View source for Neume

{{Short description|System of medieval musical notation}}
{{redirect|Daseia|the Greek diacritic|Rough breathing}}
[[File:Gregorian chant.gif|frame|A sample of [[Kyrie|Kýrie Eléison]] XI (Orbis Factor) from the ''Liber Usualis''. [[Media:Kyrie XI (Orbis Factor) sample.ogg|Listen]] to it interpreted.]]
A '''neume''' ({{IPAc-en|nj|uː|m}}; sometimes spelled '''neum''')<ref>Dom Gregory Sunol, ''Textbook of Gregorian Chant According to the Solesmes Method'', 2003, {{ISBN|0-7661-7241-4}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7661-7241-8}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.musicasacra.com/pdf/chantsofchurch.pdf Chants of the Church]</ref><ref>[http://www.musicasacra.com/pdf/liberusualis.pdf Liber Usualis]</ref> is the basic element of Western and some Eastern systems of [[musical notation]] prior to the invention of five-line [[staff (music)|staff]] notation.

The earliest neumes were inflective marks that indicated the general shape but not necessarily the exact [[Musical note|note]]s or [[rhythm]]s to be sung. Later developments included the use of heightened neumes that showed the relative [[Pitch (music)|pitches]] between neumes, and the creation of a four-line musical staff that identified particular pitches. Neumes do not generally indicate rhythm, but additional [[symbol]]s were sometimes juxtaposed with neumes to indicate changes in [[Articulation (music)|articulation]], [[duration (music)|duration]], or [[tempo]]. Neumatic notation was later used in [[medieval music]] to indicate certain patterns of rhythm called [[rhythmic mode]]s, and eventually evolved into [[Modern musical symbols|modern musical notation]]. Neumatic notation remains standard in modern editions of [[plainchant]].

==Etymology==
The word ''neume'' entered the English language in the [[Middle English]] forms {{lang|enm|newme}}, {{lang|enm|nevme}}, {{lang|enm|neme}} in the 15th century, from the [[Middle French]] {{lang|frm|neume}}, in turn from either medieval Latin {{lang|la-x-medieval|pneuma}} or {{lang|la|neuma}}, the former either from [[ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|πνεῦμα}} {{lang|grc-Latn|pneuma}} ('breath') or {{lang|grc|νεῦμα}} {{lang|grc-Latn|neuma}} ("sign"),<ref>{{cite OED|neume}}</ref><ref>{{LSJ|pneu{{=}}ma|πνεῦμα}}, {{LSJ|neu{{=}}ma|νεῦμα|ref}}.</ref> or else directly from Greek as a [[corruption (linguistics)|corruption]] or an adaptation of the former.<ref>{{cite OED2|neume}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}}<!--OED does not support this alternative etymology, though it does discuss the similarity of forms.--><!--OED 2nd edition does (as an ad., i.e. adaptation); it is in fact the only etymology it provides: "neume, neum Mus. ... ad. Gr. πνεῦμα breath: see pneum, pneuma.]"-->

==Early history==
Although [[chant]] was probably sung since the earliest days of the church, for centuries it was transmitted only [[Oral tradition|orally]].

The earliest known systems involving neumes are of [[Aramaic]] origin and were used to notate inflections in the quasi-emmelic (melodic) [[recitation]] of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Holy Scriptures|holy scriptures]]. As such they resemble functionally a similar system used for the notation of recitation of the [[Qur'an]], the holy book of [[Islam]]. This early system was called ''[[ekphonetic notation]]'', from the Greek ἐκφώνησις ''ekphonesis'' meaning quasi-melodic recitation of text.

Around the 9th century neumes began to become shorthand [[mnemonic]] aids for the proper [[Melody|melodic]] recitation of [[chant]].<ref>One of the earliest examples is the ''[[Planctus de obitu Karoli]]'' (c.814), which was provided neumatic notation in the 10th century, [[cf.]] [[Rosamond McKitterick]] (2008), ''Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-88672-4}}), 225 n54. For the lyrics, see Peter Godman (1985), ''Latin Poetry of the Carolingian Renaissance'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press), 206–11.</ref> A prevalent view is that neumatic notation was first developed in the [[Eastern Roman Empire]].{{cn|date=July 2025}} This seems plausible given the well-documented peak of musical composition and cultural activity in major cities of the empire (now regions of southern [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]] and [[Israel]]) at that time. The corpus of extant [[Byzantine music]] in [[manuscript]] and printed form is far larger than that of the [[Gregorian chant]], due in part to the fact that neumes fell into disuse in the west after the rise of modern staff notation and with it the new techniques of [[polyphonic music]], while the Eastern tradition of [[Greek orthodox church]] music and the reformed neume notation remains alive today.

Slavic neume notations ("[[Znamenny Chant]]") are on the whole even more difficult to decipher and [[Transcription (music)|transcribe]] than Byzantine or Gregorian neume notations.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==Western plainchant==
[[File:Neume2.jpg|thumb|right|"{{lang|la|Iubilate deo universa terra}}" shows [[psalm]] verses in unheightened cheironomic neumes.]]
[[Image:Digraphic neumes.png|thumb|right|Digraphic neumes in an 11th-century manuscript from Dijon. Letter names for individual notes in the neume are provided.]]
The earliest Western notation for chant appears in the 9th century.  These early staffless neumes, called ''cheironomic'' or {{lang|la|in campo aperto}}, appeared as freeform wavy lines above the text.  Various scholars see these as deriving from [[cheironomy|cheironomic]] hand-gestures, from the [[ekphonetic notation]] of Byzantine chant, or from [[punctuation]] or accent marks.<ref>[[Kenneth Levy]], "Plainchant", Grove Music Online, edited by Laura Macy (Accessed January 20, 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?section=music.40099.2.3#music.40099.2.3 (subscription access)]</ref> Each [[syllable]] of the text had a corresponding neume that indicated the note pattern to be sung. This could simply be a single note, or one of a number of melodic patterns. Cheironomic neumes indicated changes in pitch and duration within each syllable, but did not specify the pitches of individual notes, the [[interval (music)|intervals]] between pitches within a neume, or the relative starting pitches of different syllables' neumes. They were [[Mnemonic|mnemonics]], reminding singers of how the melody was sung, but do not contain enough information to reconstruct the actual music. For this reason, a significant quantity of early western plainchant, such as the [[Mozarabic Rite|Mozarabic]] chant of the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian peninsula]], can only be reconstructed conjecturally because it survives only as cheironomic neumes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Conklin |first1=Darrell |last2=Maessen |first2=Geert |date=2019-10-12 |title=Generation of Melodies for the Lost Chant of the Mozarabic Rite |journal=Applied Sciences |language=en |volume=9 |issue=20 |pages=4285 |doi=10.3390/app9204285 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-3417}}</ref> 

There is evidence that the earliest Western [[musical notation]], in the form of neumes {{lang|la|in campo aperto}} (without [[Staff (music)|staff]]-lines), was created at [[Metz]] around 800, as a result of [[Charlemagne]]'s desire for [[Franks|Frank]]ish church musicians to retain the performance nuances used by the Roman singers.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2003.56.1.43 James Grier ''Ademar de Chabannes, Carolingian Musical Practices, and "Nota Romana"''], Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Spring, 2003), pp. 43–98, retrieved July 2007</ref>

Presumably these were intended only as mnemonics for melodies learned by ear. The earliest extant manuscripts (9th–10th centuries) of such neumes include:
* the [[abbey of St. Gall]], in modern-day Switzerland
* Messine neumes (from the monastery of [[Metz]] in northeast France)
* [[Aquitaine|Aquitanian]] neumes (southern France, also used in Spain)
* [[Notre-Dame of Laon|Laon]], [[Cathedral of Chartres|Chartres]], [[Montpellier]]

[[Image:Cistercian neumes - Medieval music - Offertorium. In omnem terram - Schøyen collection - MS 207, 12th century - detail.jpg|thumb|Cistercian neumes, St. Denis/St. Evrault, North France, 12th century. {{lang|la|(Quon)iam prevenisti eum in benedictione}} and {{lang|la|Offertorium. In omnem terram exivit sonus}}. Variation of the letter F to the left of each line.]]
In the early 11th century, Beneventan neumes (from the churches of [[Benevento]] in southern Italy) were written at varying distances from the text to indicate the overall shape of the melody; such neumes are called ''heightened'' or ''diastematic'' neumes, which showed the relative pitches between neumes. Despite this limitation, there have been recent advances in the interpretation of Beneventan neumes which hold out the possibility of at least tentative reconstruction of the chants.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peattie |first=Matthew G. |date=2010 |title=Transcribing the Beneventan chant |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0961137110000069/type/journal_article |journal=Plainsong and Medieval Music |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=139–167 |doi=10.1017/S0961137110000069 |issn=0961-1371|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A few manuscripts from the same period use ''digraphic'' notation in which note names are included below the neumes. Shortly after this, one to four [[staff (music)|staff]] lines—an innovation traditionally ascribed to [[Guido d'Arezzo]]—clarified the exact relationship between pitches. One line was marked as representing a particular pitch, usually C or F. These neumes resembled the same thin, scripty style of the chironomic notation. By the 11th century, chironomic neumes had evolved into ''square notation.''<ref name="Gregorian Chant">{{Cite web |title=Gregorian Chant - Classical Music |url=https://sites.google.com/site/classicalmusic15/gregorian-chant |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407102155/https://sites.google.com/site/classicalmusic15/gregorian-chant |archive-date=2022-04-07 |access-date= |website=sites.google.com }}</ref> In Germany, a variant called Gothic neumes continued to be used until the 16th century. This variant is also known as ''Hufnagel notation'', as the used neumes resemble the nails (''Hufnägel'' in German) one uses to attach horseshoes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/13500 |title=Hufnagel |author=David Hiley |author-link=David Hiley |website=Oxford Music Online |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=5 February 2015 }}</ref>

[[File:Graduale Aboense.jpg|thumb|right|"{{lang|la|Gaudeamus omnes}}", from the {{lang|la|Graduale&nbsp;Aboense}}, was scripted using square notation.]]
By the 13th century, the neumes of Gregorian chant were usually written in ''square notation'' on a staff with four lines and three spaces and a [[clef]] marker, as in the 14th–15th century {{lang|la|Graduale Aboense}} shown here. In square notation, small groups of ascending notes on a syllable are shown as stacked squares, read from bottom to top, while descending notes are written with diamonds read from left to right. In [[melisma]]tic chants, in which a syllable may be sung to a large number of notes, a series of smaller such groups of neumes are written in succession, read from left to right. A special symbol called the {{lang|la|custos}}, placed at the end of a system, showed which pitch came next at the start of the following system. Special neumes such as the {{lang|la|[[oriscus]]}}, {{lang|la|quilisma}}, and liquescent neumes, indicate particular vocal treatments for these notes. This system of square notation is standard in modern chantbooks.

==Solesmes notation==
Various manuscripts and printed editions of Gregorian chant, using varying styles of square-note neumes, circulated throughout the Catholic Church for centuries. Some editions added rhythmic patterns, or [[Metre (music)|meter]], to the chants. In the 19th century the monks of the Benedictine abbey of [[St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes|Solesmes]], particularly [[Joseph Pothier|Dom Joseph Pothier]] (1835–1923) and [[André Mocquereau|Dom André Mocquereau]] (1849–1930), collected [[facsimile]]s of the earliest manuscripts and published them in a series of 12 publications called {{ill|Paléographie musicale|lt={{lang|fr|Paléographie musicale|nocat=y}}|fr|Paléographie musicale}}. They also assembled definitive versions of many of the chants, and developed a standardized form of the square-note notation that was adopted by the Catholic Church and is still in use in publications such as the {{lang|la|[[Liber Usualis]]}} (although there are also published editions of this book in modern notation).

As a general rule, the notes of a single neume are sung to one syllable of the text. All three pitches of a three-note neume, for example, must all be sung on the same syllable. There may be cases where neumes are used to notate [[Polyphony|polyphonic]] music; Richard Crocker has argued that in the special case of the early Aquitanian polyphony of the [[St. Martial school]], neumes must have been "broken" between syllables to facilitate the coordination of parts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crocker |first=Richard |date=1994 |title=Two recent editions of Aquitanian polyphony |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0961137100000632/type/journal_article |journal=Plainsong and Medieval Music |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=57–101 |doi=10.1017/S0961137100000632 |issn=0961-1371|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  However, a single syllable may be sung to so many notes that several neumes in succession are used to notate it. The single-note neumes indicate that only a single note corresponds to that syllable. Chants that primarily use single-note neumes are called ''syllabic''; chants with typically one multi-note neume per syllable are called ''neumatic'', and those with many neumes per syllable are called ''melismatic''.

==Rhythmic interpretation==
The Solesmes monks also determined [[performance practice]] for Gregorian chant based on their research. Because of the ambiguity of medieval musical notation, the question of rhythm in Gregorian chant is contested by scholars. Some neumes, such as the ''pressus'', do indicate the lengthening of notes.{{contradictory inline|date=January 2015}}<!--According to Hiley's New Grove article, cited later, the pressus is a compound neume involving three or more consecutive notes. From that description, it is only the oriscus component of the pressus that might be construed as a lengthening.--> Common modern practice, following the Solesmes interpretation, is to perform Gregorian chant with no beat or regular metric accent, in which time is free, allowing the text to determine the accent and the melodic contour to determine phrasing. By the 13th century, with the widespread use of square notation, it is believed that most chant was sung with each note getting approximately an equal value, although [[Jerome of Moravia]] cites exceptions in which certain notes, such as the final notes of a chant, are lengthened.<ref>Hiley, "Chant", p. 44.  "The performance of chant in equal note lengths from the 13th century onwards is well supported by contemporary statements."</ref>

The Solesmes school, represented by Dom Pothier and Dom Mocquereau, supports a rhythm of equal values per note, allowing for lengthening and shortening of note values for musical purposes. A second school of thought, including Wagner, Jammers, and Lipphardt, supports different rhythmic realizations of chant by imposing musical meter on the chant in various ways.<ref>Apel, ''Gregorian Chant'', p. 127.</ref>  Musicologist [[Gustave Reese]] said that the second group, called ''mensuralists'', "have an impressive amount of historical evidence on their side" (''Music in the Middle Ages'', p.&nbsp;146), but the equal-note Solesmes interpretation has permeated the musical world, apparently due to its ease of learning and resonance with modern musical taste.<ref>Mahrt "Chant", p. 18.</ref>

==Illustrations==
Examples of neumes may be seen here: "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060610025333/http://opera.maldura.unipd.it/ritmi/neume_table.jsp Basic & Liquescent Aquitanian Neumes]" (archive from 10 June 2006, accessed 12 September 2014), [http://icking-music-archive.org/software/musixtex/add-ons/hld2mtex/neumes.html], [http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/appendix/notation/Neumes.html].

===Clefs===
Neumes are written on a four-line [[Staff (music)|staff]] on the lines and spaces, unlike modern music notation, which uses five lines. Chant does not rely on any [[absolute pitch]] or key; the clefs are only to establish the half and whole steps of the [[Guidonian_hand#The_hexachord_in_the_Middle_Ages|hexachord]]: "ut", "re", "mi", "fa", "sol", "la". The clef bracketing a line indicates the location "ut" in the case of the C clef, or "fa" in the case of the F clef as shown:
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:c clef neume.gif]] || C clef
|-
|[[File:f clef neume.gif]] || F clef
|}

===Single notes===
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:punctum1.gif]] || '''Punctum''' ("point")
|-
|[[File:virga1.gif|34x77px]] || '''Virga''' ("rod")
|-
|[[File:repercussive.gif]] || '''Bipunctum''' ("two points")
|}
The virga and punctum are of identical length. The virga is used to indicate a note within a group on which the main stress – the ''ictus'' – falls.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=James |title=How to sing plain chant |publisher=St Dominic's Press |year=1920 |location=Ditchling, Sussex |pages=22 |language=en}}</ref> Scholars disagree on whether the bipunctum indicates a note twice as long, or whether the same note should be re-articulated. When this latter interpretation is favoured, it may be called a ''repercussive neume''.

===Two notes===
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:clivis.gif]] || '''Clivis''' ("by slope") || Two notes descending
|-
|[[File:podatus.gif]] || '''Podatus''' or '''Pes''' ("foot") || Two notes ascending
|}
When two notes are one above the other, as in the podatus, the lower note is always sung first.

===Three notes===
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:scandicus.gif]] || '''Scandicus''' 
("climbing")
| Three notes ascending
|-
|[[File:climacus.gif]] || '''Climacus''' 
("climactic")
| Three notes descending
|-
|[[File:torculus.gif]] || '''Torculus''' 
("twisted")
| down-up-down
|-
|[[File:porrectus.gif]] || '''Porrectus''' 
("raised")
| up-down-up
|}
The fact that the first two notes of the porrectus are connected as a diagonal rather than as individual notes seems to be a scribe's shortcut.

===Compound neumes===
Several consecutive neumes can be grouped together for a single syllable, and some of these combinations have specific names. These are two examples:
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[File:pressus.gif]] || '''Praepunctis''' || a note appended to the beginning is ''praepunctis''; this example is a ''podatus pressus'' because it involves a repeated note
|-
|[[File:scandicus subbipunctus.gif]] || '''Subpunctis''' || One or more notes appended at the end of a neume; this example is a ''scandicus subbipunctis''
|}

===Other basic markings===
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:Flat neume.gif]] || Flat || Same meaning as modern [[flat (music)|flat]]; only occurs on B, and is placed before the entire neume, or group of neumes, rather than immediately before the affected note. Its effect typically lasts the length of a word and is reinserted if needed on the next word.
|-
|[[File:Custos.gif]] || '''Custos''' || This mark occurs at the end of a staff. It indicates what the first note of the next staff will be, as an aid to singers.
|-
|[[File:Punctum mora.gif]] || '''Mora''' || Like a dot in modern notation, lengthens the preceding note, typically doubling it
|}

===Interpretive marks===
The interpretation of these markings is the subject of great dispute among scholars.
:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:vertical episema.gif]] || Vertical '''episema'''<BR>(vertical stroke) || Indicates a subsidiary accent when there are five or more notes in a neume group. This marking was an invention of the Solesmes interpreters, rather than a marking from the original manuscripts.
|-
|[[File:horizontal episema.gif]] || Horizontal '''episema'''<BR>(horizontal stroke) || Used over a single note or a group of notes (as shown), essentially ignored in the Solesmes interpretation; other scholars treat it as indicating a lengthening or stress on the note(s).
|-
|[[File:liquescent.gif]] || '''Liquescent neume'''<BR>(small note) || Can occur on almost any type of neume pointing up or down; usually associated with certain letter combinations such as double consonants, consonant pairs, or diphthongs in the text. For example, in the [[Agnus Dei]] of the plainchant Missa XI (''Missa Orbis factor''), the first syllables of the words ''tollis'' and ''mundi'' are notated using liquescent neumes. So the second note of the neume would be used to sing the second 'l' of ''tollis'' and the 'n' of ''mundi.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anonymous |title=The Parish Book of Chant |publisher=The Church Music Association of America |year=2012 |isbn=9780984865291 |pages=177}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:quilisma.gif]] || '''Quilisma'''<BR>(squiggly note) || Always as part of a multi-note neume, usually a climacus, this sign is a matter of great dispute; the Solesmes interpretation is that the ''preceding'' note is to be lengthened slightly.
|}

Other interpretations of the quilisma:
* '''Shake''' or [[trill (music)|trill]]—William Mahrt of [[Stanford University]] supports this interpretation. This interpretation is also put into practice by the Washington Cappella Antiqua, under the direction of Patrick Jacobson.
* [[Quarter tone|Quarter-tone]] or [[Accidental (music)|accidental]]. The support for this interpretation lies in some early '''digraphic''' manuscripts that combine chironomic neumes with letter-names. In places where other manuscripts have quilismas these digraphs often have a strange symbol in place of a letter, suggesting to some scholars the use of a pitch outside the [[solmization]] system represented by the letter names.{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}

There are other uncommon neume shapes thought to indicate special types of vocal performance, though their precise meaning is a matter of debate:<ref>Don Michael Randel (ed.). 2003. "Neume". ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', fourth edition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-01163-5}}.</ref>
*The '''trigon'''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 | title =Neume
 | encyclopedia =Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed.
 | year =1972
 | publisher =Harvard University Press
|page=572
|editor=Willi Apel
 | location =Cambridge, Massachusetts
}}</ref> The orthodox Solesme interpretation of this obscure three-note neume is a unison plus a third below, but there are other possibilities.<ref>David Hughes, "The Musical Text of the Introit ''Ressurexi''", in ''Music in Medieval Europe: Studies in Honour of Bryan Gillingham'', edited by Terence Bailey and Alma Colk Santosuosso, 163–80 (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2007), p.&nbsp;170. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-5239-7}}.</ref> It appears to have originated at St. Gall, though it is also widespread in French chant sources from the 10th and 11th centuries.<ref>David Hughes, "An Enigmatic Neume", in ''Themes and Variations: Writings on Music in Honor of Rulan Chao Pian'', edited by Bell Yung and Joseph S. C. Lam, 8–30 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press Press, 1994), pp.&nbsp;13–14.</ref> It has been proposed that it may have a [[microtone|microtonal]] meaning, but there is "an admitted lack of conclusiveness in the arguments in favor of notes smaller than a semitone."<ref>David Hughes, "An Enigmatic Neume", in ''Themes and Variations: Writings on Music in Honor of Rulan Chao Pian'', edited by Bell Yung and Joseph S. C. Lam, 8–30 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press Press, 1994), p.&nbsp;26.</ref>
* The '''distropha''' and '''tristropha''' are groups of two and three '''apostrophes''', usually of the same pitch. They probably differed from normal repeated notes (virgae or puncta) in the way they were sung. Although there is some doubt on the matter, most modern writers accept Aurelian of Réôme's description of a staccato reiteration.<ref>David Hiley, "Distropha, tristropha [double apostrophe, bistropha; triple apostrophe]", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]] (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref>
* The '''oriscus''' is a single-note neume, usually found added as an auxiliary note to another neume. The name may derive from either the Greek ''horos'' (limit) or ''ōriskos'' (little hill). Its intended manner of performance is not clear. Although a microtonal interpretation has been suggested, there is possible contradicting evidence in the Dijon tonary, Montpellier H. 159.<ref>Anon., "Oriscus", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref>
* The '''pressus''' is a compound neume, usually involving an initial neume followed by an oriscus and a punctum. The initial neume may be a virga (in which case the virga + oriscus may be together called a ''virga strata''), in which case the pressus indicates three notes; if the initial neume is a pes, then the compound indicates a four-note group. Just as with the oriscus itself, the interpretation is unsure. When chant came to be notated on a staff, the oriscus was normally represented as having the same pitch as the immediately preceding note.<ref>David Hiley, "Pressus", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref>
There are also ''litterae significativae'' in many manuscripts, usually interpreted to indicate variations in tempo, e.g. c = ''celeriter'' (fast), t = ''tenete'' (hold) (an early form of the [[tenuto]]), a = ''auge'' (lengthen, as in a [[Tie (music)|tie]]). The Solesmes editions omit all such letters.

==Other functions==
Neumes were used for notating other kinds of melody than plainchant, including [[troubadour]] and [[trouvère]] melodies, monophonic versus and conductus, and the individual lines of [[polyphony|polyphonic]] songs.  In some traditions, such as the [[Notre Dame school]] of polyphony, certain patterns of neumes were used to represent particular rhythmic patterns called [[rhythmic mode]]s.<!--This section needs expansion-->

==Other types==
* Ekphonetic neumes annotating the melodic recitation of (Christian) holy scriptures.
* Neumes of [[Byzantine music]] – in several stages, old Byzantine, middle Byzantine, late Byzantine and post-Byzantine, and neo-Byzantine (reformed).
* Neumes of Slavic chant (Slavic neumes or "[[Znamenny Chant]]").
* Mozarabic or Hispanic neumes ([[Spain]]), also called [[Visigothic script (music notation)|Visigothic script]]. These neumes have not been deciphered, but the [[Mozarabic liturgy]] varies somewhat from the [[Latin liturgical rites|Roman rite]].
* [[Catalan notation]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Els manuscrits musicals a Catalunya fins al segle XIII|last = Garrigosa i Massana|first = Joaquim|publisher = Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs|year = 2003|isbn = 9788489943742|location = Lleida}}</ref>
* [[Daseian notation]] – an early form of Western music notation used in 9th and 10th-century [[music theory]] treatises.
* [[Buddhist chant]] uses a type of neume.

==Digital notation==
Because [[Scorewriter|notation software]] usually focuses on modern European [[List of musical symbols|music notation]], software that allows the user to use neumes is rare.
* [[Gregorio (software)|Gregorio]] is a software especially written for that purpose. With its own GABC-Syntax and together with [[LuaTeX]] it provides high quality output of square notation neumes and also St. Gall neumes.
* [[Finale (software)|Finale]] can be enhanced with Medieval 2, a third-party package devoted to early music and especially neumes.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/robert-piechaud-releases-medieval-2/
|title=Medieval 2 release
|date=6 June 2017
|publisher=MakeMusic
|access-date=2017-06-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://klemm-music.de/download/medieval-2-testversion/
|title=Medieval 2 website
|language=de
|publisher=Klemm Music Technology (for Robert Piéchaud)
|access-date=2024-09-16}}</ref>
* [[Lilypond]] is able to produce output using neumes.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.18/Documentation/notation/typesetting-gregorian-chant
|title=Lilypond Notation Reference – Typesetting Gregorian Chant
|publisher=Lilypond Development Team
|access-date=2016-08-12}}</ref>
* Some open fonts<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://marello.org/caeciliae/
 |title       = CaeciliaeCaeciliae
 |publisher   = Marello.org
 |access-date  = 2024-09-16
 |url-status     = bot: unknown
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161031224241/http://marello.org/caeciliae/
 |archive-date = 2016-10-31
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.saintmeinrad.org/the-monastery/liturgical-music/chant-fonts/
|title=Liturgical Music / Downloads
|publisher=Monastery Saint Meinrad Archabbey
|access-date=2024-09-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://sites.google.com/site/gregorianicantus/1-fuentes-musicales
|title=Fuentes musicales
|first=Juan Andrés
|last=Alzate P.
|publisher=Gregoriani Cantus
|language=es 
|access-date=2024-09-16}}</ref> for neumes are available, which can be used by common [[Word processor|office software]] or scorewriters.

==See also==
*[[Mensural notation]]
*[[Musical notation]]
*[[Znamenny Chant]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* ''Graduale triplex'' (1979).  Tournai: Desclée & Socii.  {{ISBN|2-85274-094-X}}, a special edition of the ''Graduale Romanum'' with chant notation in three forms, one above the other, for easy comparison: Laon, St. Gall, and square note
* ''Liber usualis'' (1953).  Tournai: Desclée & Socii.
* ''Paléographie musicale''. {{Full citation needed|date=January 2015}}<!--Editor, location, publisher needed.--> {{ISBN|2-85274-219-5}}. Facsimiles of early adiastamatic chant manuscripts.
* {{cite book
 | last = Apel
 | first = Willi
 | year = 1990
 | title = Gregorian Chant
 | publisher = Indiana University Press
 | location = Bloomington, IN
 | isbn = 0-253-20601-4}}
* Constantin, Floros. "Universale Neumenkunde" (Universal Theory of Neumes); three-volume{{Full citation needed|date=January 2015}}<!--A three-volume *what*? If a book, the title should be in italics, location and publisher needed. In any case, year of publication is needed.--> covering all major styles and schools of neumatic musical notation in three major divisions: Byzantine, Gregorian and Slavic.
* Hiley, David (1990). "Chant". In ''Performance Practice: Music before 1600'', Howard Mayer Brown and [[Stanley Sadie]], eds., pp.&nbsp;37–54. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. {{ISBN|0-393-02807-0}}.
* {{cite book |
first=David | 
last=Hiley |author-link=David Hiley| 
title=Western Plainchant: A Handbook | 
publisher=Clarendon Press and Cambridge University Press| 
location= Cambridge and New York| 
year=1995  | 
isbn=0-19-816572-2}}
* Mahrt, William P. (2000). "Chant". In ''A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music'', Ross Duffin, ed., pp.&nbsp;1–22. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. {{ISBN|0-253-33752-6}}.
* {{cite book |
editor-first= James| 
editor-last= McKinnon| 
title= Antiquity and the Middle Ages | 
publisher=Prentice Hall  | 
year=1990  | 
isbn=0-13-036153-4}}
*Wagner, Peter. (1911) ''Einführung in die Gregorianischen Melodien. Ein Handbuch der Choralwissenschaft''. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel.
* {{cite book |first      = David
 |last       = Wilson
 |title      = Music of the Middle Ages
 |publisher  = Schirmer Books
 |year       = 1990
 |isbn       = 0-02-872951-X
 |url-access = registration
 |url        = https://archive.org/details/musicofmiddleage0000wils
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
;Learning Resources
* The [http://musicasacra.com/pdf/liberusualis.pdf 1961 ''Liber Usualis''] compares, inter alia, modern and chant notations. It is also a handy reference for all the types of neumes.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305092130/http://www.u.arizona.edu/~aversa/music/Gregorian%20Chant/greg_chant.pdf Singing Gregorian Chant: Pitch and Mode]
;Other
* Oliver Gerlach (Ensemble Ison): Performing Western Plainchant—[https://archive.today/20130106121701/http://ensemble-ison.de/publications/neumen/index.htm Introduction into the Latin Neumes of the 10th century] (Accessed November 26, 2009)
* David Hiley and Janka Szendrei: "Notation", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 12, 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |date=2008-05-16 }}
* [http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/ByzMusicFonts.html Font package for writing post-Byzantine neumes]
* Kenneth Levy: "Plainchant", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 20, 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |date=2008-05-16 }}
* [http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/appendix/notation/Neumes.html Comparative table of cheironomic and square neumes]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110110040225/http://www.schuyesmans.be/gregoriaans/EN/ENmu_05.htm Samples of early notation], showing the same chant in many different notations
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10765b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia entry for Neum]
<!-- requires a username and password * [http://www.arts.arizona.edu/mus535/papers/Mozarbic%20Chants.htm Sample of Mozarabic chant] -->
* [http://www.solesmes.com Solesmes Abbey]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170908085400/http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/Inton-newB.pdf The Intonation of the Eight Tones] Byzantine notation
* [http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/VespersB.htm Music for Vespers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216025137/http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/music/VespersB.htm |date=2010-12-16 }} Byzantine notation

{{Musical notation}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Christian music]]
[[Category:Musical notation]]