Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	line_n	page_n	read_v	5,395	5	11.3258	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60527	An essay to the advancement of musick by casting away the perplexity of different cliffs, and uniting all sorts of musick, lute, viol, violin, organ, harpsechord, voice, &c. in one universal character / by Thomas Salmon ...	Salmon, Thomas, 1648-1706.; Birchensha, John, fl. 1664-1672.	1672 (1672)	Wing S417; ESTC R4288	33,905	115

both open and stopt are expressed by Notes which never change any place or Cliff upon the Book and always belong to the same place upon the Instrument Whereby 't is much easier for one who already understands any thing of Notes by the practice of some other Musick and even altogether as easie for a new beginner to play upon the Lute by Notes as by Letters For the same time in which they learn the names of the strings and their stops would be sufficient to instruct them what Notes those strings and stops are which also appear more rational and plain upon the Book than the present letters do Page 65. since all the Octave Notes have the same names and the same places which by Letters required different situations and variously shap'd Characters And for encouragement he that plays on the Lute by Notes 1. Truly understands his Lessons and sees into the whole composure and contrivance of them 2. He may by the Scheme proposed write any Lessons of the present Tableture into Notes for the Harpsecord or any other Musick 3. He may take any Treble and Base which were designed for any other Musick and play them upon the Lute And 4. Hath broke Prison and may by this use of Notes come to arrive at perfection in composing for as well as playing upon this supream Musick None of which could in the least be done though one practised an hundred years by letters CHAP. VI. The Objections Answered Pag. 74. The Conclusion A Compendious review of a Learners task being only the knowledge of the same seven Notes in several Octaves upon the Instrument by the seven first Letters of the Alphabet ever applyed to the same seven places upon the Book Page 85. So that for all the forementioned advantages there is but half the pains required which people take to be without them The Necessity of a Master the Advantage from the most Skilful who is intreated to savour his Scholars requests and perfect their accomplishments by a generous discovery of the nature and composition of Musick Page 88. which might be easily brought to pass by their conduct and a good Musical ingeny ERRATA PAge 4. line 12. for Nations read Notions p. 6. l. 9. for now r. new p. 7. l. 20. for repair r. require p. 11. l. 2. for verifies r. terrifies p. 11. l. 5. for fictions r. fictitions p. 14. l. 28. for iet r. set AN ESSAY TO THE Advancement of Musick CHAP. I. The Advantages of Musick AMongst those many Recreations which sweeten the life of man and with a pleasing variety refresh his wearied mind none can plead more advantages or more truly justifie it's practice than Musick which needs nothing else nor can have any thing greater to command acceptance then a challenge of it's institution from Divine Providence it self For upon this account God hath created a peculiar faculty of hearing to receive harmonious sounds clearly different from that by which we perceive ordinary noises insomuch that those who have not this Musical hearing are by Nature as uncapable to understand Harmony as a Horse is to receive the civility of a Complement And indeed as each particular sense is subordinate to but distinct from the common so here is some specifick power which sub-divides this more private faculty from the common nature of hearing Or else what can be the reason why all men that have ears enough to entertain sounds in general should not be able to discern the pleasure of Musick which is a combination of sounds as they are proportioned in numbers but because they want that faculty which is fitted with a peculiar power for their reception He that hath any one sense good is capable of all objects that fall under such a sense one that can see a horse may see a house but he that can tell a clock cannot always tell the movements of a lesson and the Harmony of its consenting parts which is the object of a more special power Neither can this be thought to proceed only from a more nice acuteness of the ear since that several persons who betray much deafness in their common discourse and converse are able exactly to Tune their Musical Instruments and discover the jarring of any dissonant note though but softly pronounced Whereby it appears that this peculiar faculty doth not meerly arise from an excellency of the common hearing and consequently that they are not the same But whether the distinction comes from a different formation of the little intrigues of the ear or only from an improvement that some mens souls are able to make of sounds so qualifyed and represented to them it is hard to determine and needless for my purpose so long as we find de facto that there is such a Musical hearing and that God hath given some men such a particular faculty wheresoever it pleased him to place it Now lest this faculty should seem to be any time created in vain Holy Writ but succinctly describing the infancy of the world yet vouchsafes to mention Jubal the Musical Father of those who handle the Harp and Organ So that whosoever shall consider the Authentick creator of Musick it 's antient Patronage and moreover the practice of all civilized Nations yet shall condemn it as silly and trifling as unworthy of generous and heroick minds not only slight those reasons which obtain in far greater matters but also betray themselves to be ignorant of those exalted Nations and noble Sentiments which make it honoured both in Peace and War And indeed to have so little ingenuity that they can never apprehend its excellency wherefore they neglect what is above them and take up with some rustick pastime which is common to Clowns and Fools Now to enumerate the Advantages Musick hath above other divertisements it is necessary to alledge its incomparable pleasure which makes it the greatest recreation but because that is only known by hearing and its self best expresses its own sweet eloquence I must remit you to its practical and delicious entertainments where you shall seldom meet with people so rude but they will be attentive in pretence to that accomplishing Genius which they are ashamed it should be known nature hath denied them Though you shall have some men so importunate to shew themselves wits and tell stories of the great Turks impatience that they will break out in the midst of a suit of lessons and then call for Bobbing Jone or the Nightingale as if their brisk fancies were not to be damped with the gravity of an Almain and they knew better from their Countrey Scrapers then what these troublesom Contrivers of Consort perplex them with It may seem impertinent to prove a recreation profitable or to respect interest in the choice of pleasure but that gain is such a taking thing in the world as if we can make out Musick in this kind advantageous to the practicer it will be treated with a double welcom To this purpose let us

write upon five or six and as you did before continue up the Notes which will be no trouble if so be you never make nor change any Cliff for 't is easier to find the Notes that are fixed upon five or six lines then those that wander and are uncertain upon three I now begin with Vocal Musick whose worth justly giveth it the Preheminence and may claim Birth-right from Nature whose melodious daughter it is Instruments depend upon Art for Contrivance and still require some trouble to relieve their disorders but this is always framed and ready tuned by its first Parent the Harmonious Engineer of the world And it pleaseth me well that the Musick which is the most Excellent should receive the greatest Advantages from this present Proposal for hereby we shall not only escape the difficulty of Cliffs and consequently much other trouble which I have hinted before and is common with the rest but also attain a steady settlement in the situation of Mi. which is always necessary to be known before we can name any of the other Notes and will now be easily discerned and remembred since a regular flat can be only placed upon the second line B and the third space E whereas heretofore Mi was so fickle and uncertain that there was never a line or space but in some of the old signed Cliffs or other B flat would intrude and dispossess him of his seat And by how much Musicians have been wanton in their various Cliffs for Singing which is most of all perplexed with the manifold movements of C sol fa ut Cliff and the consequent disorders of Mi they bring in evidence of the mischief it makes for where one Scholar learns to Sing or Play on the Harpsechord by Notes ten do on the Viol and Violin The Song When Aurelia c. When the Notes of a Base fall upon higher lines than their Concords would stand upon it's Treble Compute your chords by the Gamut-Letters place them in their own seats the Composition will of necessity be right the same in all Parts But that you may see how unnecessary those former various Cliffs are how conveniently a Song will fall in the Systeme of five lines for though an Octave is compleated in four yet you may take such a liberty written according to our Hypothesis of every part beginning with G in the lower-most line I have given you an example of a Song in Four Parts composed by the Eminent and Ingenious Mr. Humphries where you may observe the concords keep an exact respect to one another the B flats always in the same lines and spaces such a pleasant agreement and familiar likeness through the whole course of it that at first view you may discern what kindred and relation there is betwixt every consenting Note viz. all the Octaves standing upon the same lines and spaces the fifths two higher c. proportionably after the same manner Here insert the Plate for the Song Aurelia In all writing you must strictly observe to assign that Octave to which the Notes do most properly belong and in which they will be most compactedly comprehended and then it will be very rare but the Songs will conveniently fall within the compass of the lines and if otherwise they should prove at any time unruly from some enlarged fancies yet there be several ways to remedy their Efforts and comprehend their widest latitude without any prejudice to our Hypothesis nay with greater advantage by it than any other way for besides the drawing an ascititious line over or under upon lesser occasions you may 1. In any place where the Notes rise or fall an Octave which is usually the cause of greatest distress in this case set the next Note in the same place only changing the letter of the Octave which will direct you to Sing it an eight higher or lower as you may see these three Notes which required three different Places in three different Cliffs are here situated all upon the same line only with the letters of their Octaves prefix'd at first sight palpaby discovering what they stand for How to alter the Octave in a Song or Lesson This of excellent use in Dialogues By which means the Octave only not the Cliff is altered neither is there the lest shadow of the old confusion for the G which I instanced in or any other Note in this case will stand in every part in the same place And certainly one that has but very indifferent skill in Singing can rise or fall an Octave when the prefixed letter shall give him timely warning of it 2. If the Notes ascend or descend by degrees and you have occasion to go far into another Octave when you come to an higher G alter the Signal Letter and it falls upon the lowermost line the like discretion also must be used in descending by which means and good fore cast no Song can be so spiteful and unlucky but may be evidently and conveniently written in the compass of four lines which is the statute of our Hypothesis the lowermost beginning with G the uppermost ending with F and the higher and lower Notes than these by the change of the Signal Letter ought to be lodged in their own Octaves to which they do belong But because many Instruments contain thick and complex strokes and it would be too much to alter the Octave upon the account of any single Note It is left to the pleasure and contrivance of the Musick-Master to use either four five or six lines as his Instrument requires where the ascititious lines also will enjoy the benefit of our constant Universality for the uppermost line of five will be always and upon all Instruments A the uppermost of six C and by how many the more the lines are the more necessity there is that they should be constantly and universally the same Now the reason why I would advise to four lines rather then more is not only because our Essay of an Octave is compleated therein but that the lesser variety there is the more perspicuous they are to the eye which has need of all advantages we can contrive for its help especially in the full speed of a quick division But for the lessons which are compounded with three or four Consonant Notes in one stroke 't is most convenient to use five or six lines and according to the generally received custom we have formed all our examples in five lines because we desire not to contend unless absolute necessity requires or else there be very good advantages to be gained thereby CHAP. V. The Design applyed to Instrumental Musick and first to the Violin THIS way of Writing may not seem so very necessary for the Violin as the Voice because most Lessons crowd themselves into one G sol re ut Cliff as it is already placed whereas the various parts of the Voice did indispensably require many But let a Musician consider whilst he strives by that