John Hullah (1812-84), musical inspector for the UK's Council of Education, campaigned against
Tonic Sol-Fa in the schools and advocated for a fixed-do system as was taught in much of continental Europe at the time (Leinster-Mackay 1981: 165).
Some schools, he claimed, had reached very high standards, with fine performances in the NSW
Tonic Sol-fa Association's competitions, (23) while in others music was 'seriously neglected' and Sixth Classes were only achieving Fourth Class standards.
The is by But now it was Mr Hayes'
tonic sol-fa, and somehow Arthur's singing voice transformed the whirr of the sewing machine into an accompanying musical instrument.
By 1891 2.5m children in Britain were receiving instruction in
tonic sol-fa in elementary schools.
breathing, voice production, sight reading from both
Tonic Sol-fa and staff notation, appreciation); (ii) 'The Study of Requirements, Methods and Principles' of the syllabus; and (iii) 'Cultural' (listening to lecturettes on the 'phonograph' and attending live music performances).
Drawing on the work of colonial historians and on his own research on the commercial strategies and practical methodologies of the
Tonic Sol-Fa movement, McGuire paints a vivid portrait of the complex negotiations involved in the linking of two cultures.
It started with the usual first five minutes practising
tonic sol-fa, Mr Hayes giving the key note, sometimes from the piano, sometimes with a tuning fork.
We have lost much of the heritage which existed two generations ago - when children grew up to read music, thanks to learning the
tonic sol-fa in Sunday Schools.
Particular attention is paid to the role of composer and educator John Curwen, and the application of
tonic sol-fa in Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.
Kirklees Museum and Galleries invited the Silver Ladies and the Khoosh Women to say what Curwen's story and the
tonic sol-fa system means to them.
His discussions of the intrigues at Oxford and national reforms in music education (including the
Tonic Sol-fa controversies) have a similarly ambitious scope.
While Anri Herbst, Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, and Christian Onyeji's discussion of composed music is excellent, their need to limit the exploration to music composed with staff notation unfortunately elevates instrumental music over the choral music of southern Africans which is often composed using
tonic sol-fa. Their discussion of the historical development of African universities with music departments is a fascinating one, but I was left wanting information beyond institutions found in the western and southern regions, and discourse on access to music education.
