Incipit

The incipit of a hymn tune consists of its opening notes. Here, as in the Oxford Hymn Tune Index and other scholarly resources, an incipit is encoded by digits, each digit representing one note of the scale. Thus, for a major scale:

1 = do
2 = re
3 = mi
4 = fa
5 = sol
6 = la
7 = ti

Minor and modal tunes

The "key" of a minor tune is "la" on the do-re-mi scale, so 1 represents "la", 2 = "ti", 3 = "do", etc. Similarly, for a Dorian-mode tune, 1 represents "re", 2 = "mi", etc.

Put another way, we use a movable "do." All scales, major or minor, start with 1.

Format and length

The Oxford Hymn Tune Index lists the first fifteen notes of the "melody" (usually the soprano part for modern tunes, but sometimes the tenor part for older arrangements).

Note: enter incipits without spaces.