So many of you have asked me for more solfege ear training videos. I listened and just recorded another great tutorial for you! The chromatic solfege scale is a 12 note scale that covers all of the notes on the piano. The scale is easy to play on the piano but challenging to sing.
The Chromatic Solfege Scale
To play the chromatic scale for yourself on a piano, simply start on any note and move up in half steps until you have gone up a full octave from your starting pitch. So in the key of C, the chromatic scale looks and sounds like this-
Practicing this scale is a great fine tuning exercise for your ear. The intervals are small and require a higher level of precision to execute. Try playing the scale slowly on the piano and singing along on “Da”.
The chromatic solfege scale uses different syllables for the notes going up and coming down. Think of the ascending notes as sharps (#) and the descending notes as flats (b).
The solfege syllables for the ascending scale are Do- Di- Re- Ri- Mi- Fa- Fi- Sol- Si- La- Li- Ti- Do
The solfege syllables for the descending scale are Do- Ti- Te- La- Le- Sol- Se- Fa- Mi- Me- Re- Ra- Do
How To Practice
If you have access to a piano or keyboard, practice this scale by playing the pitches slowly for yourself as you sing. If you don’t have a piano, you can use the video tutorial in this lesson to practice singing the scale (although playing it for yourself on a piano is a better exercise). Once you feel confident with the pitches and syllables in the chromatic scale, try singing the scale a cappella. It’s much harder to stay in tune without the piano, but it’s great ear training practice.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below in the comments section.
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