# Where did the words for the musical scale come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909 "2000-05-08T14:49:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/1 "2000-05-08T14:49:11Z")
I’m talking about “do re mi fa so la ti do” here. Is it from another language? Or did they just make them up for “The Sound of Music?” ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/2 "2000-05-08T15:03:05Z")
The original syllables were derived from a hymn, and were Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La. In the hymn, the first syllable of each line is a step higher in the scale. Guido d’Arezzo is credited with this development in the eleventh century. This page explains it: [http://ocelot.cc.purdue.edu/~raybro/solmization.html](http://ocelot.cc.purdue.edu/~raybro/solmization.html) Here is the original source verse: ut queant laxis resonare fibris mira storum famuli tuorum solve polluti labii reatum Sancte Joannes! ---
**Author:** ![Fonz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Fonz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fonz)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/3 "2000-05-08T15:44:17Z")
I always thought it was Pythagoras because he invented the octave. But, I see now the sounds are more Latin than Greek. What words did he use? Or did he just number the notes. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/4 "2000-05-08T16:29:57Z")
Translation? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/5 "2000-05-08T16:45:58Z")
According to [http://www.princeton.edu/~simundza/wmus101/india.html](http://www.princeton.edu/~simundza/wmus101/india.html) these are the equivalent syllables in Hindustani music: sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni You can also go to a good _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ article, by joining the two URL halves below (yes, one day I’ll learn to embed links in text, but not today): [http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/) 0/0,5716,118774+14+110127,00.html By the way, Pythogoras didn’t really invent the octave. Octaves exist in nearly all forms of music; just blow really hard on a recorder and you should get an octave. Pythogoras invented a tempered scale. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/6 "2000-05-08T17:06:05Z")
Translation I found at another site: St. John Hymn “Ut queant laxis” [ca. 800 A.D.] That your servants May freely sing The miracles Of your deeds Remove all stains of sin From their unclean lips Saint John! ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/7 "2000-05-08T17:08:32Z")
Okay, the first half of that Britannica URL looks like a URL in its own right, but you should still paste in the second half from the line below. This article raises some interesting questions. If so many musical systems have solmization, did they come from the same source? Did some of them? Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti (modern) Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, ? (Latin) Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni (Indian) I think both Indian and European musical traditions come in large part from ancient Persia. That would explain common words for certain stringed instruments: Guitar (modern) Cittern (medieval British?) Zither (Austrian) Sitar (Hindustani) Chitarra (medieval Italian) So perhaps the music originating from Persian expanded into the same geographic area that the Indo-European languages expanded into. That doesn’t explain Chinese solmization, of course, but I didn’t notice any clear similarities between that as presented in the Britannica link and the Indo-European solmization schemes. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2000, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-words-for-the-musical-scale-come-from/18909/8 "2000-05-08T18:04:03Z")
Wow, thanks for the quick answer! Sounds like it’s right on the money.