When I started studying classical guitar in St. Paul with a Mr. Belson--formerly Belisoni--we'd first sing a piece to be learned, using the syllables Do re mi fa sol la SI do. This was a movable do system. Never ran into it again.

Last year, at the National Folk Festival in Lansing, Michigan, I attended a session on improvisation. There were, among others, a Cape Breton fiddler, an Oud player, a Hungarian Rom (gypsy) saxophone player, and an Indian snake charmer, who spoke no English and had to be translated. The translator spoke of the many, many modes used in Indian music, and the Indian demonstrated. The Rom Saxophone player brightened up: "I know those modes!" And the sax player and the Indian started jamming, improvising on some Indian mode, and then another, and another. Amazing music!

Dave Oesterreich