TABLATURE (Lat. Taöulatura, from Tabula, a table, or flat surface, prepared for writing; Ital. Intavolatura; Fr. Tablature; Germ. Tabulator). A method of Notation, chiefly used, in the 15th and 16th centuries, for the Lute, though occasionally employed by Violists, and Composers for some other Instruments of like character.
In common with all other true systems of Notation, Tablature traces its descent in a direct line from the Gamut of Guido, though, in its later forms, it abandons the use of the...