The tin whistle and Tonic Solfa notation

[stringbed]

I've been working my way through older material about the role of the tin whistle in music education in Ireland, and the use of Tonic Solfa notation (seen here) in the same context. The solmization, if not the full system, was taught to aspiring tin whistlers with everyone else as part of their introduction to music. I’m curious about whether it was then carried into beginning lessons on the tin whistle (assuming that to be the first instrument appearing in the school curriculum). Does anyone here know if this form of notation was used directly in tin whistle instruction or otherwise employed by its players?

[Mr.Gumby]

It is, perhaps, telling that no mention is made of tonc solfa in for example the entry on notation in The Companion to Irish Traditional Music or Breandán Breathnach's 'The Use of notation in the transmission of Irish Folk Music' or general overviews of the field By Breathnach or O'Cannainn from the 1970s.

Tonic Solfa was used in the school system at one point but I can't tell you when the whistle was introduced into the curriculum. The overall attitude towards traditional music and its players would suggest it's introduction may be more recent than you'd expect. In some areas individual teachers versed in traditional music organised extra curricular classes out of hours for pupils who were interested in that sort of thing. I know several players who went through this sort of informal after school classes during the 1960s.

My impression is tonic solfa was used for songs, the Sam Henry collection's songs were originally published in Tonis Solfa for example. I have seen some leaflets, possibly/probably Walton's publications, that used the system but I have little recollection of their content, little songs but not dance music or the wider repertoire associated with the whistle.

By the time I started the whistle, around 1970, mention was made sometimes of the system but it left the impression of something used by a previous generation, lingering. but no longer holding much relevance. Micheál O mAllmhain's 'Tutor for the Feadóg Stain' (1971), one of the first tutors specifically aiming at traditional music on the whistle, provided tunes in staff notation with the names of the notes printed under the staff, as well as tonic solfa for the first four or five tunes in the book (as well as a tape with recordings). His collection of more advanced tunes Ag Déanamh Ceoil [S.A.] that followed this tutor is staff notation only. None of other tutors of that period, 'Whistle and sing', the various Armagh pipers club tutors and collections for the whistle used the system.

It is probably safe to say that while in use in the National School system, it was not common among traditional musicians.

[stringbed]

Thank very much for the detailed reply. One of the reasons for my asking was a solfa rendition of Harvest Home by Paddy Moloney and John Sheehan, here. Their commentary suggests they had been taught the application of solfa to instrumental performance in after-hours extension of ordinary vocal tuition, as you also note. Tonic solfa appears in the 1971 Tutor for Feadóg Stáin through to just one page shy of its centerfold and there must have been a reason for it being carried that far. Can this perhaps be another instantiation of a bridge into the instrumental realm for people familiar with the vocal representation?


ETA: Ó hAlmhain dropped the parallel indication of literal note names at the same point in his book, using staff notation exclusively from then on. So it seems as likely that he ascribed equal weight to the two fallback systems — leaving nothing more, or less, to be read into the appearance of the one than the other.

[david_h]

Micheál O hAlmhain introduces Tonic Sol-fa with "If you have learned to sing Tonic Sol-fa, you will be already familiar with..." which I think tells us that he knew some of his potential audience would have done so. His use of it to explain the intervals in the major scale and the comparison of the C, D and G major scales worked very well for me as a novice. Apart from one figure on cuts he drops it after he has introduced the G scale on the instrument and in a tune. I guess that is a good teacher using an appropriate tool to explain 'theory'. He doesn't use it once he moves on to tunes and techniques, whereas if used for singing it is commonly used 'long term'.

[Mr.Gumby]

FWIW, a forum member posted a scan of O hAlmhain's tutor and digitised tape some years ago. It is still sitting there for anyone interested :

Tutor for the Feadóg Stain

[david_h]

In the context of this discussion I checked that the manuscript sol-fa under some tunes in that scan are on [my photocopy of] the original, not someone's personal addition to what was scanned.

[stringbed]

I have a printed copy of the 1975 edition, which I believe is still available new, even if it is out of print. I don’t have the cassettes, though, and really appreciate the link. Is it possible that the parallel notation systems in the text reflect a Comhaltas policy?

[Mr.Gumby]

I have a printed copy of the 1975 edition, which I believe is still available new

You can get a new copy for a tenner.