

Singers would also benefit from learning these as it will help them practice in the correct key and range of the pieces they sing. Knowing where and which notes are which opens up doors to complicated pieces and songs.įor instrumentalists, it’s essentially for developing technical skill and learning the longer pieces they may need to learn. Traditional musical notation or ABC notation is a great tool and necessary for the higher levels of musicianship, especially on instruments. It helps to just know “a B is fingered like this” rather than converting.īut the ear training aspect is impactful for instrumental musicians as well. On the downside, when it comes to instruments, the solfege syllables will help hear how the notes fit together, but the technical aspect of playing an instrument lends itself more towards the ABC notation. The syllables are just a tool for better realizing how the pitches sound in relation to one another. This benefit is available to all ages and types of musicians. It wasn’t until I took my Kodaly training and had dedicated solfege training I felt like I improved in sight singing notation. I don’t have perfect pitch, but I did go through an undergraduate degree in music. Speaking from personal experience, I was never really able to look at a piece of music and instantly sing it. The main benefit of solfege is how it develops aural skills. Each system has its uses in developing a well-rounded musician.

Now that you know a little more about what the two systems are, we can compare the two. This is typically used more in instrumental programs and playing. Where the notes sit on the staff depends on something called the clef. This is most often associated with the staff. Essentially, this means each of the 12 pitches (at least for traditional Western music), is given a letter based on the frequency of the pitch. What Is ABC In Music?ĪBC in music refers to something musicians call musical notation. It’s not as “fun,” but it works quite well. Solfege…A Comprehensive Course – This book is meant for adults or older teens. Sing at First Sight – This is for choirs, but it works for instrumental groups as well. In the search of solfege and ear training improvement, you may want to check out a couple of these resources.Ĭonversational Solfege – This curriculum is perfect and sequential for elementary and early middle school students. This is an example of a syllable system designed to help learners of all ages and ability levels better develop the aural association between different pitches and how they function in scales and with each other.ĭo re mi syllables are used in most elementary music methods and most secondary and collegiate choral programs. The pitches are typically substituted for the scale degrees in the different modes. Over time, it was changed to do and it was added as the leading tone. Originally, they only used the syllables: ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la
MUSIC NOTES NAMES HOW TO
Story goes, he needed help teaching his singers how to hear and read better, so he developed this solfege and a reading system based on the starting pitches and lyrics of the Latin “Hymn to Saint John the Baptist.” These are solfege pitches based on the work of Guido de Arezzo.
