The Evolution of Music Notation: From Scribbles to Neumes

This example of neumatic notation from France (or Germany) dates to around AD 950.

The ancient Greeks discovered “perfect” music intervals, which are deeply embedded in Western musical language: the octave, fifth, fourth, and second. They also created the tetrachord: a series of four notes within a scale.

In the 6th century AD, the Greek understanding of music was brought to medieval Western Europe by a Roman senator. Then, a few decades later, Pope Gregory (credited with the creation of Gregorian chant) started the first music school in Europe: the Schola Cantorum. However, at this time, melodies could only be learned and passed on by ear, as there was no formal way to write it down.

In AD 650, St. Isidore of Spain developed a system of notation using neumes, or notes. Though these graphic signs showed pitch, they were only a memory aid to singers who already knew the melody by heart. There was no way to sight-read music using neumes.

An Italian monk named Guido D’Arezzo created a system of four-lined staffs and time signatures around AD 1000. Yet, it was not until between the 10th and 12th centuries that significant developments in notation occurred, allowing music to be sight-read for the first time.

Neumes on a single-line staff (12th century).

Guidonian notation on a four-line staff. (Italy, 12th century).