neumes

[ noom, nyoom ] show ipa. noun. any of various symbols representing from one to four notes, used in the musical notation of the Middle Ages but now employed solely in the notation of Gregorian chant in the liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church.

They were developed in France in the ninth century… Perhaps neumes were developed and used at first for theoretical demonstrations, and only occasionally employed to notate a particular melody or to give a musical explanation here or there in a parchment manuscript.

ninth century From the origin of neumes in the ninth century to the rhythmic developments of the Ars Nova period in the fourteenth century, each musical period collaborated with the foundation of oral tradition to create and adapt notational forms.

A neume always starts at the beginning of a syllable. A neume is always read from left to right (like in modern notation) but from bottom to top when notes are written on the same column.

Gregorian melodies are traditionally written using neumes, an early form of musical notation from which the modern four-line and five-line staff developed. Multi-voice elaborations of Gregorian chant, known as organum, were an early stage in the development of Western polyphony.

Neumes indicates the length of sound a symbol is played or sung. The colored lines indicates the specific pitch in a medieval music.

Etymology. From 15th c. Middle English newme, nevme, neme; from Middle French neume, in turn from Medieval Latin neuma or pneuma, either from Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”) or νεῦμα (neûma, “sign”), or else a corruption of πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”).

any of various symbols representing from one to four notes, used in the musical notation of the Middle Ages but now employed solely in the notation of Gregorian chant in the liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church.

The chants can be sung by using six-note patterns called hexachords. Gregorian melodies are traditionally written using neumes, an early form of musical notation from which the modern four-line and five-line staff developed.

Most neume notation is used to set music to an existing text. The syllable is the fundamental unit of structure, with the neumes themselves serving as a means of “sonifying” the text.

[ noom, nyoom ] show ipa. noun. any of various symbols representing from one to four notes, used in the musical notation of the Middle Ages but now employed solely in the notation of Gregorian chant in the liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church.

Colored music notation is a technique used to facilitate enhanced learning in young music students by adding visual color to written musical notation. It is based upon the concept that color can affect the observer in various ways, and combines this with standard learning of basic notation.