The theory of s, p, d and f dealing with the line spectra of the alkali metals during the period 1881 based on analogies with the harmonic ratios of sound is described. Friedrich Hund followed Bohr's practice of labelling the various shells and subshells by replacing the secondary quantum number with the series notations (s, p, d, and f), which began to slowly leak into the chemical literature by 1930 and reigned supreme ever since.