2. Solfege and the Major Scale

Solfege syllables in music can be a very useful tool for musicians to understand the function and the melody of something that we are studying or listening to. Solfege syllables in the Major scale consist of only seven unique syllables. The 8th syllable circles back to the 1st starting syllable and starts the scale all over again.

The solfege syllables of a Major scale.

Each of these syllables gives us different information about each of these pitches. For example, the syllable “Ti” tells us that this is the pitch that often provides the tension that encourages the listener to expect the resolution and tonal center into “Do”.

Of the two approaches to solfege systems, this webcourse will mostly feature moveable “Do”. Moveable “Do” is essentially taking the syllable “Do”, or the tonal center, and shifting it around in pitch based on where that tonal center is on a particular harmony or melody. The tonal center, or tonality, is the feeling that one particular note is the end goal that a harmony or melody is always attempting to reach. In the other solfege system, known as fixed “Do”, every single unique pitch always has the same syllable attached to it. In the examples below, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is demonstrated on two different starting pitches in both the moveable “Do” and fixed “Do” systems.

The beauty of moveable “Do” is that the pitch matters less than the sounds surrounding that pitch. The harmonic structure and grouping of pitches establishes a tonal center and thus the syllables for a given harmony or melody will remain the same in any transposed key.  

Within functional harmony, the syllable “Ti” is a very influential pitch known as the leading tone. The leading tone creates tension and encourages the listener’s mind to expect a return to “Do”, or the tonal center of that particular harmony or melody. Ravi Shankar, sitar virtuoso from India, uses the leading tone, along with the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th syllables of our major scale, within his improvisation in his fantastic recording of a raga Hameer. The use of the leading tone “Ti” is used to create tension that eventually resolves to “Do” and creates a sense of overwhelming satisfaction.

Listen to Ravi Shankar’s performance of “Raga Hameer”:

Ravi Shankar performs “Raga Hameer” on the sitar.