1.2 Melody rT Learning and Using Solfege and Sol-Fa I @ ‘The use of solfege syllables to train the musical ear is over one thousand P years old. One reason solfege syllables work well is because they're easy to Ahwayseoneen- | SY. The following example shows the solfege syllables used for a diatonic sareon the | major scale, nplied resolu oot ale | ex.5 Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do ‘hepeviow | At Berklee College of Music we use the ‘movable-do" system of solfege. teseearpaties ‘That means that whatever key you are in, the One or Tonic of the key is Do. Incemad inthe | If YOU switch keys (modulate), the new Tonic will be Do. melody! This means you have to learn to identify each solfege syllable as it relates to note in each key. This sounds like a large task, but with this method you will learn the various keys one at a time. The great thing about learning movable-Do solfege is that once you learn a melody in one key, you'll be able to hear it in any key. That's because each solfege syllable represents a particular ‘sound or function within the key. Thus, Do Re Mi in the key of “C” sounds the same (functional- ly) in the key of “Bh.” Here is an example of a C major melody transposed to the keys of F major and G major, which shows the functional relationship of solfege in the movable-Do system, 0x.6 C major: "C" is tonic (Do) F major: *F"is tonic ("Do") G major: “G"is tonic ("Do") do re mi re mire do do re mi re mi re do do remi re mi re do Sol-Fa Sol-Fa is solfege without the notes. Here's an example: e.7 Do Re M Re Do If you just picked any starting note as Do and sang these syllables, you'd be singing Sol-Fa. We begin with Sol-Fa because it's a very effective way to learn the sound of the solfege func- tions. Indeed, the goal of Sol-Fa is to permanently learn each syllable's unique sound. The music we will sing in Ear Training is tonal — that is, music that has a sense of center or place of resolution. “Do” is that center and place of resolution — it's the place where you feel B-ETI Chapter 1