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medieval music




Poster: Bob & Diana Cosby <cosby@erols.com>

Another romance writer is seeking medieval music information.  If anyone
knows the answer, I sincerely appreciate it if you could answer her.
Thank you all very much for your time and assistance.
Ha det sa bra & Happy Holidays,
Diana Cosby
cosby@erols.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Any music history buffs out there?

I have been trying to find out a few more details about the history of
musical notation, largely the origin of the seventh note, and the system
for
the indication of the length of notes.  Please have patience while I
explain
what I know, and what I need.

According to my sources, an Italian Benedictine monk named Guido of
Arezzo
(c.990-1033) is credited with creating the system of notation for
writing
music.  He named the notes after the first syllables from six lines of a

hymn to St John the Baptist (ut, re, mi, fa, so la).  Each syllable
stood
for one note in the scale.  "Ut" was changed to "Do" around  1600, and
by
this date a seventh syllable "Si" (Sancte Ioannes, from the seventh line
of
the hymn) had been added to make the modern eight-note scale (altho
later it
was changed to "Ti").

So, my question is, *WHO* added the seventh syllable "Si" and WHEN? It
seems
to always get glossed over.

As I understand it, Guido also placed the notes on lines (is he the one
who
called them "staves"?) or in the spaces between so that the relationship

between notes could be defined.  But my sources are again hazy about the

origins of the system for indicating the length of notes.  As I
understand
it, this was not required to sing medieval plainchant, and it wasn't
perfected until after Guido's death.  Again, any idea of by WHOM, and
WHEN?

Any help would be appreciated, and the more simply explained the better
(otherwise I'll have to get my musical 13-yr-old to translate it for me,
and
that's embarrassing). Thank you very much in advance.  You can e-mail me
at
cproctor@adam.com.au.

Candice Proctor

http://www.adam.com.au/lutproc

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