neume
/njuːm
/(also neum)
noun Music
1(In plainsong) a note or group of notes to be sung to a single syllable.There were also ‘liquescent’ neumes - ornamental neumes that required special types of vocal delivery....
- And yet, just how and where we moved from the neume to the square note has not been studied until now.
- To illustrate the development from neumes to notes, we take the Offertory Illumina, from the 10th Sunday.
1.1A sign indicating a neume.This notation, common in some form or another to all early manuscripts, consisted of staffless ‘neumes ', signs that to a certain extent indicate the contour of the melodies but not the exact intervals....
- In the 11 th Century, the neums are placed on lines for better pitch accuracy.
- Rhythmic letters and episemas can be attached to these elements, and will stay with the neume where it is dragged on the staff.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French neume, from medieval Latin neu(p)ma, from Greek pneuma 'breath'.