Part 3 (1/2)

27.--At one time whole notes and shorter notes were not round, but lozenge-shaped, the longer notes being square, and the stem was then in the middle, thus [Symbol: square note]. These gave way to round notes about the seventeenth century. Playford's well-known _Whole Booke of Psalms_, published about 1675, was probably one of the earliest books printed wholly with round notes.

28.--It follows from the foregoing rules that even so apparently simple a task as transcribing a part--soprano, alto, tenor, or ba.s.s--from a short-score hymn or chant book into a choir part-book is not mere copying. In the hymn or chant book the stems of one part are all turned the same way: in the part-book they must be turned according to their relation to the middle line.

Hooks.

29.--With one exception, hooks should be made at the _right-hand_ side of the stem; they are therefore sometimes at the same side as the note-head, and sometimes not.

30.--The exception is when longer and shorter notes are combined in the same group. In this case the hooks not common to the whole group are invariably turned so as to lie _within_ the group, and, subject to this, if the group contains more than one beat, so as to lie _within_ the beat of which they form part.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 20.]

31.--Previous to 1660, each eighth or shorter note had a separate hook or hooks. But at the time of the Restoration, John Playford subst.i.tuted a connecting horizontal line for the separate hooks of two or more eighths belonging to the same division of the measure. The device was copied by the Dutch, French, and Germans. The Italians did not adopt it till later. Thus, Marcello's Psalms, published in Venice as late as 1724-27, have separate hooks. (In an edition in the writer's possession, published in 1757, _united_ hooks are used, but this is probably rather due to the _venue_ than to the later date.)

32.--Hooks in instrumental music must be united in strict accordance with the laws of rhythm (see ”Notation of Rhythm,” pars. 8-13). Thus, four eighth notes must not have the same hook in Compound Time: they must be grouped as three and one, or one and three, or two and two, according to the position they occupy in the beat they belong to. In three-four time, six eighth notes may have one hook, but in six-eight time they should preferably have separate hooks of three eighth notes each. Broadly speaking, the notes forming a single beat of the measure should be united in one hook, but very commonly two beats have one hook between them, especially in four-four time.

In the case of sixteenths and shorter notes, the outermost hook often shows the half-measure, and the inner hook or hooks the sub-division into beats (see Fig. 21).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 21.]

33.--So closely should the hooks follow the rhythm, that where a phrase crosses the measure beginning at the end of one measure, and ending at the beginning of the next, the hook crosses the bar-line too, uniting notes in different measures (see a, Fig. 22). Notes may have the same hook though separated by a rest (see b, Fig. 22).

34.--The hook to a group of notes which ascends or descends may either slant in the direction taken by the notes, or may be straight (see c, Fig. 22). In the writer's opinion slanted hooks are preferable as being a better guide to the eye. In ma.n.u.script music, when hooks have to be drawn within the stave, and not above or below it, they should invariably be slanted when this is possible; otherwise they are very apt to coincide with the stave-lines, and fail of distinctness. A common fault is in not making them thick enough. Notes are sometimes ”hooked”

in accordance, not with the rhythm, but with the hand which is to play them (see d, Fig. 22). This is necessitated by the usage with regard to stems in such cases [see ”Stems,” par. 22, exception (2)].

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 22.]

35.--In vocal music notes should not have the same hook which are sung to a different syllable (see ”Vocal Music,” par. 37). Subject to these exceptions, notes must be grouped according to their rhythm.

Leger-lines.

36.--The appeal to the eye (see ”Notation of Rhythm,” par. 8, and ”Placing of Notes,” par. 14) must be maintained as regards the pitch as well as the duration of notes--their perpendicular as well as their horizontal position. Consequently leger-lines must be the same distance from the stave, and from each other, as the stave-lines are one from another. Carelessness in this matter is very common and very confusing.

How often a lower note looks as though above a higher one, because leger-lines are cramped together in one case and too wide apart in another (see Fig. 23).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 23.]