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Mensural Notation

This document provides information about musical notation from the medieval and Renaissance periods, including: 1. It defines note shapes and their names including maxima, long, breve, semibreve, minim, semiminim, fusa, and semifusa. 2. It describes basic ligatures and how stems affect note values. 3. It explains standard mensurations and proportions including tempus, prolation, modus, tempo, and beat placement. It provides examples of how these elements determine note durations.

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Maayan
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44 views2 pages

Mensural Notation

This document provides information about musical notation from the medieval and Renaissance periods, including: 1. It defines note shapes and their names including maxima, long, breve, semibreve, minim, semiminim, fusa, and semifusa. 2. It describes basic ligatures and how stems affect note values. 3. It explains standard mensurations and proportions including tempus, prolation, modus, tempo, and beat placement. It provides examples of how these elements determine note durations.

Uploaded by

Maayan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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% 0 1 5 ⇤

7 ' ↵0 ◆◆⌫ ⇤
⇤
,⌘⇤5+<7+0⇤
—————————— NOTE SHAPES ——————————

Name Maxima Long Breve Semibreve Minim Semiminim Fusa Semifusa


Note
D E F G H I or S J K
Rest
<< or ;; or⇤
< or ; CBC CAC C@C C?C C>C C=C
<<< or ;;;
—————————— LIGATURES ——————————
1. Basic ligatures with no stems
a. Two-note ligatures: b. Ligatures of more than two notes:
recta descending • Beginning and ending notes follow the
obliqua rules for two-note ligatures
• Every note in the middle is a Breve (F)

recta ascending
Example:

2. Stems and other effects


a. At the beginning of a ligature: b. At the middle or end of a ligature, a stem is
• An upward stem to the left always makes always downward, and turns the note to the left
the first two notes Semibreves (G) into a Long (E)

Examples: Examples:

• A downward stem to the left makes the


first note a Breve (F) c. Any stretched notehead is a Maxima (D)

Example: Example:

1
———— STANDARD MENSURATIONS AND PROPORTIONS ————
1. Mensuration

• 2 and & are the signs of perfect and imperfect tempus: i.e., whether a Breve (F) contains 3 or
2 Semibreves (G) by default
• Presence or absence of a dot (•) in the center of the tempus sign indicates major or minor
prolation: i.e., whether a Semibreve (G) contains 3 or 2 Minims (H) by default

& (imperfect tempus, minor prolation):


F = G⇤G = H⇤H⇤⇤H⇤H
*⇤(imperfect tempus, major prolation):
F = G⇤G = H⇤H⇤H⇤⇤H⇤H⇤H
2 (perfect tempus, minor prolation):
F = G⇤G⇤G = H⇤H⇤⇤H⇤H⇤⇤H⇤H
4 (perfect tempus, major prolation):
F = G⇤G⇤G = H⇤H⇤H⇤⇤H⇤H⇤H⇤⇤H⇤H⇤H

• Major modus refers to the number of Longs (E) in a Maxima (D) (perfect is 3, imperfect is 2)
• Minor modus refers to the number of Breves (F) in a Long (E) (perfect is 3, imperfect is 2)
• Modus is detected most easily by observing how many Long rests are in a Maxima rest, and
how many Breve rests are in a Long rest:

Imperfect major modus, Imperfect major modus, Perfect major modus, Perfect major modus,
Imperfect minor modus Perfect minor modus Imperfect minor modus Perfect minor modus

<< ;; <<< ;;;


2. Other signs and proportions

• Modus cum tempore signs use the circle to show minor modus and a numeral to show
tempus:
&2 = Imperfect minor modus, Imperfect tempus &3 = Imperfect minor modus, Perfect tempus
22 = Perfect minor modus, Imperfect tempus 23 = Perfect minor modus, Perfect tempus
• Under these mensurations, the tempo is quicker and the beat is on the Breve

• A numeral or pair of numerals changes the speed of a part proportionally; e.g., 3 2 changes
the speed so that 3 notes are sung in the time of 2 (usually Semibreves or Minims)
• Shorthand proportion signs:

( = 4:3 3 = 3:2 2 = 2:1

• When the sign ' or 3 appears in one or more voices simultaneously with & or 2 in other
voices, the music in ' or 3 is twice as fast as the other voices (2:1 diminution)
• By the late 15th century ' or 3 in all voices at once often indicates some type of speeding up

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