<P> During the thirteenth century , a new rhythm system called mensural notation grew out of an earlier , more limited method of notating rhythms in terms of fixed repetitive patterns , the so - called rhythmic modes , which were developed in France around 1200 . An early form of mensural notation was first described and codified in the treatise Ars cantus mensurabilis ( `` The art of measured chant '' ) by Franco of Cologne ( c. 1280 ) . Mensural notation used different note shapes to specify different durations , allowing scribes to capture rhythms which varied instead of repeating the same fixed pattern ; it is a proportional notation , in the sense that each note value is equal to two or three times the shorter value , or half or a third of the longer value . This same notation , transformed through various extensions and improvements during the Renaissance , forms the basis for rhythmic notation in European classical music today . </P>
<P> During the thirteenth century , a new rhythm system called mensural notation grew out of an earlier , more limited method of notating rhythms in terms of fixed repetitive patterns , the so - called rhythmic modes , which were developed in France around 1200 . An early form of mensural notation was first described and codified in the treatise Ars cantus mensurabilis ( `` The art of measured chant '' ) by Franco of Cologne ( c. 1280 ) . Mensural notation used different note shapes to specify different durations , allowing scribes to capture rhythms which varied instead of repeating the same fixed pattern ; it is a proportional notation , in the sense that each note value is equal to two or three times the shorter value , or half or a third of the longer value . This same notation , transformed through various extensions and improvements during the Renaissance , forms the basis for rhythmic notation in European classical music today . </P>
the basic ratio on which the notation of rhythm is built is
the basic ratio on which the notation of rhythm is built is
Mensural notation
Mensural notation