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nasin kalama Sopa
basics
nasin kalama Sopa is an sol-fa system to teach musical technique in Toki Pona. It starts on the tonic kalama To, which is the same as Do in western solfége or C in the ‘musical alphabet’. These syllables go all the way up until kalama Si, otherwise known as B.
To write a flattened or sharpened note, just take the note (ex. kalama So) and add either pi anpa lili (to lower) or pi sewi lili (to raise).
- kalama To
- First note of the major scale, third note of the minor scale, also known as the tonic. The symbol for To in sitelen pona is
the word ‘tomo’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. To can only be raised up one semitone, making kalama To pi sewi lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama To is equal to C.
- kalama Ke
- Second note of the major scale, fourth note of the minor scale, also known as the supertonic. The symbol for Ke in sitelen pona is
the word ‘ken’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. Ke can be modified both up a semitone and down a semitone, making kalama Ke pi anpa lili
and kalama Ke pi sewi lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama Ke is equal to D.
- kalama Ne
- Third note of the major scale, fifth note of the minor scale, also known as the mediant. The symbol for Ne in sitelen pona is
the word ‘nena’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. Ne can only be raised down one semitone, making kalama Ne pi anpa lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama Ne is equal to E.
- kalama Pa
- Fourth note of the major scale, sixth note of the minor scale, also known as the subdominant. The symbol for Pa in sitelen pona is
the word ‘pali’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. Pa can only be raised up one semitone, making kalama Pa pi sewi lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama Pa is equal to F.
- kalama So
- Fifth note of the major scale, seventh note of the minor scale, also known as the dominant. The symbol for So in sitelen pona is
the word ‘sona’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. So can be modified both up a semitone and down a semitone, making kalama So pi anpa lili
and kalama So pi sewi lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama So is equal to G.
- kalama Wa
- Sixth note of the major scale, first note of the minor scale, also known as the submediant. The symbol for Wa in sitelen pona is
the word ‘walo’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. Wa can be modified both up a semitone and down a semitone, making kalama Wa pi anpa lili
and kalama Wa pi sewi lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama Wa is equal to A.
- kalama Si
- Seventh note of the major scale, second note of the minor scale, also known as the leading tone. The symbol for Si in sitelen pona is
the word ‘sike’ inside the mouth of the word ‘kalama’. Si can only be raised down one semitone, making kalama Si pi anpa lili.
- In a fixed-do system, kalama Si is equal to B.