So perhaps the music originating from Persian expanded into the same geographic area that the Indo-European languages expanded into.

Okay, the first half of that Britannica URL looks like a URL in its own right, but you should still paste in the second half from the line below.

This article raises some interesting questions. If so many musical systems have solmization, did they come from the same source? Did some of them?
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti (modern)
Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, ? (Latin)
Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni (Indian)

I think both Indian and European musical traditions come in large part from ancient Persia. That would explain common words for certain stringed instruments:
Guitar (modern)
Cittern (medieval British?)
Zither (Austrian)
Sitar (Hindustani)
Chitarra (medieval Italian)
So perhaps the music originating from Persian expanded into the same geographic area that the Indo-European languages expanded into.

That doesn't explain Chinese solmization, of course, but I didn't notice any clear similarities between that as presented in the Britannica link and the Indo-European solmization schemes.




http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-23887.html