Torculus Neume

The image displays a single, black, hand-drawn musical symbol known as a torculus against a plain white background. The neume consists of a low note, a higher note, and a return to a low note, connected by a continuous, slightly curving thick line that tapers at the ends. It represents the standard notation for a three-note melodic turn in Western liturgical chant.

The torculus is a fundamental building block of medieval plainchant notation, essential to the transmission of the liturgical music of the Catholic Church. It appears extensively in the earliest neumatic manuscripts, such as those documenting the repertory codified during the Carolingian Renaissance.