User:Bellablaetter/Tonic sol-fa

Notation

In Curwen's system, the notes of the major scale (of any key) are notated with the single letters d, r, m, f, s, l, and t when in the octave of middle C (or C4). This means, no extra notation will be added to any of the notes when do is anywhere between C4 - B4. Any notes in the octave(s) above will have a superscript, starting with 1 for the first octave above, 2 for the second, so on and so forth, if it were ever necessary. The same goes for the octave(s) below, except it will be notated with a subscript instead. To reference these when talking about them, in the case of do, do¹ would be called "one-do", and do₁ is called "do-one". Chromatic alterations are marked by the following vowel, "e" for sharp (pronounced "ee") and "a" for flat (pronounced "aw"). Thus, the ascending and descending chromatic scale is notated:

d de r re m f fe s se l le t d1
d1 t ta l la s sa f m ma r ra d

Such chromatic notes appear only as ornaments or as preparation for a modulation; once the music has modulated, then the names for the new key are used. The modulation itself is marked by superscript of the old note name preceding its new name; for example, in modulation to the dominant, the new tonic is notated as ^sd. The music then proceeds in the new key until another modulation is notated.

Minor keys use l (la) as the tonic. The ascending sixth scale degree in melodic minor is noted as ba (pronounced "bay") instead of fe, which is reserved for the sharp f of the major scale.

Dynamic symbols are used the same as in the staff notation more commonly seen.

A horizontal line under a single letter means that note is to be sung legato, or smooth. A horizontal line spanning under multiple letters signifies a slur, connecting the letters together.

In Curwen's Tonic sol-fa, time signatures are not used, so various forms of notation are used to divide up measures into beats and beats smaller. Vertical bar lines are used to separate measures, like in the more commonly seen staff notation. A double bar line at the end also signifies the end. Colons (:) are then used to separate the beats:

|d:r||

In compound meters, such as 6/8, a shorter vertical line is to divide the measure into the strong beats called medium accents:

|d:r:m|d:r:m||

Dashes in place of a letter means to hold out the note until either the next note appears, a rest appears, or the end of the piece comes, whichever may come first. Rests are just notated with a blank space; no letter, no dash:

|d:-|s: ||

Periods, or full stops, (.) are used to separate a beat in half. To further divide the beat into quarters, commas (,) are used:

|d:d.r|d,r.m,f:s||

Dotted note values can be shown in a couple ways. A dash can be used, or putting a ".," next to the following note can work as well:

|d.-,m:s1|| or |d .,m:s1||

For triplets, an inverted comma (_') is used:

|d'r'm:d'r'm||