MUSIC. 



551 



The same tune in staff notation would present the following appearance : 



i-^-1 r . . i . , -T-r-h-r^J-Mj-^n 



3tW 



ra^f-^Tj^^f^- 



The foregoing tune introduces not only chro- 

 matic tones, but also "modulation" or "transi- 

 tion." A brief departure is made to the key 

 of D in the second line, returning to the origi- 

 nal key at the beginning of the third line. The 

 change is indicated not only by the " bridge- 

 tones," but also by appropriate letters placed 

 above. The key-letter is given and a small let- 

 ter to show the characteristic tone of each 

 change, which is te in passing from the key of 

 G to the key of D, and fah in passing from D 

 back to G. The staff copy gives no indication 

 of the modulation, but compels the reader to 

 consider all accidentals as indicating chromatic 

 tones. 



In examining the Sol-fa copy it will be ob- 

 served that a great incidental advantage of the 

 notation lies in the fact that there is no differ- 

 ent way of reading for the male voice, as is re- 

 quired by the bass clef with the staff. The 

 reading of all parts is the same, and there are 

 no confusing leger lines as are seen in the tenor 

 part of the staff copy. But the grand charac- 

 teristic difference is this : If the tune had hap- 

 pened to be printed in another key, as F or A, 

 every note would occupy a different place on 

 the staff, and its location could only be ascer- 

 tained by observation and comparison. In other 

 words, the notes do not actually tell the singer 

 anything. They present a series of puzzles, 

 each one of which has to be examined and its 

 meaning studied out. That this is not an ex- 



aggerated statement is shown by the fact that 

 no note has a simple meaning, a signification 

 that is apparent on the face of it, but its mean- 

 ing depends upon some sign, and often several 

 signs, that have preceded it. For instance, 

 when there are no flats or sharps at the begin- 

 ning of a tune, the first line (with the G clef) 

 stands for the third tone of the scale ; when 

 there is one sharp, it stands for the sixth ; with 

 two sharps, the second ; with one flat, the sev- 

 enth ; and so on through all the keys. In the 

 Tonic Sol-fa notation the reading of all keys is 

 the same to the singer. In other words, there 

 is one way of reading, instead of twelve. 



In the singing of classical music this differ- 

 ence becomes vastly more apparent. In all 

 music of the highest order there is a continual 

 series of modulations or changes of key. In 

 the staff-notation these changes are not only 

 not expressed, but they are so buried under 

 misleading technicalities that none but ex- 

 perienced harmonists can unravel the mystery 

 and follow the changes intelligently. In the 

 Tonic Sol-fa notation, these changes are inter- 

 preted to the reader and made simple and easi- 

 ly understood. In passages where the staff- 

 reader is groping blindly and losing all concep- 

 tion of the scale-relationships, the Tonic Sol-fa 

 reader is going forward with intelligence and 

 comparative ease. The following illustration 

 of an abrupt modulation will show the charac- 

 teristics of the two notations : 





n :s 



1 :f 



r :s 



d : 



' Very few singers could sing this at sight by 

 the staff-notation. Tonic Sol-faists of compara- 

 tively little experience would sing it from their 

 notation readily. It is a very simple musical 

 phrase, repeated in two different keys, the key 

 of 0, and the key of Aj,. The staff makes it 

 look like a passage in which four measures are 

 very simple, and four measures very difficult. 

 Only a musician with a professional degree of 

 experience can see the real state of the case, 

 and even he not without some scrutiny. The 



KEY Afe. 



:f 



r :s 



d :- 



Tonic Sol-fa copy shows the whole truth in an 

 instant. Without even glancing over it, the 

 Sol-fa reader could begin singing the exercise. 

 At the fifth measure he would sing the upper 

 do, but instantly change it to mi, and the last 

 eight measures would be nearly as easy to him 

 as the first. He would know exactly what he 

 did, and why he did it. Thus it is not strange 

 that in England all the classical vocal music 

 has been printed in the Tonic Sol-fa notation, 

 and is sung by innumerable societies. 



