>>>>> "Juergen" == Juergen Reuter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Juergen> N.B.: As far as I know, the mensural notation system of
Juergen> Renaissance music did not at all make use of bars. The
Juergen> barlines in today's notation of Renaissance music is only
Juergen> a help for today's musicians for better reading, because
Juergen> we are used to bar notation. This would also explain why
Juergen> the bar lines are placed between the staff lines,
Juergen> i.e. aside the music itself.
There's a better explanation, which is that if the composer wasn't
thinking in terms of bars, a note which crosses a bar line wasn't
necessarily a syncopation. So if you have a voice with a bunch of
half notes, it's easier to read if you can write them all as half
notes (which you can do if the bars aren't on the staff), than if you
have to write some of them as half notes and some as tied quarter
notes with a bar between the quarters.
--
Laura (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] , http://www.world.std.com/~lconrad/ )
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