tonic sol-fa

American  

noun

1. a system of singing characterized by emphasis upon tonality or key relationship, in which tones are indicated by the initial letters of the syllables of the sol-fa system rather than by conventional staff notation.

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tonic sol-fa British  

noun

1. a method of teaching music, esp singing, used mainly in Britain, by which the syllables of a movable system of solmization are used as names for the notes of the major scale in any key. In this system sol is usually replaced by so as the name of the fifth degree See solmization

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Etymology

Origin of tonic sol-fa

First recorded in 1850–55