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Helloooo!
Once again I hope this is the right section to put this in. 
I hope everyone is going well, I haven't been around much lately so hello again.
I came across this on the weekend, it's an old hymn book that belonged to my Grandma, I have seen many hymn books but none like this.
Does anyone know how to read it or anything about it?? Thanks 
Kiara
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Well, looks like it is written in basically a Solfeggio type of notation.
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do
the Se would be a flatted fifth. The ' mark maybe indicates a note sung in the next octave up.
I'm just guessing though, since I don't recall ever seeing this type of notation.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
@Kiara: Is there a publishing date inside the front cover ?
That may be helpful in your search.
Ken.
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Looks like you were on the right track @DanielB, after I actually did a little bit of research and had a closer look at the book it's written in what's called Sol-Fa Notation, I'd never heard of it before...
@Fiddlestix I can't find a publishing date...
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Interesting.
That was the first musical notation ( well, the notes, not the clever symbology which in places looks like some early from of smileys :-, LOL ) I was aware of, around the age of 6 or 7 when I was starting to get interested in music.
It's cool, because it is "key independent" - so if you're out and about, in the absence of any tuner or instrument, or clever mobile app etc etc, and just humming or whistling something, or making something up, pick your home note (doesn't matter what it really is, you could be "tuned" to 50 cents below D) and build your scale from there - it does not matter.
Work on that tune in "do re mi fa so la ti do' " etc ( W, W H W, W, W, H intervals ) then when you finally get to an instrument or reference tone, you've got the intervals fixed, regardless of key it really ought to be played in... and it should be playable ( !! )
Opening to Ashokan Farewell: so ti do'
Quiz: Name this tune in 6 notes: mi so so, mi re do [ how's that pronounced? well, try this - "mee sew sew, mee ray doh ]
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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Thanks @BillyG that makes sense.
This is all very interesting.
My question now would be: How do you know how the timing works? And does anyone know what all those other symbols mean, apart from the letters?
I think this might have something to do with Sacred Harp Hymns, has anyone heard of those? or maybe Sacred Harp Hymns have something to do with this. 
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@Kiara - I had never heard of the Scary Harp ( !! ) - but researching it - I see it was / is used in an a cappella form for choral voice. I immediately get the connection, although I believe Sacred Harp notatoin is probably an evolution of the basic solfeggio or "Solfège" principle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.....lf%C3%A8ge
EDIT: OK, I couldn't resist - concerning our investigations here, we could say, "sol fa, so good then".......
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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You have piqued my interest - here's a clue to the rhythm components -
http://www.oocities.org/drbobs.....rhythm.htm
Hmmm... yes... LOL
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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@BilllyG first of all I am totally rooting for that 'Sol fa so good' I did have a little chuckle when I read that. Similar sense of humour maybe? 
It was my sister that found out about the Sacred Harp Hymns, but we both thought it was pretty cool. I think the notation is different but they do the hand movements that was shown in the wiki site I think...??
Thanks for the clue, I think we are doing pretty well with our investigations, or I should probably say that you are doing well with the investigations, I haven't really done anything.
Sol fa so good then Bill, keep up the good work.
Honorary tenured advisor
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A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright
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Woo hoo @Uzi ! You're the man !
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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LOL, I refused taking solfege in school.
Great find Uzi.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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@Uzi yay! thankyou, what a great find! Will have to take a look at that later on.
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Kiara said
Helloooo!Once again I hope this is the right section to put this in.
I hope everyone is going well, I haven't been around much lately so hello again.
I came across this on the weekend, it's an old hymn book that belonged to my Grandma, I have seen many hymn books but none like this.
Does anyone know how to read it or anything about it?? Thanks
Kiara
Hello Kiara, May you pls send me some information written on that book I can use to search for it!! thank you
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