musicnotation

Music notation is a system of symbols used to visually represent sound and time in music. It encodes pitch and duration, as well as rhythm, dynamics, articulation, tempo, and phrasing, enabling performers to reproduce a composition and scholars to analyze it. A score presents parts for multiple voices or instruments, while individual parts or simplified systems guide performance of a single line. Notation supports composition, rehearsal, archival storage, and the transmission of musical ideas across generations.

In the Western tradition, music is written on a five-line staff divided into measures by barlines. Pitch is indicated by clefs (treble, bass, and others), while notes and rests communicate duration. Time signatures establish the beat pattern, and key signatures denote the scale center. Accidentals alter pitch, and additional markings specify dynamics, tempo, and articulation. Scores may employ multiple staves for different parts, with cues, repeats, and tempo or expression changes guiding performance.

Beyond Western staff notation, many systems have evolved to suit particular instruments and cultures. Lute or guitar tablature notates frets and strings rather than pitch on a staff. Shape-note notation and various forms of chant notation encode melody and singability. Other traditions use cipher notation, numeric systems, or graphic scores to convey musical ideas. The rise of digital technology introduced formats such as MIDI and MusicXML, facilitating playback, editing, and interchange of scores, while optical music recognition aims to convert scanned notation into editable data.

Overall, music notation provides a portable, persistent language for capturing musical sound, structure, and interpretation across time and media.