A detailed critical and historical investigation of the development of musical notation as a powerful system of symbolic communication.

An accessible history of how musicians learned to record music discusses the work of five centuries of religious scholars while demonstrating how people developed methods for measuring rhythm, melody and precise pitch, leading to the technological systems of notation in today's world.

The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory is the first comprehensive history of Western music theory to be published in the English language. A collaborative project by leading music theorists and historians, the volume traces the rich panorama of music-theoretical thought from the Ancient Greeks to the present day. Recognizing the variety and complexity of music theory as an historical subject, the volume has been organized within a flexible framework. Some chapters are defined chronologically within a restricted historical domain, whilst others are defined conceptually and span longer historical periods. Together the thirty-one chapters present a synthetic overview of the fascinating and complex subject that is historical music theory. Richly enhanced with illustrations, graphics, examples and cross-citations as well as being thoroughly indexed and supplemented by comprehensive bibliographies of the most important primary and secondary literature, this book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars alike.

Material Cultures of Music Notation brings together a collection of essays that explore a fundamental question in the current landscape of musicology: how can writing and reading music be understood as concrete, material practices in a wider cultural context? Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from musicology, media studies, performance studies, and more, the chapters in this volume offer a wide array of new perspectives that foreground the materiality of music notation. From digital scores to the transmission of manuscripts in the Middle Ages, the volume deliberately disrupts boundaries of discipline, historical period, genre, and tradition, by approaching notation's materiality through four key interrelated themes: knowledge, the body, social relations, and technology. Together, the chapters capture vital new work in an essential emerging area of scholarship.

Music moves through time; it is not static. In order to appreciate music wemust remember what sounds happened, and anticipate what sounds might comenext. This book takes you on a journey of music from past to present, from the Middle Ages to the Baroque Period to the 20th century and beyond!

[2nd Edition] This book is an introduction to reading and notating Western music. It is designed to serve as a textbook for a one-semester course at the college level. Students need no prior knowledge of music. The course of study will foster an understanding of and appreciation for the roles of composer, performer and listener.Music of the world is as diverse as the cultures that create it. Methods for transmitting musical ideas are equally varied. In Western civilization a system of notation has evolved that allows transmission of musical thought with utmost precision. The notation applies equally to all genres, whether symphony, folk music, popular music, or jazz.

This pocket-sized dictionary presents current and correct notation practices in an easy-to-use format. Generously illustrated and concise, this book is essential to any musician looking for a handy reference for the correct notation of music. A most welcome and beneficial source for every musician, whether using a pencil or a computer.