16th-Century Text-Setting Guidelines
I. General guidelines
  1. Any white note can carry a syllable.
  2. The final breve in a piece must carry a syllable. (Also follow this guideline at cadences.)
  3. Repeated notes must change syllables.
  4. Text accentuation must be musically supported through any or all of the following means:
    1. Agogic Accent (length of note)
    2. Register
    3. Syncopation
II. Rules for text setting with black notes
  1. No black note can carry a syllable on its own (except when the third syllable from the end is accented - as in "Dó-mi-ne" - set with dotted minum, semiminum, minum).
  2. Several black notes can carry a syllable as a melisma, as long as the melisma begins on a beat and ends with a white note before the next syllable.
  3. Fusas can never carry their own syllable, and they must have one note following them before a new syllable can be used.
  4. Any repeated pitch must carry a syllable except for the portamento figure.
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