Musical notation

Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a <a href="/facts/Piece_of_music/EUR2qaQw">piece of music</a> that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The process of interpreting musical notation is often referred to as reading music.
Distinct methods of notation have been invented throughout history by various cultures. Much information about <a href="/facts/Ancient_music/wUU5MINj">ancient music</a> notation is fragmentary. Even in the same time frames, different styles of music and different cultures use different music notation methods.
For example, <a href="/facts/Classical_music/oglVXmSb">classical</a> performers most often use <a href="/facts/Sheet_music/P1rGJt0t">sheet music</a> using <a href="/facts/Staff_(music)/PldhTGvE">staves</a>, <a href="/facts/Time_signature/kwQcWg1P">time signatures</a>, <a href="/facts/Key_signature/Pz4Gkn9N">key signatures</a>, and <a href="/facts/Notehead/H13qwzxD">noteheads</a> for writing and deciphering <a href="/facts/Musical_composition/EUR2qaQw">pieces</a>. But even so, there are far more systems just that, for instance in professional <a href="/facts/Country_music/UJM3Un98">country music</a>, the <a href="/facts/Nashville_Number_System/RpS39Gm3">Nashville Number System</a> is the main method, and for <a href="/facts/String_instrument/srW2H8dV">string instruments</a> such as <a href="/facts/Guitar/QIJdTYa6">guitar</a>, it is quite common for <a href="/facts/Tablature/KXvC4llx">tablature</a> to be used by players.
The symbols used include ancient symbols and <a href="/facts/Modern_musical_symbols/xRo2aDx5">modern symbols</a> made upon any media such as symbols cut into stone, made in <a href="/facts/Clay_tablet/9mbScsAn">clay tablets</a>, made using a pen on <a href="/facts/Papyrus/RMbJNcXu">papyrus</a> or <a href="/facts/Parchment/1lqNVkWj">parchment</a> or <a href="/facts/Manuscript_paper/rUmbprYX">manuscript paper</a>; printed using a <a href="/facts/Printing_press/7I3laFE0">printing press</a> (c. 1400), a <a href="/facts/Computer_printer/PnDF2QuF">computer printer</a> (c. 1980) or other <a href="/facts/Music_engraving/jL3mCcNa">printing</a> or <a href="/facts/Photocopier/aF7URdyU">modern copying technology</a>.
Although many ancient cultures used symbols to represent <a href="/facts/Melody/5TR3IE3Y">melodies</a> and <a href="/facts/Rhythm/aHAByx9M">rhythms</a>, none of them were particularly comprehensive, which has limited today's understanding of their music. The direct ancestor of the modern <a href="/facts/Western_culture/rPbgAhzI">Western</a> system of notation emerged in <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">medieval Europe</a>, in the context of the <a href="/facts/Christian_Church/mXj3F6ED">Christian Church</a>'s attempts to standardize the performance of <a href="/facts/Plainsong/C1WHYKJp">plainsong</a> melodies so that chants could be standardized across different areas. Notation <a href="/facts/Renaissance_music/MvSjNt2G">developed further during the Renaissance</a> and <a href="/facts/Baroque_music/UgrJnyTq">Baroque music</a> eras. In the <a href="/facts/Classical_period_(music)/HhEDbzVX">classical period</a> (1750–1820) and the <a href="/facts/Romantic_music_era/Smlk40jm">Romantic music era</a> (1820–1900), notation continued to develop as the <a href="/facts/Music_technology_(mechanical)/DXRkjuav">technology for musical instruments</a> developed. In the <a href="/facts/Contemporary_classical_music/KuzN3elz">contemporary classical music</a> of the 20th and 21st centuries, music notation has continued to develop, with the introduction of <a href="/facts/Graphical_notation_(music)/jumH5UJK">graphical notation</a> by some modern composers and the use, since the 1980s, of computer-based <a href="/facts/Scorewriter/KVVCI1xX">scorewriter</a> programs for notating music. Music notation has been adapted to many kinds of music, including <a href="/facts/Classical_music/oglVXmSb">classical music</a>, <a href="/facts/Popular_music/Q5yhxIwY">popular music</a>, and <a href="/facts/Traditional_music/yFHpeE7k">traditional music</a>.

Musical notation open-in-new

Musical notation