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Mensural notation is the musical notation system used for polyphonic European vocal music from the late 13th century until the early 17th century. The term "mensural" refers to the ability of this system to describe precisely measured rhythmic durations in terms of numerical proportions amongst note values.
This black mensural notation gave way to white mensural notation around 1450, in which all note values were written with white (outline) noteheads. In white notation the use of triplets was indicated by coloration, i.e. filling in the noteheads to make them black (or sometimes red).
An example of mensural notation. Ars cantus mensurabilis (Latin for the art of the measurable song) [1] is a music theory treatise from the mid-13th century, c. 1250–1280 written by German music theorist Franco of Cologne. [2]
Noteheads may be the same shape but colored completely black or white, indicating the note value (i.e., rhythmic duration). In a whole note, the notehead, shaped differently than shorter notes, is the only component of the note. Shorter note values attach a stem to the notehead, and possibly beams or flags.
Most time signatures consist of two numerals, one stacked above the other: The lower numeral indicates the note value that the signature is counting. This number is always a power of 2 (unless the time signature is irrational), usually 2, 4 or 8, but less often 16 is also used, usually in Baroque music. 2 corresponds to the half note (minim), 4 to the quarter note (crotchet), 8 to the eighth ...
Centre: breve in mensural notation used in some modern scores as well. Right: less common stylistic variant of the first form. In music, a double whole note (American), breve (British) or double note [1] [2] lasts two times as long as a whole note (or semibreve). It is the second-longest note value still in use in modern music notation. [2]
As a notation device in mensural notation, the 14th–16th century system of notating musical meters and rhythms, coloration refers to the technique of marking notes as having a change in durational value—most commonly a reduction to two thirds of their normal value. [1]
Examples of time signatures for alla breve Examples of time signatures for common time. Alla breve [alla ˈbrɛːve] – also known as cut time or cut common time – is a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C) with a vertical line through it, which is the equivalent of 2