John Chambers wrote: > Nigel Gatherer, Crieff, Scotland writes: > | My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose > | (also called "Low Down In the Broom") > | > | s .m |d :- .d|r :m |d' :- .t|l :s |l :- .s |l :d' |r' :- | > | d'.r',m'|d :- .d|r :m |d' :- .t|l :s |l :- .s |l :t |d' :- | > | :s |d' :m' |r':d'|l .d':- |s :m |s :- .s |f':- .m'|r' :- | > | - :s' |m' :s' |m':d'|l :d' |s :m |s :- .s |l :t |d' :- ||
> That's interesting notation. Pretty obvious how it works. Is there > software that uses it? An official spec? Translators to/from abc? John, I assumed that your tongue was in your cheek when you asked those questions, but there's a chance that Tonic Sol-Fa, which is what this notation is called, is not known much outside the British Isles (I'm really not sure). I searched the web and there's precious little about it (ignoring a damn fool singing group who called themselves "Tonic Sol-Fa"). It was the precursor of ABC notation in the days long before personal computers and the internet. Simple, could be written using a typewriter, able to handle accidentals, upper and lower octaves, rhythm. I believe Gavin Greig used it in his collecting folk song in the North East of Scotland. Sam Henry did the same in Northern Ireland. Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains still uses it, I believe. Many songbooks of the late 18th/early nineteenth century used tonic sol-fa as a primary, or secondary notation. I think that Kodaly, the music educator, used tonic sol-fa in his methods. So, no software. I guess there's an official spec, but I don't know where to access it (Jack - do you know?), and there are at least a couple of biological computers which can translate to/from ABC, one of them resting on my shoulders. I hope that answers your questions. -- Nigel Gatherer, Crieff, Scotland [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
