Introduction
Humans view all new things as better and much improved than old ones. However, it should be noted that a new thing does not automatically translate to superiority. Music notations prove this argument to a greater length, as the early notations were as effective as the modern ones. Even though early notations had their challenges, they satisfied all the prerequisite requirements for performing musical performances upon the introduction of oral traditions. Throughout the evolution of musical notations, each period carried innovations geared towards the better experience of music and its easier understanding. It is also important to note that the development of musical notations in western music was achieved by different people who sought to make improvements from previous notations (Nikolsky & Perlovsky,2020). There are two main classifications of notations which include poetic and diastematic. In Poetic notations, the sounds are usually represented by numbers, letters, or signs, whereas diastematic notations are represented graphically. Notations played a master role in the development of western music.
The history of western music originates from neumes notations which mean signs. Different theories try to explain the development of neumes accents, such as classical literature, gestures made by choir directors to trace musical melodies and eclectic theories, and many others. The development of neumes continues to be a controversial debate. However, many scholars later agreed that neumes most likely had their origin from accents in classical literature (Yifan, 2021). Initially, using neumes to melodies was a complex task involving placing symbols above the text as an indication of the melodic gesture of the syllable. The early neumes, used in the early ninth century, had very little information regarding the melody’s contour. It made it hard for the performers to separate exact pitches from neumatic notation forcing the choir masters to teach performers through oral traditions.
It should be noted that, even at this early stage of notation evolution, the notation met the required demands of the period even though neumes only offered a general outline of music. Music at this point was done through memorization, and the notation only acted as a guide through the melodic line. Towards the end of the ninth century, an invention of a better manner of writing was invented, making clearer visual pitches and intervals. The invention included horizontal lines that represented higher or lower pitches. The innovation was diastematic, which is a core foundation of western music. The new invention made the notation more specific at that time since the size and direction of every interval could easily be determined. However, due to the relativity of height, it was hard to determine the exact intervals even though, through this new invention, the neumes could transmit a melodic shape that was clearer than the previous neumes.
Following the invention of diastematic neumes, which used the imaginary horizontal line, the choir masters instilled an actual line which started to be used in notation. Initially, the line was being used as a dry line but was later drawn with ink, and through it, a staff was invented by Guido of Arezzo, a monk who provided a clear guidelines about its use. The invention of staff made it possible for pitches of melody to be transmittable without involving oral traditions (Confredo & Brittin,2019). Guido was against learning music through listening as he viewed it as a childish approach and argued that the only way of finding unknown melodies was through staff. Through the staff’s help, musicians got a clearer outlook of the music that they sang as it created specifics of the interval in terms of size, direction, and distance. Additionally, Guido argued that the staff boosted memorization as the boys could sing melodies within three days, a practice that lasted weeks previously through other methods.
However, it should be noted that the invention of staff notation did not do away with oral traditions but rather played a part in expanding music possibilities as music could now be transported, memorized, and learned in faraway cities. Even after the invention of staff, the main way music was being learned was orally, and notations acted as help by reminding singers of the melodies they had already memorized. As innovation of notations continued to take shape, the music notations started working together to create more improved music leading to the development of rhythm notation. Reverend Klarlmann was of the point that Rhythm is the soul of music. Since pitch notation development was already complete, the focus was now on creating a functional rhythmic system.
The first standard rhythmic notation was invented by Notre Dame, polyphony which involved writing in several voices simultaneously. However, it should be noted that polyphony existed way before Notre Dame. Following the musical revolution in the late twelfth century by the cathedral scholars, polyphony received greater intensity than in any other period; thus, a more specific rhythmic notation was required to practice polyphony. Notre Dame, Leonius, and Perotinas are among the most renowned people who contributed to the evolution of music notation which involved compilation and later on carried out a revision of a repertoire of polyphonic music. Their contributions to rhythm notation stiffened the competition against western music notation.
Development of western music in the thirteenth century ended with the invention of the Franconian form of notation. The innovation was single-handedly cheered by a guy popularly known as Franco of Cologne, who developed the subsequent rhythmic innovation by improving the modal system. Franco’s contribution to evolution is connected with his innovative ideas of assigning specific time bond values to single notes by different note shapes by creating a formal definition of rest. Franco’s invention was divided into three systems: longs, breves, and semibreves, and referred to as distinct units of sound duration.
The Franconian notation did away with the placement of notes in ligature patterns. In his notation, the longs were classified into three categories: perfect, imperfect, and duplex. A perfect long constituted three-time units, while an imperfect one was worth two. In modern society, the concept of perfection and imperfection is not only confusing but also complicated. However, readers of the Franconian notation understood how to carry out its interpretation during that time. Modern music, too, has a complex formulation that might be understood by a few, such as a dot next to a note that adds half of its value, meaning that the only way to understand music is through trying to understand it within its context of creation.
Conclusion
The early music notations satisfied the needs which had prompted their creation in that period of history. Additionally, different notations served different purposes, making it almost impossible to analyze which of the music notation was better than the other as the evolution was mainly geared towards making improvements on the previous notations. The evolution of music notation is a special one that did not constitute the movement from inferior to superior. However, rather it is accustomed to a series of innovations and modifications.
References
Confredo, D. A., & Brittin, R. V. (2019). EFFECTS OF SINGLE VERSUS MULTIPLE STAFF MUSIC NOTATION ON WIND CHAMBER GROUP PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES AND REHEARSAL PROCEDURES. Journal of Band Research, 55(1), 49-76.
Nikolsky, A., & Perlovsky, L. (2020). The Evolution of Music. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2733.
Yifan, Y. (2021). The History and Development of Thematic# br# Catalogue of Western Music Works and Its# br# Implication to Chinese Music Circle# br. Library Journal, 40(9), 39.
write