When they can do all this easily, the next note, the third of the scale, is taken in the same way.  The ‘mental effect’ is calm and soothing, hence the hand sign.  In addition to singing from the hand signs, and from the Sol-fa ‘modulator’ which is gradually being constructed on the board, the children can now sing from the horizontal Sol-fa notation, and from the staff notation.  The first of these is invaluable in the early stages, as it absolutely precludes guessing.  In singing from the modulator this is possible to a certain extent, as the relation of each note to the key-note is shown roughly in distance by the dots between the notes.  There is no such help given in the horizontal notation.

In beginning the work in staff notation the notes of the scale will be thought of as steps in a ladder.  In all keys, when doh is on a line, me and soh are also on lines, and high doh is on a space; but when doh is on a space, me and soh are on spaces, and high doh is on a line.  These are very simple matters, but children are simple people, and will not despise such hints.

The next notes of the scale to be taken are ray and te, then fah and lah.  The last two are the most difficult.  A good pattern to fix in the children’s minds is: 

     d f m l s t, d—­

which splits up into: 

     d f m—­; d l s—­

If these are really known, no trouble will be found with the notes f and l.

Plenty of exercises should be given in which the notes of the scale are taken in relation to the high doh.  Possible notes should also be taken above high doh (such as high ray, high me, high fah in the scale of C) and below doh.  With regard to the latter, the key may be changed from time to time when taking Sol-fa work from hand signs or the modulator, or from Sol-fa notation, in order to get a wider range for the notes above mentioned.  Thus, if the class be given the doh of G major, they can sing low te, low lah, low soh, and low fah, or, as these notes are written in Sol-fa notation, t, l, s, f,.  These points are sometimes overlooked by mistresses, and the early training loses in thoroughness.

Directly the children are sure of the diatonic notes of the key of C major they should take the sharpened fourth (fe), the flattened seventh (taw). and the sharpened fifth (se).  Later on they will learn that these notes often introduce modulations to the dominant, subdominant, and relative minor keys respectively.

Extemporizing with the voice may now begin, along the lines suggested in Chapter IX.  An extra interest will thus be added to the lesson, and the child will have its first initiation into ‘self-expression’ through the art of music.