Neume

A neume is a medieval notational sign indicating one or more notes and aspects of their melodic movement. Early neumes recorded melodic contours rather than exact pitches.

Punctum: A simple neume representing a single note, usually with a descending or level stroke. Its basic note-sign shows how a single pitch could be written within neumatic notation.
Gregorian chant: The Latin liturgical chant tradition that became the standard repertory of the medieval Western Church. The earliest surviving neumatic manuscripts chiefly record this chant repertory.
Melody: A sequence of musical pitches perceived as a coherent tune. Neumes primarily record melodic direction and patterns, not the full sound of performance.
Adiastematic notation: Musical notation whose signs indicate melodic contour but do not establish exact pitch intervals. This early form of neumatic writing helped singers recall melodies they already knew.
Staff notation: A musical notation system that places notes on lines and spaces to represent pitch. Staff notation specifies pitch more directly than the earliest contour-based neumes.
Podatus: A neume of two notes in which the second is higher than the first. Its rising two-note shape demonstrates how neumes represent movement between pitches.
St. Gall notation: A family of adiastematic neumatic scripts associated with the Abbey of Saint Gall in Switzerland. Its detailed signs preserve melodic nuance despite not specifying exact pitches.
Pitch: The perceived highness or lowness of a musical sound, associated with its frequency. Adiastematic neumes suggest pitch motion without fixing each note's precise pitch.
Heighted neume: A neume positioned at varying vertical heights to suggest relative pitch movement. Heighting made contour more legible while still leaving exact intervals partly unspecified.
Mensural notation: A medieval notation system in which note shapes indicate relative durations with increasing precision. Mensural notation encodes rhythmic duration, a feature early neumes generally leave unspecified.

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