| Major mode | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| Minor mode | a | b | c | d | e | f | g |
Some fragments of music of the eleventh century are still preserved, in which the notation is represented by letters having above them the signs of another kind of notation called neumes ([Fig. 154]).
Fig. 154.—Lament composed shortly after the Death of Charlemagne, probably about 814 or 815, and attributed to Colomban, Abbot of Saint-Tron. (MS. de la Bibl. Imp., No. 1,154.)
Musical Notation expressed in Modern Signs, the Text and Translation of the Lament on Charlemagne.
| A solis ortu usque ad occidua Littora maris, planctus pulsat pectora; Ultra marina agmina tristitia Tetigit ingens cum errore nimio. Heu! me dolens, plango. | From the East to the Western shores, sorrow agitates every heart; and inland, this vast grief saddens armies. Alas! in my grief, I, too, weep. |
| Franci, Romani, atque cuncti creduli, Luctu punguntor et magna molestia, Infantes, senes, gloriosi principes; Nam clangit orbis detrimentum Karoli. Heu! mihi misero! | French, Romans, and all believers are plunged into mourning and profound grief: children, old men, and illustrious princes; for the whole world deplores the loss of Charlemagne. Alas! miserable me! |
About the fourth century the neumes were in use in the Greek Church; they are spoken of by St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Certain modifications in them were introduced by the Lombards and Saxons.