Notation is the visual representation of auditory phenomena, often for a musician's benefit. Music can be represented in many ways, some of which emphasize higher-level structure and facilitate analysis, while other methods simply instruct a performer on how to perform a piece. One common method, sheet music, indicates the pitches to be sounded by their position on a staff, and their durations via abstract symbols.
See also the discussion at What is the relationship between the notation and engraving tags?
