MUSIC HISTORY LESSON
Each month, a mini lesson in music history.
WHO INVENTED MUSICAL NOTATION?
by Randi Reed
Roman philosopher and statesman Boethius (c. 475-525) was the first to associate music
with the alphabet, using the first fifteen letters of the Roman alphabet to indicate notes
that were in use at the end of the Roman period. This system evolved over time, with
Benedictine monk Guido d' Arezzo adding the staff at the end of the 12th Century, placing
the letters on certain lines to indicate their pitch.
In the 15th Century, time signatures were added, and the notes evolved into a rounded
shape. The 5-line staff with auxiliary lines became standard in the 16th Century, and
expression signs and Italian phrases indicating tempo and dynamics were added in the 17th
Century.
Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the first composers to use metronome markings on his
scores to indicate tempo, having been acquainted with Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, who
perfected the metronome around 1815.
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