Notation

[tata]

I have to do a research paper for my Music History class, and one of the topics i was considering was the development of music notation from the medieval period through the baroque era, concentrating on the transition from the neumatic system to the modern system. Any suggestions of any books or other media that i can check into?

[Srikanth Chippa]

There are MANY ways to name each note.  We have the Western system (common in the U.S.) which has:  A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A for the octave.  We have the common naming system used in Europe and the Middle East, among other places, in which:  LA=A; SI=B; DO=C; RE=D; MI=E; FA=F; SOL=G; and of course LA=A again.  So for the same octave we would say;  LA-SI-DO-RE-MI-FA-SOL-LA.
Then we have the naming system used in Arabic and Ottoman Classical music, in which each individual note has a specific name.  I'll be listing below an insert which shows some of the notes and their names (with Anglicized spellings).  In Ottoman music, the music is written in set keys, usually the key of G or A, though it is played in the key of our own preference/necessity (the key is not important, the intervals are).  In other words, the notes on the paper are merely place holders, showing us the general melody and intervals.  You can always play in whatever key you want, with the most common tunings being Bφlahenk and Kız tuning (transposing down a fourth or a seventh, respectively). The names of the tunings come from the ney size which corresponds to each key. 
In Arabic music we have a similar situation.  The scores are usually written in D or C, but played as in Ottoman music in any desired key.  Check out this page for more information about Arabic Classical Music: