Excerpt from Logier's System of the Science of Music, Harmony, and Practical Composition It is the written language of music which we here propose to explain, and of that merely and simply the characters employed in writing it. Many different nations employ, in writing their language, characters peculiar to themselves: the Roman character is very generally employed by European nations, America, &c.; but there is no one universal character, any more than there is one universal language, excepting only that of music. Painting and sculpture are, indeed, universally understood, as they closely imitate Nature; but the written language of music is completely artificial; and its general adoption is the strongest proof of the excellence of the invention, at the same time that it is the most happy means of extending throughout the world a knowledge of this softener and solace of the human race. Let us take up a music-book - we see a page filled with various characters, lines, and points, utterly unintelligible to the uninitiated although the practised musician will read and understand it, nearly as well, as if he actually heard the very sounds therein depicted. We see the same characters pervade every music-book, whether written for one nation or another, or for any of the various musical instruments or voices. We consequently conclude that these characters are suited to all the circumstances incidental to written music, and that they are so contrived as to be read by every musical nation. Let us now examine more closely into this page - first observing what are the most striking peculiarities, the characters most conspicuous and most frequently employed. The most remarkable circumstance is the continual employment of the five lines ruled across the page; upon these five lines are written all the other characters; for this reason they are called the Staff (in French - La Portéc), as bearing all the notes in music. Notes! - What are they? A bank note is the representation of a sum of money; a musical note is the representation of a musical sound. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Logier's System of the Science of Music, Harmony, and Practical Composition The author throughout this great work has closely followed the dictations of nature, pointing out the source of each subject as it appeared, and so ingeniously has he interwoven them that the foundation of the entire subject of Harmony is mastered apparently without effort. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.