History of writing music

                For a very long time I used to wonder how such a beautiful system of music writing came into existence. So this thought has been running in my mind for quite some time which pushed me to get back into the habit of reading again.

                The first thing I always tell my students is “Music is a language”. Language is the mode of communication and it has 2 forms SPOKEN & WRITTEN. So does music, instead of spoken form it is going to be singing/playing form. Music is a language specially dealing with the emotions. It is a form of human communication. Majority of music form was oral, passed on from one person to another by repetition and memory. Now before getting into the article first my disclaimer; this article contains my own guess work along with the history. 

The proof for the earliest form of written music belonging to 2000 B.C. was found in the form of tablet in NIPPUR, in Iraq. It was a fragmented instruction to perform music. The music in that tablet was composed in harmonies of thirds using a diatonic scale. A Tablet from the period 1250 B.C. shows more developed form of notation.

                Ancient Egyptians’ devised symbols for pitch & tone of melody. Around 6^th century B.C. to 4^th century A.D. the Ancient Greece had started writing notation that can represent pitch as well as harmony to a limited extent. As early as 3^rd century B.C. the Chinese had a sophisticated system of notation.

                Using alphabets to name notes of the scale dates to ancient Greece and possibly earlier. This system was established by around 500 B.C. The alphabets were given to whole notes of the diatonic scale and inflections of semitones and quarter tones are represented by rotation of symbols. Two different systems were used to write down notations for vocals & instruments.

Byzantine Music:

                This was followed after the Ancient Greece in terms music notation writing and it is almost similar to western music notation. The main difference between the European writing that followed this period is notes are not absolute, they just indicate the pitch change and the musicians need to deduce it correctly. The micro tonal changes can be given. This music originated near the eastern Greece and it is pre Islamic. Byzantine chants are close to Arabic and Turkish music which also make use of micro tonal differences. Later a form of notation using signs called neumes was developed for writing plain songs.  The graphic signs would show the rise and fall of the pitch. However the notes are not absolute, hence there was no precise idea of pitch or also rhythm. This system was intended to remind the singers, the relative melody that had already been taught to them.

Early Europe:

                As early as 7^th century A.D. it was believed impossible to write or notate music. In the middle of 9^th century this started changing. The first problem that was addressed was the one that was faced in the Byzantine music method. A single horizontal line was drawn to adopt the pitch absolutely.  Later another line was added the first one representing C and the later one F drawn in different colors. The earliest notation of this type is from about 850 A.D. This method is still in use for plain chants. Over a period of time 2 more lines were brought below representing E & A.

Guido of Arezzo further improved the system of notation by placing the notes vertically on the horizontal lines. He also placed the notes C & F on the appropriate lines at the beginning which is now replaced by the clef signs. For other type of music, staffs with different number of lines at various times for various instruments were used. This was probably the first comprehensive method where a whole melody can be notated. However, still there was no method to notate rhythm.

German music theorist FRANCO OF COLOGNE suggested individual notes could have rhythm represented by the shape of the note. He codified further and rationalized the system by introducing notes with different time values.

At the start of the modern music staff notation, 11 lines theory was floated which would accommodate maximum notes in order with the middle line (6^th line) representing the Middle C. The main issue with this method was reading the notes as we play. Readability became very difficult. The modern five line staff must have been deduced from this method. It was first adopted in France and started being followed globally by 16^th century.

to be continued...