Today I’m going to show you two solfege exercises that will help you sing more in tune and, with practice, enable you to audiate (or mentally hear) and sing the intervals of the major scale. This lesson focuses on hearing & singing the solfege syllables “Re” and “Ti”.
This is part 3 in a 4 part series. If you missed them, you can check out parts 1 & 2 here-
Solfege: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 1)
Solfege Exercises For Singers (Part 2)
Solfege Syllables Training
A Little Bit Of History
Solfege syllables have been used for hundreds of years as a method to teach pitch & sight singing to aspiring musicians. There are two solfege systems used today: movable do and fixed do. At HowToSingSmarter.com (and most of the USA), we use movable do.
In the movable do system, “do” moves based on what key you are in. Any note on the keyboard can potentially be “do”. For instance, in the key of C, “do” is C. In the key of F, “do” is F. In the key of Eb, “do” is Eb and so on.
In the fixed do system, used throughout most of Europe, the syllables are always tied to specific pitches. The seven syllables (with Si instead of Ti) are used to name the notes of the C-Major scale, instead of the letters C, D, E, F, G, A and B.
Do=C, Re=D, Mi=E, Fa=F, Sol=G, La=A, Si=B
Both systems have there advantages, but the movable do system is great for developing relative pitch with ease. Relative pitch is the ability to find & sing a note by comparing it to a reference note. For example, if I play “Do” (in any key), a person with good relative pitch will be able to find & sing “Sol” or “Mi” or “Fa” etc.
Excellent relative pitch can be developed with ear training exercises like the ones in today’s tutorial video.
How To Practice
Sing along with the exercises in the tutorial video (in all twelve keys) to better hear “Re” and “Ti”.
Exercise “Re”:
Exercise “Ti”:
Write out your own solfege syllables chart and practice jumping around the scale as demonstrated in the video.
Frequently jump to “Re” and “Ti” from various notes in the scale. Practice at a piano/virtual keyboard (in the key of C) so you can play the pitches you are having trouble hearing.
Not sure how to play the C major scale on the piano? Learn how here- Learn How To Play And Sing The Major Scale
Enjoy Your Practice!
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