Category: technique
GlossaryModulator (tonic solfa)
A wall chart of the solfa syllables set out as a ladder, doh at the foot, with the related keys in columns beside it. A teacher points and the class sings.
The modulator is the classroom chart of tonic solfa. The syllables of one key run up its central column from doh to the doh above, spaced so that the semitones (mi to fah, ti to doh) look smaller than the whole tones. Beside it are columns for the neighbouring keys, lined up so that a syllable in one column sits beside the note of the same pitch in the next: soh of the centre key beside doh of the key a fifth up. The teacher points from note to note and the class sings, which trains the ear for the steps of the scale and shows how a tune moves from one key into another. The name comes from that last use: modulation is changing key.
Etymology & origin
Part of John Curwen's tonic sol-fa method in nineteenth-century England, built on Sarah Ann Glover's earlier ladder chart.
In context
| Example | What it means |
|---|---|
d' t l s f m r d | The central column, read from the top down |
s of the centre column = d of the column to its right | How the chart shows a change of key to the dominant |
Sources
Reference: en.wikipedia.org , consulted for the definition above; DomiSol's wording is original.
See also
-
Tonic solfa →
A movable-do music notation that uses the syllables d r m f s l t (do re mi fa sol la ti) for the seven scale degrees, 'do' = the tonic of the current key.
-
Solfa syllables (d r m f s l t) →
The seven names tonic solfa gives the steps of the major scale: doh, ray, mi, fah, soh, lah, ti, written by their first letters d r m f s l t.
-
Curwen hand signs →
Seven hand positions, one per scale degree (do re mi fa sol la ti), gestured while singing tonic solfa to teach pitch. Devised by John Curwen, 1858.
Related pages
- LearnTonic Solfa: Notes and Symbols (d r m f s l t)How to read tonic solfa: the seven notes d r m f s l t, octave dots, sharps and flats, and the signs for rhythm and bars, with a worked example.
- Tonic Solfa and Jianpu in Every Key: Where Doh IsWhere doh (1) sits in all twelve major keys, for tonic solfa and jianpu: the scale in each key, the key line, the staff key signature and the relative minor.