ABSTRACT
Now in this sort you maye find by the cleife where everye note standeth: and least their should seime any difficultie, I will begin from the first secht of the booke, that all things that doe belonge to thair knowledge, may be ye better wnderstood. First when a man seeth the booke befoir him he may see certaine rules which go along lineally by 5. and by 5. whiche number of 5. is called a set of prick song (for a sett of plainesong hath commonlye but 4. rules), then he may see in the first of the set alwayes one of the foirsaid cleifes wpon some rule, and whatsoever note standeth wpone the same rule, with the cleife, is said to be in that place whairofe that cleife whiche he seeth is the marke. Iff any note stande in the next space aboue, it is said to stand in the next place aboue that place whereof that cleife is the marke, and so wpward and donward continuallye counting from the close as in this example
The first note standeth in c sol fa vt, becaus it standeth wpon the same rule with the cleife which is the marke of c sol fa vt, The second in D la sol re,
becaus d la sol re is next aboue C sol fa vt in the scale of gam vt, The Thrid in b fa # mi Becaus it is the nixt place beneath C sol fa vt, The fourth in e la mi because elami is the nixt place saue one to csolfavt, and ye said fourth note standeth in ye next place saue one to the cleife whiche is the marke of the place quer c sol fa vt is, and so of all the other notes: Then in the end of the lyn or sett, he may see a thing marked thus
which is called a director, Becaus it is alwayes put wpon the rule or space wherin the first of the next lyn or sett standeth, and doth so direct a man, evin as in bookes the word that is lowest wpon everye of the leafe doth direct a man to the word nixt following:
[fol. 43r] The third that is necessery to be knowin for the Richt naming of notes, is
the place whair yat note standeth whiche is named vt. and as by counting vpward and dounwarde from the cleife it is knowen where every note standeth, so it is knowin by counting wpward and dounward from that which is callit vt, quhat the Richt name of everie note is: Bot first let us set downe how ye place Whair the <illegible text crossed out> vt standeth is knowin, which is thus, there be three places, in one of whiche the vt must alwayes be: that is to say in G. whiche is Gam vt and g sol re vt. Quhan thair is no flat in C whiche is C fa vt, C sol fa vt, and C sol fa, quhane thair is a flat in # mi, or b fa # mi, In F Whiche is f fa vt, when thair ar to flats, one in b fa # mi, the other in e la mi.
