, Fa. A modern Tonic Solfaist would understand this arrangement
quite differently. C, D, E would be called Do (instead of Ut), Re, Mi;
then would follow F, G, A, under the names Fa, Sol, La; and the
'leading note' [top note but one] would be called Ti (instead of Si);
the octave C beginning once more with Do.

The reader will remember that the tonal relation of C, D, E is exactly
the same as that of the next three notes, F, G, A--viz., C--D, a tone;
D--E, a tone; and similarly with F--G, G--A. Therefore the two blocks
of three notes (which are separated by a _semi_-tone) might have the
same names--viz., Fa, sol, la. Thus we have the first _six_ notes of
the scale, Fa, sol, la, fa, sol, la. There only remains one note, the
'leading note,' the B; and this, in Sympson, is named _Mi_. So the
principal thing in the sol-fa-ing of a passage was to 'place the Mi,'
or, as we should now put it, to find 'what key' it is in. Thus, in the
key of C, Mi is in B: in G, Mi is in F sharp: in F, Mi is in E, and so
on, the remaining six notes being named Fa, sol, la, fa, sol, la, as
explained above.

Edmund's 'Fa, Sol, La, Mi,' therefore, corresponds to F, G, A, B; or
C, D, E, F sharp; or B flat, C, D, E, etc.; according to the pitch
taken by the singer.

In this connection see the following passage:--

_Shrew_ I, ii, 16.

_Petr._ 'Faith, sirrah, an you'll not knock, I'll _wring_ it:
I'll try how you can _sol, fa_, and _sing it_.'

[He wrings GRUMIO by the ears.

Here is a pun on 'wring' and 'ring'; and 'sol-fa' is used as an
equivalent for 'sing.'

More important still is 'the gamut of Hortensio,' _Shrew_ III, i, 72.
[Gam-ut was the name of the Ut of lowest pitch, corresponding to the
low G on the first line of our present bass staff, and was marked
specially with a Greek Gamma, hence Gam-ut. The word became a synonym
for 'the Scale.']

In this passage the names of the notes are simply those to be found in
all instruction books of the 16th and 17th centuries.

'Gam-ut I am, the ground of all accord,
A-re, to plead Hortensio's passion;
B-mi, Bianca, take him for thy lord,
C-fa-ut, that loves with all affection:
D sol, re, one cliff, two notes have I:
E la, mi, show pity or I die.'

Here Hortensio puts in his love-verses under the guise of a
musicmaster's Gamut.

The lines may be taken separately as fantastic commentaries on the
syllables themselves, as well as having their