Fòram na Gàidhlig

Isn't a rotated comma an upside-down one (like the Spanish have rotated question-marks at the begining of sentences etc)?

Yeah, I have no idea what the "rotated coma" is, but yes, I believe the \ is just a more user friendly way of doing the half line in 4/4 time.

In listening to the tune and trying to follow it along with what I have for the solfa version, I make the following to be thus:

|d.d,d: m|

To "count" it as I learned how to count rythm, I would say "One-and-a-two"
i.e. eigth note followed by two sixteenth notes (beat one) and then a quarter note (beat two) - that's what it sounds like when I hear it being played, so that's why I'm thinking ,X (where x is a note) indicates a sixteenth note.

Hey - just found something - check this out!!!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2164532/Hymn- ... tion-Guide

I think this more or less explains everything about solfa notation - I just foun it and looked quickly through it - looks lto be pretty comprehensive!

Had a closer look at the on-line book - it gives a lot of great info re solfa, but really does not explain the basics of how to interpret the beats.

For something that's apprently still used a lot, there's not a lot of instructional material available on line!

Thanks for that site - it fairly takes me back!

Although I think our books, old though they probably were, were not quite that antiquated - don't recall all that hand sign stuff.

But I'd forgotten about 'taffatiffy'!

ta- ta- tafatiffy ta- ......

I think our music teacher kept it all pretty simple for us. I've certainly been grateful for the facility for jotting down tunes quickly, though, or for reminding me of the beginnings of a capella songs, especially Gaelic ones.

My mum used to hate the school's ta ta tate ta tafitify tafitify tate ta stuff.

She much prefered the method used in the Schaum Scheme, which was all about fractions (rhythm markings below taken from tonic solfa):

A semibreve was "hold : that : whole : note"
minim: "half : note"
crotchet: "quar , ter"
I can't remember doing eighths, but I imagine it was just "eighth ,"

I found "hold that whole note" slightly condescending, but I think it probably was a bit better than tafitify, cos the consonants associated each note length with an arbitrary quality. Unlike cainntearachd, where ever association is meaningful.

I must learn the cainntearachd.