noun
- symbols used in medieval musical notation to indicate pitch and rhythm
Usage: music history; plural form
Examples
- The manuscript contained ancient neumes that scholars struggled to decipher.
- Medieval monks used neumes to record Gregorian chant melodies.
- The study of neumes helps us understand early European music.
- These neumes predate modern musical notation by several centuries.
- Musicologists analyze neumes to reconstruct historical performances.
- The monastery’s choir books were filled with carefully drawn neumes.