Information AboutSolfege |
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In Music , solfege (or '''solmization''') 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".) 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 . 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. The word "solmization" derives from the Latin "solmisatio", ultimately from the names of the syllables Sol and Mi. It is sometimes restricted to the historical form of solmization invented by Guido Of Arezzo . 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: :''Ut queant laxis '''re'''sonare fibris'' :''Mira gestorum '''fa'''muli tuorum,'' :''Solve polluti '''la'''bii reatum,'' :''Sancte '''I'''oannes.'' 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".) 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".) 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 ". THE MODERN USE OF SOLFEGE There are two main types of solfege: #''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. #''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. (The pronunciation key shows an anglicized pronunciation in IPA, as shown at the IPA Chart For English .)
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