2023-07-03 16:30:00
These are syllables without which one cannot imagine music. This notation system, used in France and Italy, was created from a religious chant in the 11th century.
By Sophie Hienard In England, notes are designated with letters. © Labutin.Art / Shutterstock / Shutterstock / Labutin.Art Published on 07/03/2023 at 4:30 p.m.
He played the piano standing up. This may be a detail for you. But for me that means… he had to learn the name of the notes. The scale is even the first concept seen in music theory class when you (finally) decide to stop singing out of tune: do re mi fa sol la si do. Why these syllables?
The answer lies between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is “The Hymn to Saint John the Baptist” that inspired this notation. This work, dedicated to the last prophet in the Christian religion, was composed by the poet Paul Deacon in the 8th century. Without this Latin text, no notes, or perhaps not the ones we use. Three hundred years after the poem was written, it was the Benedictine monk Guido d’Arezzo who had the idea of using the first verse for educational purposes. The first verses facilitate the learning of notes:
May be loosened
Echo fibers
A wonderful performance
Your servants
Solve polluti
Lips of guilt
Saint John
By taking the first syllable of each verse, it is possible to find: ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, sa. It’s a good start, sure, but it’s still not the lineup as we know it. It was not until the 16th century that a musician from the chapel of the Duke of Bavaria, Anselme de Flandres, replaced the “sa” with the “si”. And why not “ga”, “bu”, “zo” (or even “meu”)? To find the relationship of “si”, just look at the initials of the last two words: Saint John
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“Ut” has been replaced by “do” in Italy. It must be said that it is more pleasant to the ear. This syllable comes from the word Sir, which means God in Latin. “Ut” has not completely disappeared from the (musical) landscape, far from it. There are still some traces of it, through the different C clefs, which make it possible to determine the position of C on a score.
If syllables are used in French and Italian, the notes are designated by letters in English: A for la, B for si… up to G for sol. But, since it’s less practical when speaking, the Anglo-Saxons also learn do re mi fa… In short, you know the song.
#sing #sol