Vocal notation

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In much choral music, there are various conventions that differ fromnstrumental music.

Vocal "beaming" of quavers, etc. is intended to be helpful, in that it reduces the need for slurs, but I much prefer the modern practice of using instrumental beaming. Yet there are still those who hanker after the traditional method even amongst publishers.

Rather more irritating is the inclusion of tonic sol-fa, which clutters up the page annoyingly. Why can't people just learn to read music.

[MrGongGong]

I
Rather more irritating is the inclusion of tonic sol-fa, which clutters up the page annoyingly. Why can't people just learn to read music.

Solfège is a form of music notation
as is Tab, Figured Bass and Staff Notation

surely its better to have something that works for the context rather than insist on everyone learning the same thing ? (on the other hand idiots like Paul McCartney who insist on NOT learning notation when more or less ALL of their music has had people using it should get over themselves and
simply learn it !)

[vinteuil]

... bring back the neumes, I say!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Solfège is a form of music notation
as is Tab, Figured Bass and Staff Notation

My point is that having more than one type of notation on the page is cluttering for the singer. It's worse still in madrigals, where the words include lots of "fa las" anyway.

[MrGongGong]

My point is that having more than one type of notation on the page is cluttering for the singer. It's worse still in madrigals, where the words include lots of "fa las" anyway.

I suppose its only cluttered if you can read both

[rauschwerk]

Surely it's a long time since new editions contained tonic sol-fa? For example, the original (1942) edition of Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia has it, but the 1967 edition doesn't.

[mercia]

when I was at music college, many moons ago, we used to have weekly solfege classes with a French gentleman, singing passages to sol-fa, clapping and tapping out rhythms etc.etc. but I am now wondering what the purpose of singing in sol-fa was since we could all read music. I can't think that I've made any use of it since. Perhaps it was to do with reading alto and tenor clefs and transposing instruments. Is it an essential skill when reading a full-score?

[bach736]

[mercia]

If I've "said" anything stupid or amusing, I'd quite like to know what it is

[ardcarp]

The French still insist (as I understand it) on a grounding in solfege before kids are allowed to progress onto real music. I gather quite a lot of people fall at the first hurdle. I must admit my knowledge of French music education is gleaned from a rather small part of Brittany where amateur music-making at a level you find in the UK is virtually non-existant.

On the subject of 'beaming' (or as we used to call it 'ligaturing') , give me the instrumental system plus slurs any time. If you've got to pick up a piece and read it straight off, it's far less likely to trip you up.

[muticus]

I remember, many years ago, a choral week in Cornwall. The group contained many young singers from Coventry Cathedral in the days of David Lepine (obm). Someone started to sing 'Faire is the Heaven', and without benefit of dots they all joined in (in all 8 parts) - beautiful, all the more so when they began to make the Sol-Fa hand signs - a habit taught to them as young trebles by David, it must be said they could all sight-read better than any group of youngsters I have ever encountered since - presumably the result of their mastery of the technique. Later I witnessed deaf signing-choirs. A very similar and equally beautiful effect.

[bach736]

If I've "said" anything stupid or amusing, I'd quite like to know what it is

Nothing you said, Mercia. I just thought 'doh' would be an appropriate comment on the whole tonic sol-fa discussion.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Surely it's a long time since new editions contained tonic sol-fa? For example, the original (1942) edition of Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia has it, but the 1967 edition doesn't.

This may well be the case. I just seem to have a lot of old music.
I know many Welsh choirs used to use tonic sol-fa.

But what do others think of vocal beaming?

[MrGongGong]

Nothing you said, Mercia. I just thought 'doh' would be an appropriate comment on the whole tonic sol-fa discussion.

thats the trouble with some folk
its all
"me me me"

[bach736]

Isn't that a name I call myself ... and isn't fa a long, long way to run?