The Story of Notation (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 Excerpt: ...to a note and makes four minims equal in value to nine; he introduces a half-empty and double-tailed minim equal to a minim and a half, while three empty minims with single tails are equal to two.2 In Prosdoscimus de Beldemandis we find the "Direct" at the end of each stave, to show the 1 See Fig. 8, p. 118. 3 Fig. 8. reader the first note of the next stave, and in mediaeval times this was very necessary, since the clefs were The Direct 6V6r cnantnni their lines. It was almost universal until recent times, and was required so late as 1896 in the exercises for degrees at Oxford; a curious survival of a practice the use for which had disappeared. Prosdoscimus complains that, whereas the Italians have given up using all "points" except that of division, the Gallic musicians still use many, and it Confusion is difficult to know at first sight what effect of Dots tie pomt as e also complains that they have a great number of different ways of showing mood and time, whereas the Italians use simpler methods. Prolation was afterwards added to mood and time. As mood meant one long or its value in a bar, and time p j meant the breve or its value in a bar, pro lation meant the semibreve or its value in a bar, and it must be understood that we use the word bar merely to make the matter clear to the reader from a modern point of view. The use of bar-lines began about 1600, and was an outcome of the tablatures, to be described later. The mood was divided into major and minor, so that there were--Major perfect mood = three longs in a bar Minor perfect mood, three breves, Major imperfect mood, two longs, Minor, two breves, Decline of Mediaeval Teaching Perfect time = three semibreves in a bar Imperfect time, two, Perfect prolation, three min...