Jesse B. Aikin

Aikin, a member of the Church of the Brethren, was the first to successfully produce a song book (The Christian Minstrel) with a seven-shape note system, in 1846.

He vigorously defended his "invention" and his patent, which included the elimination of bass and treble clefs and the simplification of time signatures.

Aikin's names for the notes were originally written: Doe Ray Mee Faw Sole Law See.

These conventions were discarded by later users of his system, so as not to deviate so much from standard notation.

The name See was also changed to Ti (as used in the Tonic sol-fa system), so as not to be confused with a sharpened Sol.