Table of Propositions

Moderns. 325. And then one sees the printing errors of the 5th and 6th books, with several very notable advertisements In this 17th-century context, an "advertisement" refers to a formal notice or explanatory preface addressed to the reader..

34 Propositions from the 6th book of the Art of Singing Well.

I. To explain an easy method for learning and teaching how to read and write Music. 332. This is the invention of Mr. des Argues Girard Desargues (1591–1661), a French mathematician and engineer who collaborated with Mersenne and is famous for his work in projective geometry..

II. To explain another method for learning to sing and to compose without ordinary notes, by means of the letters of the Alphabet alone, without nuances Likely referring to the variations in tone, staff-based notation, or perhaps the "solmization" syllables like ut, re, mi.. 342.

III. To explain all the characters necessary to easily write and compose all kinds of Music, whether for voices or for all types of instruments. 347. Wherein one sees two compositions by du Caurroy Eustache du Caurroy (1549–1609), an influential French composer of the late Renaissance. for 7 and 8 parts, note-against-note; and the Perfect Harmonic Hand of the Gamut The "Guidonian Hand," a medieval and Renaissance mnemonic device used to help singers find the pitches of the scale (the gamut) on the joints of their hand..

IV. To learn to compose music correctly in a short amount of time. 351.

V. To explain the way to know if a voice is good, and the qualities it ought to have. 353.

VI. To explain the method used to train voices for the cadence In the context of singing, this often refers to ornaments like trills or turns used to signal the end of a musical phrase., and to make them capable of singing all kinds of Airs. 354. Wherein one sees a notice for Masters who teach singing.

VII. To explain the characters necessary to signify all the particulars of the Airs that one wishes to perform with all kinds of perfection, and the manner of properly performing cadences and tremblemens French for "shakings"; a general term for trills or vocal vibrato used as ornamentation.. 358.

VIII. To explain the method of creating good songs on all kinds of subjects and letters This likely refers to Mersenne’s interest in "musical language," where melodies could be derived from the letters of a text or name.. 360.

IX. To reveal the industries In the 17th century, "industry" meant skill, ingenuity, or specialized techniques. used to compose good songs. 362. Wherein one sees a particular notice on this subject.

X. Accents are so numerous that it is nearly impossible to explain them all. 365.

XI. Accents reveal the country one is from, and sometimes one's temperament and mood. 366.

XII. The accent is a modification of the voice, by which one expresses the passions of the soul naturally or through artifice Refers to the skilled or artistic application of technique rather than "deception.". 366.

XIII. Each affection of the soul has its own accents, by which it expresses its different degrees. 367.

XIV. One cannot express the Accents of the passions without new characters Mersenne is arguing for a specialized notation system to capture the subtle emotional inflection of a voice.. 369.

XV. All the Accents of the 3 passions need nine different characters to be marked, namely 3 for the 3 degrees of anger, and two other sets of three for love and sadness. 370.

XVI. To determine if these Accents can be expressed and performed while singing Music. 371.

XVII. To show the utility that Preachers and other Orators can draw from the Accents of each passion. 373.

XVIII. Rhythmics The study of musical and poetic rhythm. establishes and regulates movements, their sequence, and their mixture to excite, increase, maintain, diminish, and appease the passions. 374. Wherein one sees 27 examples of movements or metrical feet Rhythmic units borrowed from classical poetry, such as the iamb, trochee, or dactyl, which Mersenne applies to musical composition..