The names for the black notes Va Wu – Xe Yu Ze have initials that can coexist with the main note name systems ABCDE…AHCDE.. Do Re Mi…and Sa Re Ga.. The vowels contrast with solfa note names within a range of three frets.
…………………Va Wu Xe Yu Ze
………..Do=Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La TSi
These five syllables can be integrated with Fixed Solfa and movable solfa as will be shown in the examples that follow that are suitable for beginners, casual readers and late starters. The notes are easily identifiable, bypassing the complications of clef, signature and accidental. The scores follow in all other respects the conventions of traditional sheet music. A note that has been tied is shown as a normal note head.
The first example places VaWu among Fixed Solfa in this Minuet from the Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach. To give unique initials with each note Si has been shown as TSi which can be sung as Si, Ti or indeed TSi.. The initial of Do could easily be confused for its neighbour, the lettername D. So instead the initial of the older name Ut is used. It can still be sung as Do. To view click on the following title Minuet in Fixed Solfa
When the letters have lower case initials they represent movable solfa as in the next example. Following the tradition of Kodaly music education the minor tonic is here shown as la.It can be seen that between bars 13 and 16 the piece modulates to the relative major cadencing on do=ut. Minuet in movable solfa
The next example shows how movable solfa can display the relationship of both melody and harmony to the key. In the Swan from Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, the melodic notation runs parallel with chord symbols built on movable solfa initials.The conventions of chord symbols are followed with a few adjustments. The symbol s3 represents a major chord built on so in order to distinguish it from a melody note to be sung.. The 3 is dropped when there are other clues to identify the letter as a chord symbol. Following a jazz convention the minus sign indicates a minor chord (rather than m which could be confused for the note mi). The note after a slash is single note in the bass. Occasionally as in bar 19 a separate chord is in the bass. Click on the following title to see the score: the Swan Saint Saens
In all these example the key signatures are redundant but can be included as an option. The staves are adapted to make the characters stand out being grey with slightly broader lines. On manuscript the dotted lines replace leger lines whereas on a final printed version grey leger lines can be used. Click the following link to see and print grey staves. grey lines5leger
Pronunciation of the solfa syllables varies between language groups, however contrast between adjacent consonants can be achieved by pronouncing the Xe as in Greek that is with the German /Scottish ch, and Ze as in Castilian Spanish as in the English th. .
These usages are public domain. The letters VW XYZ were proposed by Robert Stuckey and Richard Parncutt in 1987.The vowels were added in 1995. Computer program to convert from MusXML or MIDI files into the users preferred output..