Notation

Notation, in music, method of writing down notes to be read for study or performance. The method was formalized between the 10th and 18th centuries into a system, now in general use, of stave notation. This consists of five horizontal lines, or staves, as the framework on which any of 8 notes can be written: A, B, C, D, E, F, G (in ascending or descending order of pitch), then to A again an octave higher or lower, and so forth. Each note's placement on or between the lines depends on its pitch: if low, in the bass clef of staves; if higher, in the treble clef. A middle, or alto, clef is sometimes used.

The key in which the music is to be performed is indicated by symbols for sharps and flats on the staves next to the clef sign at the beginning of the score. Sometimes such a symbol is placed against a single note on a line to indicate that its pitch is to be momentarily sharped or flatted. The length the notes are to be held, relative to each other, is shown by the form they are notated in. Commonly, there are 7 ways the notes can be formed, from the longest held to the shortest. The beat of the music is shown by dividing the staves with vertical lines into bars and marking at the outset how many beats there are to each bar. This establishes rhythm. Other notations are the tonic sol-fa, in which notes are related to each other, not to the established pitch of the written stave; and tablature, in which a diagram indicates where to place the fingers on various instruments to obtain notes. For electronic music, new signs are being devised.