Editing Shape note (section)

==Four-shape vs. seven-shape systems==
[[Image:7-note-shape-note-hymnal-2.png|right|thumb|The 7-note system as used in a modern [[Independent Fundamental Baptist]] church hymnal from the [[Southern United States|South]].]]
[[Image:7-note-shape-note-tunebook.png|left|thumb|The 7-note system as used in a traditional tunebook (the Christian Harmony).]]
The system illustrated above is a ''four-shape'' system; six of the notes of the scale are grouped in pairs assigned to one syllable/shape combination.  The ascending scale using the fa, so, la, fa, so, la, mi, fa syllables represent a variation of the hexachord system introduced by the 11th century monk [[Guido of Arezzo]], who originally introduced a six-note scale using the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la.

The four syllable variation of Guido's original system was prominent in 17th century England, and entered the US in the 18th century.<ref>{{Harvnb | Marini | 2003 |p={{Page needed | date = December 2013}}}} mistakenly attributes the invention of the syllables to [[Thomas Morley]], who described a four-syllable system in his ''Plain and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke'' (1597).</ref> Shortly afterward, shapes were invented to represent the syllables. (see below).  The other important systems are ''seven-shape'' systems, which give a different shape and syllable to every note of the scale.  Such systems use as their syllables the note names "do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do" (familiar to most people due to the song "[[Do-Re-Mi]]" from [[The Sound of Music (film)|''The Sound of Music'']]).  A few books (e.g. "The Good Old Songs" by C. H. Cayce) present the older seven-note syllabification of "do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do". In the seven-shape system invented by [[Jesse B. Aikin]], the notes of a C major scale would be notated and sung as follows:

[[Image:CMajorScaleInAikenShapeSystem.gif|center|400px]]
There are other seven-shape systems.<ref>{{Citation | title = Introduction | contribution = Note shapes | contribution-url = http://fasola.org/introduction/note_shapes.html | publisher = Fasola}}.</ref>
{{listen |filename=Star in the east solfege.ogg|title=Star in the east|description="Star in the east" done with four-syllable solfege syllables.|format=[[Ogg]]}}