John Weeks Moore

“ From the earliest ages, the tones of music were designated by the letters of the alphabet, and the lowest or first tone of the ancient Greek scale was called A; and this tone continued to be the lowest or most grave tone known till about the year 960, when Guido Aretinus added another note below, which he called hypo-proslambanomenos, thus ex. tending the scale down to G in our present gamut. From this time, or from the tune in which Guido flourished as a popular musician and teacher, or about the eleventh century, A, of course, ceased to be the lowest tone. ”

“ A, as the mark of a vocal sound, is the most simple, and that which the dumb are most easily taught to utter. To pronounce it clearly, we need only to open the mouth wider than for any other sound, and then emit the air from our lungs. ”

“ Do A not only represents the first natural vocal sound, the sound first made by infants, but it is the first letter of the alphabet in most of the known languages of the earth ; in the Ethiopic, however, it is the thirteenth, and in the Russic, the tenth. A, or the sixth note in our system, it will be observed, corresponds with the proslambanomenos, or lowest sound, of the Greek scale. ”