In music, solfege or solfeggio (sometimes called solmization, see Etymology below) is a pedagogical technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a "solfege syllable" (or "sol-fa syllable"). The seven syllables normally used for this practice in English-speaking countries are: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, and Ti. (In other Western countries, the older names "Sol" and "Si" are retained for "So" and "Ti". Sometimes "Ut" is still used for "Do") Sol-fa was the third album from Japanese rock band, Asian Kung-fu Generation. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... Pedagogy is the art or science of teaching. ... Sight reading is reading and performing a work of music without having seen it before. ... A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ...

Traditionally, solfege is taught in a series of exercises of gradually increasing difficulty, each of which is also known as a "solfege" (or "solfeggio"). By extension, the word "solfeggio" may be used of an instrumental étude. An etude (from the French word étude meaning study) is a short musical composition designed to provide practice in a particular technical skill in the performance of a solo instrument. ...

Etymology

The word "Solfege" derives from the French solfège or the Italian solfeggio, both ultimately derived from the names of two of the syllables used: Sol and Fa. The English equivalent of this expression, "sol-fa" is also used, especially as a verb ("to sol-fa" a passage is to sing it in solfege).

In its contemporary French usage, the word solfège is used in a much broader sense, to encompass almost all of musicianship and score-reading. “Instrumentalist” redirects here. ...

The word "solmization" derives from the Latin "solmisatio", ultimately from the names of the syllables Sol and Mi. "Solmization" is often used synonymously with "solfege", but is technically a more generic term^[1]; i.e., solfege is one type of solmization (albeit a nearly universal one in Europe and the Americas).

Origin of the Solfege syllables

The invention of solfege is ascribed to Guido of Arezzo. He used a series of six syllables to refer to the six degrees of the hexachord. These six syllables were drawn from the hymn to Saint John "Ut queant laxis", because each of the six phrases of that hymn began on each of the six degrees of the hexachord: Statue of Guido in Arezzo Guido of Arezzo or Guido Aretinus or Guido da Arezzo or Guido Monaco or Guido DArezzo (991/992 – after 1033) was a music theorist of the Medieval era. ... In music, a hexachord is a collection of six tones. ... Ut queant laxis or Hymnus in Ioannem is a hymn to Saint John the Baptist written by Paolo Diacono (ca 720 - 799) of Italy. ...

Ut queant laxis resonare fibris

Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,

Solve polluti labii reatum,

Sancte Ioannes.

This hymn gave the six syllables: Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La. In the course of time, "Ut" was changed to "Do" on the grounds that it was easier to sing, and the syllable "Si" was added to indicate the leading tone of the modern scale. (The name "Si" may perhaps derive from the first letters of "sancte ioannes", although this is conjecture.)

In Romance countries, these seven syllables have come to be used to name the notes of the scale, instead of the letters C, D, E, F, G, A and B. (For example, they would say, "Beethoven's ninth symphony is in Re minor".) In Germanic countries, the letters are used for this purpose, and the solfege syllables are encountered only for their use in sight-singing and ear training. (We would say, "Beethoven's ninth symphony is in D minor".) Latin Europe Latin Europe (Italian, Portuguese and Spanish: Europa latina; French: Europe latine; Romanian: Europa latină; Catalan: Europa llatina; Franco-Provençal: Eropa latina) is composed of those nations and areas in Europe that speak a Romance language and are seen as having a distinct culture from the Germanic and... Charlemagne, first to unify the Germanic tribal confederations. ...

In Anglo-Saxon countries, "Sol" is often changed to "So", and "Si" was changed to "Ti" by Sarah Glover in the nineteenth century so that every syllable might begin with a different letter. "So" and "Ti" are used in Tonic sol-fa and in the song "Do-Re-Mi". This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... Category: ... Do Re Mi is a theater musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and book by Garson Kanin. ...

The modern use of solfege

There are two main types of solfege:

1. Fixed Do, in which each syllable corresponds to a note-name. This is analogous to the Romance system naming pitches after the solfege syllables, and is used in Romance and Slavic countries, among others.
2. Movable Do, or Solfa in which each syllable corresponds to a degree of the scale. This is analogous to the Guidonian practice of giving each degree of the hexachord a solfege name, and is mostly used in Anglo-saxon and Germanic countries.

Fixed Do solfege

Fixed do solfege is employed in Israel, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium and Latin American countries, among others. In this system, each solfege syllable corresponds exactly to the name of a note, so that, e.g., any written "C" is sung as "Do", etc. Since these syllables are, in these countries, the names of the notes for which they are used, this system would be analogous to an English-speaker singing a tune on "A, B, C" etc. The following table shows the correspondence between the Romance solfege note-names and the Germanic letter names.

Note Name Solfege Name Pronunciation C Do /doʊ/ D Re /reɪ/ E Mi /miː/ F Fa /fɑː/ G Sol /soʊl/ A La /lɑː/ B Si /siː/

In France, absolute notes are named in solfege.

Chromatic alterations are not taken into account, so that D-flat, D-natural, and D-sharp are all sung on "re". Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Alternate fully-chromatic system

Another system of fixed do solfege assigns a separate name to each chromatically altered note.

This does not correspond to the ordinary Romance way of naming the sharp and flat notes, which is done by suffixing the word for "flat" or "sharp" to the ordinary (solfege) name of the natural note.

Movable Do solfege

Movable do is frequently employed in England and America (although many American conservatories use French-style fixed do). Originally it was used throughout continental Europe as well, but in the mid-nineteenth century was phased out by fixed do. In this system, each solfege syllable corresponds, not to a pitch, but to a degree of the scale: the first scale degree of a (major) scale is always sung as do, the second scale degree as re, etc. (For minor keys, see below.) In movable do, a given tune is therefore always solfeged on the same syllables, no matter what key it is in.

The names used for movable do differ slightly from those used for fixed do, because chromatically altered syllables are usually included, and the English names of the syllables are usually used:

If, at a certain point, the key of a piece modulates, then it is necessary to change the solfege names at that point as well. For example, if a piece is in C major, then C is sung on "Do", D on "Re", etc.. If, however, the piece then modulated to G, C would be sung on "Fa", D on "So", etc., because G would become the new "Do" in relation to which all other notes had to be reckoned.

Passages in a minor key may be solfeged in one of two ways in movable do: either starting on do (using "me", "le" and "te" for the lowered third, sixth, and seventh degrees, and "la" and "ti" for the raised sixth and seventh degrees), or starting on la (using "fi" and "si" for the raised sixth and seventh degrees).

One particularly important variant of Movable Do, but differing in some respects from the system here described, was invented in the nineteenth century by John Curwen, and is known as Tonic Sol-fa. John Curwen (1816-1880) was an English Congregationalist minister, and founder of the Tonic Sol-fa system of musical teaching. ... Category: ...

In Italy, in 1972, Roberto Goitre wrote the famous method "Cantar leggendo", which has come to be used for choruses and for music for young children.

Solfege in popular culture

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Do-Re-Mi is a song featured in the musical The Sound of Music. Within the story, Maria uses the song to teach the notes of the major musical scale to the Von Trapp children, by identifying each of the solfege syllables Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti with the English words "doe", "ray", "me", "far", "sew", "la" and "tea". Each syllable of the diatonic scale appears as solfege in its lyrics, sung on the pitch it names.
• The Music Man also used solfege in its music, especially in Shipoopi.
• "The Family Guy" sings the "Shipoopi" song and has the audience singing the scales and raising signs with the solfege on them.
• A Japanese animated series with a musical theme is known as Ojamajo Doremi, with the English language version known as Magical DoReMi. In the Japanese series it is about a girl named Doremi and two of her friends, but the dub changed their names to Dorie, Reanne, and Mirabelle. In the original, Doremi's name was to reflect solfege, but in the English version, the first syllables of all their names together make solfege. In the episode "Dustin' the Old Rusty Broom", when they make over the Rusty Broom, they call it the DoReMi Magic Shop, naming it after the first syllables of their names. Patina complains that it's her shop, but Dorie says, "We were going to call it DoReMiPa, but that wouldn't sound right." The fairies in said show are known as Dodo, Rae Rae (Rere in the Japanese version), Mimi, and so forth, all given to reflect solfege as well.
• Hawkwind named their 1972 album Doremi Fasol Latido.
• The Curwen hand signals are used in the climactic scene of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind when François Truffaut's character communicates with the alien being.
• Solfeggio was the name of a song used in a comedy sketch featuring The Nairobi Trio on Ernie Kovacs's television show. The lyrics of the song featured the solfege tones and was played while three cast members dressed in trench coats, gorilla masks and bowler hats engaged in silly situations on-screen. Among Kovacs' celebrity friends both Jack Lemmon and Frank Sinatra are known to have performed in the skit. Seated at screen right at a piano was a female simian (often Kovacs' wife, Edie Adams), robotically thumping the keys. "Solfeggio" was written by Robert Maxwell and sung by the Ray Charles Singers.
• The Aristocats has a section that is a music lesson with scales and arpeggios in French.
• A song by The Enright House, on their album "A Maze and Amazement", is entitled "Do Re Mi" (a tribute to the American opera singer, Brenda Roberts).
• The Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation released an album titled Sol-fa.
• The Kokiri, a fictional elf-like race from the Legend of Zelda game series who are largely named after blends of Solfege tones.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Do Re Mi is a theater musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and book by Garson Kanin. ... For other uses, see The Sound of Music (disambiguation). ... This article is about the stage musical. ... “Shipoopi” is a song in the 1957 musical The Music Man. ... Family Guy is an animated television series set in the fictional town of Quahog (pronounced KOH-hog), Rhode Island. ... “Shipoopi” is a song in the 1957 musical The Music Man. ... It has been suggested that Lunaverse and Spell drop be merged into this article or section. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1972 Release by the band Hawkwind Track listing Brainstorm (Turner) 11:33 Space Is Deep (Brock) 6:20 One Change (Dettmar)  :49 Lord of Light (Brock) 6:59 Down Through the Night (Brock) 3:04 Time We Left This World Today (Brock) 8:43 The Watcher (Kilmister) 4:09 Trivia... John Curwen (1816-1880) was an English Congregationalist minister, and founder of the Tonic Sol-fa system of musical teaching. ... This article is about the film; for the a definition of the UFO related phenomenon, see Close encounter. ... François Roland Truffaut (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ... The Nairobi Trio The Nairobi Trio was a skit Ernie Kovacs performed several times for his TV shows. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001), better known as Jack Lemmon, was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian. ... “Sinatra” redirects here. ... Edie Adams (born Elizabeth Edith Enke) is an American singer and light comedienne who was born on April 16, 1927, in Kingston, Pennsylvania. ... Robert Maxwell (born April 19, 1921) was a harpist and songwriter, who wrote the music for two well-known songs: Ebb Tide and Shangri-La. ... Ray Charles is the stage name of Charles Raymond Offenberg (born September 13, 1918, in Chicago, Illinois), an American musician, songwriter, and vocal conductor. ... For the 2005 documentary film, see The Aristocrats (film). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Kokiri are a fictional race of fairy folk in the Nintendo 64 game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time who inhabit the Kokiri Forest. ... Legend of Zelda may refer to: The Legend of Zelda, the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System best seller, and the first game in a very popular, influential video game franchise. ...

Other systems that name notes

In India, the origin of solmization was to be found in Vedic texts like the Upanishads, which discuss a musical system of seven notes, realized ultimately in what is known as sargam. In Indian classical music, the notes in order are: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa. The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेद) are a large corpus of texts originating in Ancient India. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Swara. ... The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. ...

In Japan, Iroha, an ancient poem, is sometimes used as solfege. The iroha (Japanese: , いろは) is a Japanese poem most likely written sometime during the Heian era (AD 794–1179). ...

In Scotland, Canntaireachd was used as a means of communicating bagpipe music vocally. Canntaireachd is a oral means of transmitting musical compositions for the highland bagpipe through vocables that represent notes on the pipe scale as well as specific changes between notes i. ... A piper playing the Great Highland Bagpipe. ...

Other systems invented for teaching sight-singing are:

• Tonic sol-fa
• Kodály hand signs
• Shape note

Category: ... // The Kodály Method is an approach to music education which was developed in Hungary during the mid-twentieth century. ... Shape notes are a system of music notation designed to facilitate congregational singing. ...

References

See also

• Solresol, a constructed language that had the solfege notes as syllables and could be sung or played as well as spoken.
• Vocable
• Sargam

Solresol is an artificial language, devised by a Frenchman, Jean François Sudre, beginning in 1817. ... A constructed or artificial language — known colloquially as a conlang — is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary have been devised by an individual or group, instead of having naturally evolved as part of a culture. ... A vocable is a word used without meaning. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Swara. ...

External links

• History of Notation by Neil V. Hawes
• Various scales with their solfege names and associated hand signs
• A search engine for melodies that uses solfege
• An online music notation editor for Sargam, the Indian Solfege
• A real good free software program to study Solfege