Using Incipits

Let's say you have this hymn tune in mind and want to know more about it. You will need to code the incipit (the first fifteen pitches of the tune).

First you need to find the keynote of the tune. The HTI definition of a keynote is the last note of the tune; in this case, the keynote is F. So the scale is coded like this:

Now you can type the 15-digit incipit for this tune (notice that B natural is 4 as well as B flat):

Once you have the incipit, you could perform its tune search by incipit in the HTI.

The Tune Code System

Each phrase of the tune, corresponding to a line of text, is coded as a line of digits. Sung pitches are entered as digits from 1 to 7; when the tune goes beyond 7 into the next higher octave, a U ('up') is added before the next digit; when it goes beyond 1 into the next lower octave, a D ('down') is added before the next digit. When the tune-carrying voice divides (indicating 'choosing notes'), the upper note is chosen. Accidentals, note-lengths, time signatures, barlines, rest, notes tied to a previous note, and ornament signs are ignored; so are rests, unless they indicate missing words.

Melismas: If more than one note is sung to one syllable of the text, all notes after the first are placed between parentheses.

Text repetitions: Phrases set to lines of text that have already been sung are enclosed in square brackets, as are parts of phrases that repeat words of the text.

These points are illustrated in the following coded tune:

In some tunes, the tune-carrying voice does not sing the whole of the text: lines or parts of lines are allotted to other voices. In this case, each syllable that is omitted from the tune-carrying vocal line is coded as 0. For example:

The Tune Metres

The tune metre is calculated by counting the number of digits in each line not enclosed in brackets or parentheses. The result is similar to the conventional designation of text metres in English-language hymnals, except that 0 is added for a line of music that repeats a previously sung text line. Thus, the tune metre of the following tune:

is 8.6.8.6.0. This means that the text metre for which it is designed is 8.6.8.6, or Common Metre, but it provides for a repeat of the last line.