Prolation Prolation Prolation is a term used in the theory of the mensural notation of medieval and Renaissance music to describe its rhythmic structure on a small scale, as opposed to "tempus", which described a larger scale. The term "prolation" is derived from the Latin "prolatio", first used by Philippe de Vitry in describing Ars Nova, a musical style that came about in 14th-century France. Prolation, together with tempus, corresponds roughly to the concept of time signature in modern music. Prolation describes whether a semibreve (whole note) is equal in length to two minims (half notes) ("minor prolation" or "imperfect prolation";
Note value of the 18th century and earlier the amount by which the dot augmented the note varied: it could be more or less than the modern interpretation, to fit into the context. To divide a note value to three equal parts, or some other value than two, tuplets may be used. However, see swung note and notes inégales. Although note heads of various shapes, and notes with and without stems appear in early Gregorian chant manuscripts, many scholars agree that these symbols do not indicate different durations, although the dot is used for augmentation. See neume. In the 13th century, chant