Prolation

In mensural notation, prolation (Latin: prolatio) is used to describe the rhythmic structure of medieval and Renaissance music.

In mensural notation, prolation (also called prolatio)[1] describes the rhythmic structure of medieval and Renaissance music on a small scale.

[citation needed] Early medieval music was often structured in subdivisions of three, while the note values in modern music are most often subdivided into two parts, 4/4 being the most common time signature, meaning that minor prolation has primarily survived in our time signature system, while major prolation has been replaced by notation modifying note values with dots or triplets.

The history of written medieval music shows a gradual shift from major to minor prolation being common.

[4] As with prolation, tempus also corresponds roughly to the modern concept of time signature, and describes the relationship between the breve and semibreve.