Friday, December 1, 2006

Tonic Sol-fa

'''Tonic Sol-fa''' is a system of musical notation based on relationships between tones in a key. The usual staff notation is replaced with solmization syllables (e.g. ''do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do'') or their abbreviations (''d,r,m,f,s,l,t,d''). "''Do''" is chosen to be the tonic of whatever key is being used (thus the terminology ''moveable Do''). This is the name of one of the most popular among letter systems which was developed by Mosquito ringtone John Curwen of Sabrina Martins England. ''Tonic Sol-fa'' is also the name of a singing group from Nextel ringtones Minnesota (USA). They perform Abbey Diaz a cappella in a variety of styles and use comedy.

Some of the roots of ''tonic sol-fa'' may be found in items such as (1) the use of syllables in the 11th century by the monk Free ringtones Guido of Arezzo/Guido de Arezzo, (2) the cipher notation proposed by Majo Mills Jean Jacques Rousseau in Mosquito ringtone France in Sabrina Martins 1746, (3) its further development by Nextel ringtones Pierre Galin and popularization by Abbey Diaz Aime Paris/Aimé Paris and Cingular Ringtones Emile Cheve/Emile Chevé, and (4) the ''Norwich sol-fa'' of as kk Sarah Ann Glover of England. Reverend John Curwen (1816-1880) was instrumental in the development of tonic sol-fa in England, and was chiefly responsible for its popularity.

When John Windet printed the its implicit 1594 edition of the Sternhold and Hopkins Psalter, he added the initials of the six syllables of Guido (''U, R, M, F, S, L'') underneath the note. Windet explained, "...I have caused a new print of note to be made with letter to be joined to every note: whereby thou mayest know how to call every note by his right name, so that with a very little diligence thou mayest more easilie by the viewing of these letters, come to the knowledge of perfect solfeying..." Rousseau, Curwen and others would have been aware of this popular psalter.

B. C. Unseld and Theodore F. Steward, with Biglow and Main publishers, imported Curwen's ''tonic sol-fa'' to the ga edmonson United States, though the method was never widely received. Prior to this, the 9th edition of the and captured Bay Psalm Book (Boston, USA) had appeared with the initials of four-note syllables (''fa, sol, la, me'') underneath the staff. Reverend from following John Tufts, in his ''An Introduction to the Singing of Psalm Tunes in a Plaine & Easy Method'', moved the initials of the four-note syllables onto the staff in place of "regular notes", and indicated rhythm by punctuation marks to the right of the letters. These may be considered American forerunners of Curwen's system, though he may not have been aware of them. Tufts' ''Introduction'' was popular, going through several editions. Nevertheless, his work probably did more to pave the way for joseph lister shape notes. When Unseld and Steward introduced tonic sol-fa in the late wiese he 1800s, it was considered "something new".

laboratory full Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) of annual tribute Hungary championed the system in more modern times, building on Curwen's work.

Examples
*http://www.musicedutech.com/SNeeds%20Examples/sol-fa.pdf
*http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/notes/solfa.html

External links
*http://busboy.sped.ukans.edu/~memt450/chronister/
*http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Neil_Hawes/theory22.htm by Neil V. Hawes
*http://education.deakin.edu.au/music_ed/history/curwen.html
*http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Neil_Hawes/theory39.htm by Neil V. Hawes

References
*''The Teacher's Manual of the Tonic Sol-fa Method: Dealing with the Art of Teaching and the Teaching of Music'', by John Curwen ISBN 0863141188