Neumes

symbols of musical notation that were used in European music at the beginning of the Middle Ages, mainly in the music of the Roman Catholic Church (Gregorian chant).

Neumes consisted of hyphens, dots, commas, and other signs. They designated individual sounds, groups of sounds, and the upward and downward movement of the voice. They did not indicate the exact pitch of the sounds, and thus could only remind a singer of a melody he already knew. There were numerous local varieties of the neumatic notation.

Beginning in the ninth century, attempts were made to perfect neumatic notation by supplementing it with signs for the pitch of sounds, at first in letters and then with the help of staffs on which the neumes were placed. Thus, there arose the system of square notation, or choral notation, from which the modern system of notation subsequently developed.