendo, piano, forte etc.Expressive nuances: painful, agitato, heroic, maestoso etc.
Musical Notation in Ancient Greece
The different sounds of the current system were related to a sign (letters of the alphabet), and the possible musical notation was carried out with these symbols. In the image we can see the sound-sign relationship corresponding to the sounds of the diatonic major mode:
To determine the rhythm, to the different signs that indicated the pitch, others were added that served to show the duration of the note in relation to the unit of pulse:
Notation in the Baroque
In the Baroque, 17th century, dividing lines began to be used, this meant a before and after in the rhythmic panorama. What is known as “Ciphered Bass” also arises, used to simplify the harmony that the instrumentalists who played the continuous basses had to use. Thanks to this writing method, composers only had to write the melody and the bass, so that the intermediate voices emerged from the interpretation of that coded bass. It consisted of a system of numbers that were placed in the deep voice. Thanks to them the instrumentalist had a guide to improvise the rest of the voices.
Rosary Sonata X “The Crucifixion” by H. I. von Biber.
Square Notation
The square notation takes place in France, towards the end of the 12th century, specifically in the "School of Notre Dame", as an evolution of previous pneumatic notations. It is developed on the tetragram. At the beginning of each tetragram is the key, an indicative element necessary to locate the pitch of the notes. The first two keys used were DO and FA, which can be placed on any of the four lines.
The symbols, which are identified with the notes, are called "Neumas". These may refer to a single sound orseveral that are intoned on the same syllable.
NEUMAS
Due to the increase in the complexity of music in the 13th century, a new rhythmic system was developed. This is how the Franconian notation was born. It was named in honor of its creator, the theorist Franco of Cologne (ca. 1215-1270), and was collected in his treatise on the "Art of Measurable Music". According to his treatise, individual values associated with different duration times are designated.
The longest value was for the long duplex and the shortest value was for the semi-short one.