Norwich sol-fa ladder.

A chart showing the initials of the sol-fa syllables arranged vertically (see illustration). It was devised by Sarah Glover between 1812 and 1835 for teaching her ‘Norwich sol-fa method’. It became the basis of John Curwen's ‘modulator’, from which it differs in that Glover placed the symbol for her tonic midway in the octave, which she regarded as two conjunct tetrachords: S, L, T, D and D, R, M, F. She also introduced the syllables bah and ne (shown as B and N on the ladder) to represent the 6th and 7th of the minor scale. The columns at the sides of the main column show the related keys of the subdominant and dominant respectively.

See also Tonic Sol-fa.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

B. Rainbow: The Land without Music: Musical Education in England, 1800–1860, and its Continental Antecedents (London, 1967)

BERNARR RAINBOW