In music notation, a ligature is a symbol that connects multiple notes in some way. The actual notation and meaning of ligatures has changed significantly througout the history of western music. Music notation is a system of writing for music. ...

Ligatures were first used in the early notation of Gregorian chant through the use of neumes. A ligature (connection) between neumes indicated a rhythmic connection between the notes. This system of notational ligatures were first codified by Franco of Cologne in the 13th century. Gregorian chant is also known as plainchant or plainsong, and is a form of monophonic, unaccompanied singing, which was developed in the Catholic church, mainly during the period 800-1000. ... Neumes are an ancient musical notation used to write down Gregorian plainsong. ... Franco of Cologne (fl. ...

Over the next few hundred years, the system of neumes with ligatures was expanded greatly to include a number of different patterns of rhythms and mellismas.

During the renaissance in the 14th and 15th centuries, a system of musical notation known as white mensural notation was developed. This was the precursor to modern musical notation, and was the first system in which the duration of notes was explicity notated. Because rhythm is notated with the note heads, ligatures were used only when a single syllable of song was spread across multiple notes. By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the use of ligatures became increasingly rare. Their presence was usually just an artifact of printing tradition rather than having any explicit meaning.

In modern notation, a ligature is a symbol such as a slur or phrase mark which connects notes into a single musical phrase. A slur is a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played legato (smoothly). ...

A ligature is also a device which holds a reed on to the mouthpiece of some woodwind instruments such as the saxophone and clarinet. A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to make music. ... Mouthpiece was a straight edge hardcore punk band that featured Tim McMahon on vocals. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... Saxophones of different sizes play in different registers. ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ...

A ligature can be made out of either metal, such as brass, or it can be made of leather.