Serious bugs in fixed do solfège notehead scheme

• Aug 16, 2024 - 09:33

To my dismay I discovered that the fixed do solfège syllables in MuseScore 4 are unfortunately seriously wrong in two ways:

The fixed do standard is "si" since this is simply the note name in Latin languages such as Italian, French and Spanish. ("ti" was an invention by an American music teacher in the late 19th century who wanted to start each note with a different letter, perhaps unaware of the note names in other languages.)
The new scheme introduces syllables that are nonexistent in fixed do ("me," "ra," "te," etc.). These were also arbitrary inventions that deviated from the basic note names in Latin languages.

Since fixed do solfège with only do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si is the international standard, may we kindly request a notehead scheme containing only these seven syllables? Any other syllables besides these seven only confuse music students around the world.

Thanks so much in advance.

P.S. If this isn't currently feasible, could someone point out the file in the source code that we might edit?

Comments

graffesmusic

• Aug 16, 2024 - 10:01

Agree. In this part of the world (using solfège notes instead of letters), di , ri , ti and so on feels a bit ridiculous.

Probably to be found in src/engraving/types/typesconv.cpp

// note name
{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_DO_NAME, "do-name", muse::TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Do (Name)") },
{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_DI_NAME, "di-name", muse::TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Di (Name)") },
{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_RA_NAME, "ra-name", muse::TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Ra (Name)") },
{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_RE_NAME, "re-name", muse::TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Re (Name)") },
{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_RI_NAME, "ri-name", muse::TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Ri (Name)") },
[...]

Or maybe better in src/engraving/dom/note.cpp

[...]
else if (scheme == NoteHeadScheme::HEAD_SOLFEGE) {
int degree = tpc2degree(tpc, key);
int alteration = tpc2alterByKey(tpc, key);
if (degree == 0 && alteration == 0) {
group = NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_DO_NAME;
} else if (degree == 0 && alteration == 1) {
group = NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_DI_NAME;
} else if (degree == 1 && alteration == -1) {
group = NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_RA_NAME;
} else if (degree == 1 && alteration == 0) {
[.. ]

Wikipedia agrees on this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solf%C3%A8ge . See the entry about fixed do solfège.

Jojo-Schmitz

• Aug 16, 2024 - 10:34

There are 4 corresponding translatable strings on transifex:
Screenshot 2024-08-16 112915.png
all 4 Ti tralslated as Ti in Italian, only the Walker variant translated to Si in French, the plain and the Walker one as Si in Spanish, all but Ti (Name) to Si in Potuguese, all 4 to Si in Brasilian Portuguese
Quite a mess... but up to you to fix as you see fit.

graffesmusic

• Aug 16, 2024 - 10:42

There is also the HEAD_SI_NAME in typesconv.cpp:

{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_TI_NAME, "ti-name", TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Ti (Name)") },
{ NoteHeadGroup::HEAD_SI_NAME, "si-name", TranslatableString("engraving/noteheadgroup", "Si (Name)") },

graffesmusic

• Aug 16, 2024 - 11:37

So, instead of this:

it should be

So a G# is called a SI in As Is ....

Note that this was correct in MS3

key-notes

• Aug 16, 2024 - 13:11

Yes, this is exactly correct. (And as your example points out, if “o” is changed to “i” when raised, then “so”—which should in any case be “sol”—would become “si” and hence be confused for B.)

Jojo-Schmitz

• Aug 16, 2024 - 11:53

So I guess you'd need to report this on GitHub

graffesmusic

• Aug 16, 2024 - 12:44

This was changed with
https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/11120
I added a comment; (not sure this is enough to have it fixed)

key-notes

• Aug 16, 2024 - 13:08

Oh no, sorry to hear. The international standard is fixed do with only the seven syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. This is used virtually everywhere except the US and sometimes other English-speaking countries, similar to the metric system vs. imperial system of units.

It seems this must have been changed by some who may not have realized that the system they learned is the exception rather than the rule, and that do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and si are literally the letter names C, D, E, F, G, A, and B in other languages.

Anyway, hopefully this change can be reverted. Better yet would be to create new options for solfège noteheads in fixed do, one using the standard syllables (re is re regarding of whether it’s a D natural, flat or sharp, etc.) and another for those who do wish to use chromatic pitches. But nonexistent note names like “ra,” “ri,” etc. surely shouldn’t be imposed on the whole world!

In the meantime, I reinstalled MuseScore 3, which has correct pitch names for fixed do solfège.