In music, anotehead is the part of anote, usually elliptical in shape, whose placement on the staff indicates the pitch, to which modifications are made that indicate duration. Noteheads may be the same shape but colored completely black or white, indicating thenote value (i.e., rhythmic duration). In awhole note, the notehead, shaped differently than shorter notes, is the only component of the note. Shorter note values attach astem to the notehead, and possiblybeams or flags. The longerdouble whole note can be written with vertical lines surrounding it, two attached noteheads, or a rectangular notehead.[1] An "x" shaped notehead may be used to indicate percussion, percussive effects (ghost notes), or speaking. A square, diamond, or box shaped notehead may be used to indicate anatural orartificial harmonic. A small notehead can be used to indicate agrace note.
Noteheads ultimately derive from theneumes used to notateGregorian chant. The punctum, seen at right, is the simplest of the shapes and most clearly anticipates the modern notehead. When placed on aclef, the position of a notehead indicates the relative pitch of a note. The development of different colors of noteheads, and the use of it to indicate rhythmic values, was the use of whitemensural notation, adopted around 1450.[2]
Franco of Cologne, ancient composer and music theorist, codified a system of rhythm notation. He explained this system in his work,Ars Cantus Mensurabilis (“The Art of Measurable Music”), circa 1280. In this system, the relative duration of notes was indicated by the note shapes. The noteheads were rectangles, squares, or diamonds depending on the note length. This system was expanded during theArs Nova period.
Shortly before theRenaissance, scribes began to write the notes of the Franconian and Ars Nova style with open noteheads. During the Renaissance, composers added shorter note durations that used filled-in noteheads. Near the end of the 16th century, the square or diamond-shaped notes changed to the round noteheads that are used today.[3]
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