Chapter 2 - Plainsong and the Origins of Musical Notation in the West

Summary

The continuous history of musical notation in the West begins in the ninth century. Two groups of competing theories prevent more definitive statements about those origins, and their critical treatment serves as a starting point for the narrative. One group of theories concerns the origin of the neumes themselves, of which the most recent scholarship recognizes three possible sources: punctuation signs in Latin, Latin accentual signs and a form of graphic notation that was eventually replaced by one that represented the melodic contours of the chant. The other concerns the date at which notation originated in the Latin West, and the two competing theories present the opposite ends of the ninth century for its beginning.