THE TONIC SOL-FA

An Orientation/Workshop Manual

For

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NIGERIA

Eliowhani Parish Choir

Prepared by

Samuel Bassey III

RESIDENT MUSICOLOGIST
Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
Hope Waddell Parish
Calabar
 LESSON 1

RUDIMENTS

Music: Is art of arranging or combining sound to make it pleasant to the ear.

Sounds: These are vibrations whose frequencies are perceived at various levels
through auditory sense.

Pitch: Is the height or depth of a sound depending on the frequency of the vibration
i.e. high or low.

Rhythm: It is the basic repetitive pulse of the music, a time pattern that is repeated
throughout the music. It is the rhythm that helps you clap to a piece of music.

Tempo: This is the fastness or slowness of a particular song, piece or section of

music.

Solfege: This is a technique where syllables are assigned to each notes of the scales,
and when singing, each note of the scale uses this particular syllable. For the English
speaking Countries, the seven syllables commonly used are doh, ray, me, fah, soh,
lah, te. These syllables are usually abbreviated to their first alphabet thus;
d,r,m,f,s,l,t. They are two major ways of applying solfege;

The Fixed Doh: this is a system where the syllables are always tied to specific
pitches e.g. doh is always the pitch of C.

The Moveable Doh: this where the syllables are assigned to different pitches based
on musical context e.g. doh is always the tonic of every given key. The Eliowhani
Parish Choir uses the moveable doh system.

Pitch: The Pitch of a note simply means how high or low the note is. While in tonic
sol-fa it is seen as the specific note (d,r,m or f) and its relative octave (whether high,
low or normal)

Scale: Now these notes are arranged in a successive step and half step progression
of definite order. This arrangement is called Scale and the order in which the notes
are arranged is by fundamental Frequency or Pitch.
Although there are numerous types of scales, we will discuss the two most widely
used in our choral compositions.

Diatonic Scale: This is a seven tone Scale, made up of five tones (steps) and two
semitones (half steps) and the semitone occurs between the 3rd and 4th note and the
7th and 8th note. (e.g d r mf s l td1)

Chromatic Scale: This is twelve tone scale each of them a semitone (half step) apart.
(e.g d de r re m f fe so se la le t d1)

Semitone: A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical
interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most
dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two
adjacent notes in a chromatic scale (e.g. from d to de).

Tone: A tone also called a whole step is the shortest musical interval commonly
used in Western tonal music. A tone is the same distance as two semitones. (e.g d
to r )

Octave: In music, an octave (Latin: octavus: meaning eight) or perfect octave is the
interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency.
They are typically written using eight notes, and the interval between the first and
last notes is an octave. For example, d r mf s l td1 the initial and final dohs being
an octave apart. Two notes separated by an octave have the same letter name and are
of the same pitch class. Numeric superscript and subscript are used to indicate
whether the octave is relatively high or low.

Sharp: The sharp (#) raises the Value of the Key by a semitone and the Pitch of the
Note by a semitone. To sharpen a Key you simply add the sharp symbol to it (e.g C
to C#), while to sharpen a Note you simply add 'e' to it (e.g d to de).

Flat: The Flat (♭) reduces the Value of the Key by a semitone and the Pitch of a
Note by a semitone. To flatten a Key you simply add the flat symbol to it (e.g E to
E♭) while to flatten a Note you simply add 'a' (e.g t to ta).

Key: The key identifies the tonic (doh) which is the focal point of a tune. It refers to
the note that the scale you're using starts on. This is also known as the tonic.
Typically it's the note you come back to throughout the tune and especially at the
end. If a tune uses notes from the C major (diatonic) scale, we say the tune is in the
key of C major. There are basically twelve keys which are named using the first
seven English Alphabets (A B C D E F G ). In music, Key C is the mother key and
usually the first, C, C#/D♭, D D#/E♭, E, F, F#/G♭, G, G#/A♭, A, A#/B♭, B.

Notes: These are basically seven lower case characters (small letters) used to
represent pitches in Tonic Sol-fa.

NOTE SPELT PRONOUNCED

t Ti /tē/
l Lah /la/
s Soh /soʊ/
f Fah /fa/
m Mi /mē/
r Ray /reɪ/
d Doh /doʊ/
Bar Line: This are vertical lines that divides the music into equal time-length called
Bars or measures. Each Bar must contain equal number of beats. A double bar line
indicates the end of the piece or section.

Modulator

FLAT N0TE SHARP

SOH
SAW FE
FAH
MI
MAW RE
RAY
RAW DE
DOH
TI
TAW LE
LAH
LAW SE
SOH
Modulation: modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one
key (tonic, or tonal centre) to another. It is used to create musical structures and
Forms as well as add interest to a piece of music; e.g.

G.t

| l : l : s || sd | f : s : m : d ||

| f : f : m || sd | d : t : d : l ||

| l.t : d.r : m || rs | f : r : m : s.f ||

| f.s : l.t : d || tm | r : s : d : m.f ||

Above is an example of a tonic sol-fa score with a modulation. G.t means or basically
tells the singer that the new key is key G or that the key has been changed to key G.
Then you will notice that immediately after the double bar line they are two set of
notes, the normal and the superscript (the one on top). The superscript is the old key
while the normal note is the new key so you need to sound the new note as the old
one i.e make your doh sound like your previous soh . Your doh on the new key was
soh on the old key so using that as a common pitch you will be able to modulate
(change) to the new key.
 LESSON 2

BEATS

In the previous lesson we explained Pitch but knowing how to articulate each note
is not enough, you must know how long to hold a note before moving on to the next
note, hence beat. Beat simply means duration and common punctuation marks are
used to represent musical beats. The most common beats include:

Full Beat: This is also called one beat or one full beat and it’s represented by a colon
(:), it goes for one count, and defines the Bar. All other beats are relative to and
divisors of a full beat. e.g | d : r : m : f | s : f : m : r ||

Half Beat: This is represented by a full stop (.). It goes for half count, two of it
makes a full beat. e.g |d : d.r : m : m.f | s : l.s : m : - ||

One and a Half Beat: This is represented by a colon, a hyphen and a dot (:-.). It is
used to add value to the original note by extending it by half a beat. e.g | d : -. r : m
: m | m : -. f : s : s ||

Three Quarter Beat: This is represented by two commas (,,), it divides the value of
a full beat into three equal part and value. e.g | l : l,t,d : t : t,d,r | d : - : - : - ||A variant
and more popular form of it is represented by a full stop and a comma (.,). It is the
equivalent of two half beats with second half beat further divided by half. When
sung, it creates a crisp rhythmic urgency. e.g | d.,d : m : - | m.,m : s :- | s.,s : d1 : - ||

One Quarter Beat: This is represented by a comma (,) and its goes for a quarter
count, four of it makes one beat. e.g | m,r,m,f : m,f,r,m : d.t.d.r : d,m,r,m ||

Drawing Beat: This is represented by a colon and a hyphen (:-). It is used to extend
the value of a note, eg |d : - : r : - | m : - : - : - || In the first bar the value of both doh
and ray is extended to one count each, while in the second bar the value of mi is
extended by three counts.

Silent Beat: This is represented by two colons (::) and it is a rest beat. The silence
must be observed for the corresponding count. e.g | d : : t : | l : : d : || those are one
count silent beats.

Count: this is equivalent to one full beat.

 LESSON 3

APPLICATION OF LYRICS

In choral music, the notes are only there to acquaint the singer with the tune of the
piece. Once the singer is well acquainted with the tune, they then proceed to apply
the lyrics to the tune. In language there is what we call Syllable which is the shortest
unit of human speech, therefore words are made up of syllables. Some words are
mono-syllabic words like Come, My, Soul, Thy etc. We also have disyllabic words
like Father, Visit, Treasure, Confirm etc. There are also polysyllabic words such
as Almighty, Redeemer, Comforter, Enraptured etc. When applying lyrics, a
note is applied to a syllable not a word (unless the word is a mono-syllabic word)
e.g.

| d | m : m : s : s | l : l : s ||
E-ter-nal Fa-ther strong to save

In the above example, Eternal is a polysyllabic word made up of three syllables i.e
E - ter - nal therefore it is applied to three notes (d : m : m). Father is a disyllabic
word made up of two syllables i.e Fa - ther therefore it is applied to two notes ( s : s
). Strong, To and Save are all mono syllabic words therefore applied to single notes
( l : l : s ) respectively.

Slur: Slur joins two or more notes of different pitches together and it is supposed to
be sung in one breath. This is commonly represented by underlining all the slurred
notes e.g. | d : r : t1 : d ||. No matter how many notes are slurred only one syllable is
applied to a given set of slurred notes e.g.

| s : l : s : f | m : f : r : m|
O Tri - - - - ni - ty
In the above example, there are two set of slurred notes; two notes ( s : l ) and four
notes ( s : f m : f ) each sung to one syllables O and Tri respectively.

Running Notes: These are progression of notes, often in one quarter beat running
over one bar but not less. When singing a running note, be careful to observe where
each slur begins and ends. e.g.

|m,f,s,m:l,s,f,m:r,m,f,r:s,f,m,r:d,r,m,d:f,s,f,m:r,m,f,r:s,l,s,f:m,f,s,m:l,t,s,l:t,d,l,t:d.s||
A - - - - - - - - - - - a-men
 LESSON 4

MUSICAL SIGNS AND TERMINOLOGY

These are signs, symbols and directions provided by the composer to help the
singer navigate through the musical piece. It gives instruction on the composers
intended Speed, Style and Intensity.

Musical Terms Indicating Intensity:

Piano (p) - Soft

Mezzo Piano (mp) - Moderately Soft

Pianissimo (pp) - Very Soft

Molto Pianissimo (ppp) - Extremely Soft

Forte (f) - Loud

Mezzo Forte (mf) - Moderately Soft

Fortissimo (ff) - Very Loud

Molto Fortissimo (fff) - Extremely Loud

Crescendo (Cres) - Gradually getting louder

Diminuendo (Dim) - Gradually getting softer

Decrescendo (Decres) - Gradually getting softer

Musical Term Indicating Speed (Tempo)

Adagio - Slow

Adagietto - Rather slow

Allegro - Fast or Quick

Allegretto - Rather lively

Andantino - A bit slower than walking pace

Andante - At walking pace or speed

A tempo - In time

Lento - Slow

Largo - Slow and broad

Presto - Quick

Tempo guisto - In strict time

Tempo prima - Speed as at first

Accelerando (Accel) - Gradually getting faster

Rallentando (Rall) - Gradually getting slower

Ritardando (Rit) - Becoming slower

Musical Terms Indicating Style

Acapella - Unaccompanied music

Legato - Smoothly

Staccato - Short crisp and detached

Alla Marcia - In marching style

Dolce - Sweetly

Da capo - Repeat from the beginning

Dal segno - Repeat from the sign

Poco a poco - Little by little

Furioso - Furiously

Spirito - Spirited (with spirit)

Ad libitum - At the performer’s pleasure or convenience

Tranquillo - Tranquil, calmly

Vigoroso - Vigorously

Al fine - End at fine

Fine - The end

Musical Signs

Fermata, lunga pausa (long pause)

Dal segno

Crescendo

Decrescendo, Diminuendo

Sforzando; strong accent

Slur

Staccato
 LESSON 5

TIPS AND DRILLS

The Good Chorister

Summarily, let us consider basic qualities that a good chorister should possess. Of
course, this list is selective and definitely not exhaustive. In no particular order,
these are the qualities that make for an ideal choir member:

Punctuality

It takes a while to build up a safe, creative atmosphere, but only a second to destroy
it. If we’re doing some focused warm up work, we don’t want people wandering in
half way through! I know some people get stuck in traffic or have to come straight
from work, but persistent latecomers aren’t showing respect for their fellow choir
members (or the work or the choir), and are often the ones who would benefit most
from the voice training and warm up!

Commitment

Commitment to the choir can be shown in many ways (not least turning up on time!).
But for most church choirs, the most important commitment is simply to turn up
every week. There are many people who pay their dues promptly but show up only
once or twice a month for practice. Again, this demonstrates a lack of respect for
both the choir and its members. Also it implies that the work that we do each week
rehearsing and learning songs is not that valuable and it’s possible to just turn up for
the service on Sunday.

Responsibility

It’s all too easy to let your Choirmaster, part leaders or other members of your part
do all the work. Yes, the Choirmaster is in charge, but the final result depends on
every single individual in the choir. It’s no good thinking that your fellow chorister
will back you up and cover you through the bits you don’t know that well. If every
singer in the choir thought that, there would be no choir. You have to take
responsibility to attend regularly (and on time), to know your part, to stay aware of
rehearsal schedules, to listen to the choirmaster’s instructions, and so on.

Self-Awareness

Many people stumble through life not really paying attention. Or if they do pay
attention, it is often to the wrong thing. Often it’s simply a matter of being in the
moment, being present and engaged with whatever is going on at that particular
point. This can be helped by focusing on the warm up each session which assists in
the transition between your busy daily life and the job of being in a choir. It’s by
paying attention to what you’re doing that helps you to learn and improve. When the
leader points out that you’re tipping your head back, then check in with your own
body and see what that feels like. When your fellow alto singers complain that you’re
singing too loudly in their ear, check in with yourself and make a note of how it feels
in that moment and what you can do next time.

Trust

Some people find it very uncomfortable to be in the middle of a learning process.

When you first start to learn a new song it can feel frustrating that you can’t quite
nail the tune. Even when you’ve been singing a song for a while, you might still keep
tripping over some of the words. Try not to get frustrated, but give yourself up to the
process and trust that it will come out right in the end. Similarly, if the choirmaster’s
new concept for a song seems weird, trust that he knows what he’s doing and is not
setting out to make you or the choir look funny. Throw yourself into these processes
wholeheartedly and trust them. If you want to analyse or question, wait until the
process is over (i.e. after the rehearsal or at the end of rendition) to evaluate.

Attentiveness

This is related to self-awareness and having a sense of the whole. Often an individual
choir member forgets where they are and starts chatting to their neighbour for
instance. After all, they’ve finished learning their part and are, in fact, talking about
important singing matters after all. But what they don’t realise is that they’re missing
what’s going on around them. You need to be attentive to the choirmaster (or you
might miss your cue), the choristers around you (you don’t want to breathe at the
wrong time), the overall choir sound (make sure your part is not louder than all the
others), and what your own responsibilities are (don’t miss your solo!).

Consideration for Others

This is all to do with respect: respect for your fellow human beings and hence respect
for what you and other choir members are doing and therefore respect for the choir
as a whole. Don’t be a prima donna – choirs are all about team work. Remember
what it was like when you first joined the choir – help out new members. If someone
in your part is struggling, don’t feel superior because you’ve nailed it – stand next
to them and help them out gently.

Listening Skills

You may find it surprising that singing skills aren’t in this list of important things
for being a good choir member. My belief is that everyone can sing and that, given
time, everyone in the choir can get to the same high standard. However, to get to that
point, instead of focusing on the production of the voice, you need to pay more
attention to what you are hearing. Using your self-awareness, you can begin to hear
when you are getting the notes right and when you are not. Listening to others in
your part will help you stay in time, blend better and work as a unit. Reaching out to
hear the other parts will help you stay in tune, enjoy and get a better understanding
of how harmony works. And finally, listening to what the choirmaster has to say can
only be a good thing!

Sense of the Whole

It’s no good relying on the choirmaster to give you feedback all the time. It’s also
no good to just focus on those singers around you. It’s much more pleasurable to
reach out and try to get a sense of the whole choir. Hear the harmonies working,
check the blend, get the volume balance of each part right, wait for the choir to take
a single in-breath to start the next song, feel part of a creative team – a living
organism.
Sense of Humour

Maybe this is the most important aspect of all. Keep smiling when all around you
are struggling. Laugh off the umpteenth time the choirmaster has pointed out that
you’re getting a phrase wrong. Find the humour in the man standing next to you who
constantly sings the wrong note – loudly! Relax, be playful, make fun. After all,
although you take the whole choir thing seriously, it’s only a bit of singing!

WARM-UPS

This is the most neglected part of most choirs’ practice schedules. Why do you need
to warm-up? Just like an athlete will not start off a regime by going full on into the
hardest part and expect a peak performance. Blood needs to be sent to the vital areas
that you will ask more of in a few minutes. Warm-ups are especially important when
first starting out. You need keep your voice limber, and relaxed in order to make
progress. Never force an exercise. If something hurts, stop altogether, wait fifteen
minutes then begin your warm-up again. If it keeps hurting, stop for the day. It just
may be that you are sick or that your cords are swollen from lack of proper sleep

Here are some suggested warm-ups that have been used for years by many singers.

The Siren - This warm up should be done daily, several times at least. It teaches the
singer how to release into the mix voice, creating subconscious pathways for the
sonic vibrations to travel through the body, and up into the head. It is a brilliant low-
impact exercise and very useful for starting a warm-up session.

Take the word “sung”, and remove the “s”, you are left with “ung”. In this warm up
you will be singing through the “ung”, careful not to allow the velor port to direct
any sound out through the mouth. For this exercise, all sound should travel out
through the nose. (Try pinching your nose during the siren; it should cut off all
sound!) Starting with a low note, sing a series of between 3 and 5 ascending and
descending sweeps, all the while releasing higher and higher into your range.e.g.
|d:r:m:d|r:m:f:r|m:f:s:m|f:s:l:f|s:l:t:s|l:t:d1:l|t:d1:r1:t|d1:r1:1m1:d1|r1:m1:f1:r1|m1:f1:s1:-||
The Lip Trill - Also known as the lip bray, or bubbling, is a wonderful low-impact
warm up, which I will always use at the very beginning of any warm up, rehearsal
or performance session. After opening the mouth wide into a yawn and giving the
lips a good stretch, purse your lips and create a bubbling sound at the same time as
singing a vocal tone. It is important to get a good balance between air and sound in
this exercise, and to work towards increasing the duration of the exercise. Too much
air will not allow the full benefit of the lip trill, but will instead be uncontrolled and
simply cause the singer to run out of breath very quickly. This exercise can be quite
challenging at first, and often takes time to master. If you are having difficulties
maintaining the lip trill, try gently squeezing two fingers into the cheek on either
side of your mouth.

The aim of the lip trill is to learn to control and direct the out breath for the purpose
of the development of a quality vocal tone. The lip trill also stimulates the lips and
mouth, flushing them with blood, and warming up the voice nicely. Try singing the
lip trill over an ascending and descending major arpeggio e.g. |d:m:s:d1|
d1:s:m:d|d:m:s:d1|d1:s:m:d|r:f:l:r1|r1:l:f:r|r:f:l:r1|r1:l:f:r|m:s:t:m1|m1:t:s:m||

Humming - Another good way to warm up is to hum. Hum a lot. Humming gently
allows your lips and cheeks to be soft and relaxed. All the air is directed through the
nostrils for this exercise, and the aim is to allow the vibration of the sound to fill the
front of the face - the lips, cheeks, nose, etc. The resonating cavities of the sinuses
help to bring the sound alive. It’s important to hum in unbroken phrases. Don’t have
an “H” at the beginning of each note as this is likely to add to vocal fatigue. Try
humming this exercise.

|d:m:r:m|d:m:r:m|d:m:r:m|d:-:-:-||r:f:m:f|r:f:m:f|r:f:m:f|r:-:-:-||

Exercise on “ma” - In this low-impact warm up you would be singing the word “ma
ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma” over a progression of five notes then modulate.

|d:r:m:f|s:f:m:r|d:-:rd:-|d:r:m:f|s:f:m:r|d:-:rd:-|d:r:m:f|s:f:m:r|d:-:rd:-|

The Bumblebee - This is another well-known warm-up exercise and it continues to

build up in intensity. The word Bumblebee is sung over the following steps of the
major scale:

|d:m:r:f|m:s:f:l|s:t:l:d1|t:r1:d1:m1|d1:r1:t:d1|l:t:s:l|f:s:m:f|r:d:d:-||
 VOCAL HEALTH

Your voice, your whole body, is an instrument. You wouldn’t leave a guitar out in
the rain and cold for a week, then drag it behind a car on a chain and expect it to play
well would you? That’s exactly the way some choristers behave when it comes to
singing. The vocal cords, no matter how tough you are, are very sensitive. Their only
function is to vibrate to produce sound. To sing great you have to have great vocal
health. There’s just no way around it. You must take good care of your voice and
body if you want to get the best out of them.

Not Enough Sleep: If you don’t get into a deep (non-drug or alcohol induced) sleep
often enough, your voice will show the wear. The vocal cords will actually swell up,
and make it difficult to adduct and hit your range. If you don’t wake up refreshed
and ready to go, get more sleep.

Smoking: When you smoke you basically roast your cords, and dry them out, which
can lead to polyps. The more you smoke the less flexible your voice will become.
You can, and will cause yourself permanent damage through smoking. Not to
mention lung capacity. If you can’t breathe you can’t sing!

Drinking Alcohol: One or two shots to warm up before a practice might be alright,
but hard alcohol and beer is a NO. Alcohol has the effect of drying out your cords.
Hard alcohol; whiskey, vodka, rum, are particularly damaging. Beer has the
immediate effect of causing phlegm to clog up your voice by getting on the cords
and keeping them from closing up. While phlegm in not harmful to your voice, this
is not something you want to happen while performing. And while the effects of a
hard night of drinking will disappear in a day or so, daily practice of heavy drinking
will have damaging effects. If you go out and drink regularly, once or twice a week,
make sure to drink gulps of water after you drink. This will help prevent damage.

Not Drinking Enough Water: Drink as much water as you can handle. Many of
my students who complain about hoarseness get rid of most of their problem simply
by replacing the Coke, Pepsi, and Juices they drink with water. Water is very
important, it will add to your flexibility. If you’re not drinking enough of it your
voice will let you know. Your whole body needs water, and the vocal cords are low
on the list of priority when it comes to your body’s survival needs. They are one of
the last parts of the body to receive use of any water you ingest. Major organs and
digestion will use up the water you take in before it gets to the cords if you don’t
drink enough.

Diet: Many Voice Trainers will tell you that you have to eliminate dairy from your
diet and anything that produces phlegm. As long as you don’t eat these things two
to four hours before you sing or practice you should be fine. But, some people do
have a big problem with phlegm and should consider cutting down on these things.
Excess amount of phlegm on the cords keeps them from zipping up. There’s no way
you’re going to smooth out your bridges if you have this problem. Things that cause
phlegm: cake, buns, sugar, juices, bread, fruits, beer, alcohol, any kind of candy,
milk, any dairy product. Not that you shouldn’t eat any of these , just keep in mind
how much of them you’re eating and try to keep them away from your practice
schedule. On a side note an old singer trick that works very well for thinning out
mucus is a mixture of lemon, water and honey. The acid in the lemon dissolves the
mucus and the honey soothes the throat and keeps the lemon from overdoing its job
and drying out your cords. If you have a real problem with excess phlegm it will be
very hard for you to learn to shorten your cords and smooth out your range, or even
sing for that matter.
 Reference

 Elements of Music in Tonic Sol-Fa by Samuel Bassey III. International Music

Conference 5th Aug. 2010 All Saint Anglican Church Samaru, Zaria Nigeria

 Equipping the Church Choir for Ministry by Eli Wilson Jnr ISBN 978-
1438903514

 The Church Hymnary, Revised Edition 1927. Edinburgh: Oxford University

Press, 1927. Musical score.

 The Teacher's Manual of the Tonic Sol-fa Method: Dealing with the Art of
Teaching and the Teaching of Music, by John Curwen ISBN 0-86314-118-8

 What Are the Rudiments of Music? Music Educators Journal, by Warren D.

Allen 1937;23(5):23-25. doi:10.2307/3384574