5.4: Symbols of Melody/Pitch Notation

Pitch refers to the speed of vibration or, more simply, sounds that are higher and lower. While rhythm refers to duration, pitch is a tonal element. When we put the two together, we have melody.

Major Scale in the Key of C

Labeling Pitches

Moveable do is the most common method of solfège singing in the U.S. In moveable do, do is the key note of the piece. In other words, if the song is in the Key of F, F is do. The picture above happens to show a major scale in the key of C. It is the easiest place to begin because it contains no sharps or flats. The example above and those that follow are all shown in the key of C. It is called a relative system because the focus is on the relationship between the pitches rather than an absolute system, where the label is always the label. For example, in fixed do, the pitch C is always do and D is always re, etc. regardless of what key the piece is in, much like the way the note names (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) never change. Truly, you will need to be able to use both relative and absolute systems but we already have note names and moveable do is the aural system (ear before eye, sound before sight, rote before note)!

Sometimes a number system is employed in which do = 1, re = 2, mi = 3, etc. to designate the scale degree. This maybe become confusing as numbers are often used as counting syllables (1 + 2 + 3 +….) and when an accidental is added, one must sing “flat seven” or “sharp four”—not terribly pleasing vowels and impossible to accomplish if one is, for example, trying to sing fast sixteenth notes! The vowels usedin solfège are much better for singing. Researchers have not concluded that one method is better than another, but Gordon, Kodály, and Orff all employed moveable do in their pedagogy. If your brain attaches solfège syllables to pitches and patterns, you will more easily be able to recognize when it feels or doesn’t feel right and be able to read or, later, write what you hear quickly.

Chromatic Scale

There are 12 half steps in each octave. As you go up the scale, vowels turn to “i” (ee phonetically). As you come back down, lowered pitches are labeled ending in “e” (eh) with one exception—re becomes ra.

Chromatic Solfège Syllables

The hand signs used in several methods for teaching music to young people were attributed to John Curwen, but developed by Sarah Glover. They make your brain work just a little bit harder and give you something to attach to the aural sensation. After all, the voice is an instrument you can’t see.

You may have noticed in the previous chapter that all diatonic intervals ascending from do are either major (2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th) or perfect (4ths and 5ths). All diatonic intervals descending from do are minor (2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th) or perfect (4ths and 5ths). Interval recognition will not always begin on do, but it’s a good place to start. If you don’t comprehend the interval instantly, try making the first note you hear do and either singing up the scale until you get to the correct pitch or singing down to it.

You hear arpeggios (do-mi-sol-do-sol-mi-do) in music all of the time. They are often the basis of large ensemble warm-ups. These notes are your friends and every other note in a scale is only one step higher or lower—re is a whole step (and often wants to resolve to) do. Fa is but a tiny half step above mi. La is just one step higher than sol and ti will bring you right back to do (as the famous tune from The Sound of Music reminds us). These are what we usually call “tendency tones” in the scale; this is how the notes “behave” in standard chord progressions.

Reading melodies at sight using the notes in the major scale is the focus of much of the first semester aural skills. A good way to practice would be to listen to patterns on a neutral syllable (like “la” or something played on an instrument) and echo what you hear on solfège syllables. Once you are good at that skill, challenge yourself to label the intervals as well. You will see websites and maybe even books that list songs to help you be able to recognize or reproduce intervals, like “Here Comes the Bride” for a P4 or “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” for a M6. The scale is a better tool and will make you a faster and more accurate reader. You will not have time to stop while you’re reading and think about that song and you may find that you can make a P4 sound just like the P5 of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in your head under the pressure of a quiz or test!