Movable "Do" vs Fixed "Do"

(and why I like Movable “Do” better) 

Before I dig into the debate of “Movable” vs “Fixed” solfege, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Um, what is solfege?

“Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do”.  They are names given to the notes in the scale.  In many countries, these are the names of the notes.  In others, they are assigned to the scale degrees.

Okay, I’ve seen “The Sound of Music”.  Why should I learn solfege, or teach it to my child?

Do you need to learn solfege to become a proficient musician?  In a word, no.  There are many conservatories that do not use solfege at all.

What a musician does need is a system for developing relative pitch, and absolute pitch.  They need it to operate their instrument, for analysis, for comprehension, memory, and dictation.

Although solfege is a popular tool to achieve this, some prefer instead a numbering system.  Students sing the scale degrees as “one, two, three, four, five, six, sev, one”.  (“seven” shortened to ‘sev’ for the sake of only needing to sing one syllable.)  This method is especially popular for conservatories with many international students.

Others prefer solfege for some of the following reasons:

• Solfege has specific syllables for different scale degrees, for example, a raised “Fa” becomes “Fi” instead of a “4” becoming a “raised 4”.

• Solfege sounds more musical than numbers or letters.  The one-syllable names all end with a vowel, making intonation easier.

• Solfege allows musicians to reserve numbers for fingering and counting.

• Solfege is the traditional way of learning to sight-read.

• Solfege adds precision to the thought-process of ear training.

• Solfege is an effective short-hand for dictation.

I realize that this article will have a varied audience, and I give fair warning that if you are a parent with no musical background, the fierce debate musicians have about which one is better, “Fixed Do” or “Movable Do”, may seem irrelevant and ultimately, yes, it doesn’t matter that much.  Ultimately it would be good for a musician to be able to use both.

I’m going to dig into some deep music philosophy and theory here, and if you get lost, I apologize.  I’ll give you the cliff-notes first and let you skip the rest if you wish:  They both have their benefits, but I personally prefer “Movable Do”, and that’s what I’m teaching my American kids.  The only reason why I delve into the deeper theory is to give you a road-map of where each method will take you.  For beginning purposes, it really doesn’t matter which you use, but as the student advances, it does matter, and because it matters later, I hope to be able to explain why you may be better off with Movable “Do” now.

In “Fixed Do”, “Do” is always “C”, no matter what key you are in.  With “Movable Do”, “Do” is the tonic note.  For example, in the key of “C Major”, “Do” is “C”, but in the key of “F Major”, “Do” is “F”.  There are various syllables used throughout the world, such as “So” or “Sol”, and “Ti” or “Si”.  I use “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, (Do)”.

Some countries don’t even have letter names (“A, B, C”), there are only solfege names (“Do, Re, Mi”).  For citizens of these countries, there should be no debate.  If there is no “C”, only “Do”, then obviously you would want to teach “Fixed Do”, that’s what your country does!  The conductor of your local orchestra will ask you to tune your violins to “La”.  You don’t want 12 versions of “La” to confuse your child!  But if your local orchestra tunes their violins to “A”, then this debate is applicable to you.

Which is better?  Well, that depends on what your goal is, and what your local music conservatory or community classes are teaching, if you have plans on sending your child to them.  What do you feel more comfortable teaching?

There are many great musicians who have never been trained with solfege.  Personally, I feel that I was fully prepared to be a music major in college without it.  But upon learning solfege, I realize now that learning to internalize music with solfege is a valuable tool.  It is a part of my music vocabulary that I use all of the time, especially when I am sight-reading a new melody.  If I am looking over a melody in my head, it is easier to use solfege to articulate the pitches than to simply think of the tone.  BUT!  I don’t need it.  You don’t either, really.  I don’t think that not knowing solfege will hurt a musician from becoming proficient in their instrument, or from building a strong foundation in musical understanding, but it certainly can help.

Again, what a good musician does need, is to develop a strong sense of relative pitch, and of absolute pitch.  Solfege is a tool used to reinforce one or the other, but not both.  Dr. Jody Nagel said it well in her article “The Use of Solfeggio in Sightsinging: Fixed vs Movable “Do” for People Without Perfect-Pitch”

It is rather amusing, for the first-time observer, to overhear "theorists" arguing as to whether or not students should be taught Fixedor Moveable "Do" in their course of music study. Musicians need both an absolute and a relative system for pitch. For example, a clarinetist needs to know the correct "fingering" to produce the concert-pitch Middle C. If this pitch is scale degree 1 of C-minor, scale degree 3 of A-flat-major, or scale degree 6 of E-minor, etc., the clarinetist still must be able to produce the pitch Middle C. On the other hand, regardless of the key it is sung in, musicians should be able to recognize that the tune, "Happy Birthday to You," begins on the 5th scale degree. The absolute pitch-system seems to be more appropriate when operatinga musical instrument, while the relative pitch-system seems to be more appropriate for perceiving how various tones function (i.e., where they are located) within a scale…

The "debate" between fixed-Do and moveable-Do is essentially a debate between whether or not to emphasize the operational or the perceptual requirements of music. It is actually an absurd debate, since professional musicians require both operational and perceptual skills.

In other words, when asking yourself which method you want to use, rather than asking, “Which is more important to learn, relative or absolute pitch?”, we should be asking ourselves, “How can I best teach my student relative andabsolute pitch?”  You need the whole enchilada!  Before I can tackle the topic of Fixed “Do” vs Movable “Do”, it is important to understand what relative pitch is, and its valuable application, as well as absolute pitch (perfect pitch), so allow me to touch on these.

Relative Pitch:  A person with a good sense of relative pitch will understand the relationship that notes in as scale have with each other.  The scale degrees are often marked with numbers with a carrot top, as pictured:

Sometimes the scale degrees are also known by the names “tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, and leading tone”.  The latter names are valuable for reference in music theory as they accurately describe each note’s function, but they are hardly useful for quick sight-reading.

Perhaps the best advantage of having a good sense of relative pitch is the ability to transpose.  When a pianist is accompanying a singer who has difficulty reaching some of the high notes, the ability to transpose the music into a lower key is very valuable.  Those with that ability have a keen sense of relative pitch.

Absolute Pitch:  In the USA, among other countries, absolute pitch could be restated as the letter names of a scale, as pictured:

In these examples the fourth scale degree of the C major scale is the same as the first scale degree in the F major scale, the note “F”.  If I were to play the note alone without any context, and you could tell me that it is an “F”, then it would be said that you have perfect pitch. 

Perfect pitch is a much desired ability, and we have all heard stories of great musicianship by those who have it.  Consider the prodigies who have notated large sections of music after they arrive home after a concert.  Aside from an incredible memory, perfect pitch was most certainly an asset.

If your child is very, very young, there is the “critical period” for language development.  What that age period is, and whether it is “critical” or only “sensitive”, is not a topic I am qualified to address, but I will express my personal opinion that when children are very young, language acquisition is easier.  In some East-Asian countries where pitch is an important part of their spoken language, there is a higher percentage of citizens that have perfect pitch than in countries where tones in the language aren’t as important.  This is not genetic, it is a cultural thing.  Do I believe that young children, given the right music environment can learn to have perfect pitch?  Yes I do.  I don’t believe they “are born with it”.  I believe that the gift of perfect pitch, or any prodigious gift for that matter, comes from a combination of interest and work on the child’s part, and their opportunity to learn, or in other words, their learning environment.

In my own personal research, I have come to the conclusion that it is not an “all or nothing” ability.  Certainly Pavarotti, with his ability to discern between “A 440” and “A 438”, had an incredible ear.  But the common person who hears a television theme song, and then hums the melody while doing dishes, and consistently does it in the same key, is blessed with perfect pitch too.  I can play basketball enough to enjoy shooting hoops on occasion, but the NBA would never have me, and rightfully so.  Perfect pitch is likewise an ability that all can work on, if desired, but the fact that very few professional musicians have that highly developed ability is a testament to the fact that it is not necessary.  Nor does having perfect pitch guarantee a musician success in their field.

There are some musicians with a very keen sense of pitch, who warn those who seek it that they should be careful what they wish for- life would be much simpler without it.

But I digress.  Having perfect pitch is not as important as having an absolute pitch system.  I remember hearing that Albert Einstein was once asked if he knew how many feet there are in a mile.  He replied that he didn’t, and thought it was worthless to fill his head full of dry facts that would take less than 2 minutes to look up in a standard reference book.  I feel that way about perfect pitch.  Yes, it is a valuable skill to have, especially for piano tuners, but when I lead a choir, I want the singers to be able to match each other, and the instruments that are accompanying them (which may or may not be in tune).  I want them to be able to adapt to the key they are singing in, to understand it and appropriately interpret it.

An Absolute Pitch system is also necessary for an orchestra or band.  Instrumentalists need to know how to operate their instrument well.  They must be able to tune their instruments to each other, and they all tune to an absolute pitch.  A member of an orchestra may have no background in music theory or tonality, and still contribute much to their ensemble simply because of their ability to play their instrument.  They see the notes on the score, they play them in tune and in time.  They are enjoying the music.  Isn’t that the amateur musician’s ultimate goal anyway?

So now that we understand what absolute and relative pitch are, let’s look at the Movable “Do” vs Fixed “Do” debate.

Advantages to Movable “Do”:  If musicians are to learn relative and absolute pitch well, they need to have experience with both systems.  We do have a precise system for absolute pitch, and it is called letter names.  For relative pitch, we also have numbers, but numbers are difficult to sing, especially when accidentals (sharps and flats) come into play.  Michael Kaulkin summarizes the difficulty with using numbers nicely in his blog post “The Case for Movable “Do” in Classroom Musicianship:

Yes, scale degree numbers accomplish the teaching of intervals and function very well. Thumbs up on numbers. Up to a point. What happens when you’re working in a minor key? What happens when it goes chromatic?  Sing me a German augmented 6th chord, please, using numbers.  You can sing “6-1-2-4″, but that comes nowhere near expressing what’s happening in this chord.  At best you can sing “lowered 6 – 1 – raised 2 – raised 4″, but that is unreasonably clumsy.

Movable “Do” has a system for these chromatic notes.  In a nutshell, when a note is lowered, the vowel is changed to rhyme with “day”.  “Mi” becomes “Me”, “La” becomes “Le”.  If a note is raised, the vowel is changed to rhyme with “bee”.  “Fa” becomes “Fi” and “So” becomes “Si”.  There are a few variants, but for purposes of this article, this explanation will suffice.  Ultimately Movable “Do” becomes a precise system of naming the scale degrees that a singer can use to sight-sing a piece of music.  Because the majority of music an amateur musician will come across is tonal (ie, not dissonant or a-tonal), the use of these chromaticisms are greatly reduced.  95% of the notes will be the typical “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti”, and the other 5% will mostly be “Fi” and “Si”.  (I made those statistics up.)

There are two different systems in use for adapting Movable “Do” for minor keys.  They are the La-based minor (the relative minor, which is the minor key with the same key signature as the major key.  A minor is relative to C major, with no sharps or flats), and the altered syllable system, as pictured below.

Some prefer the Do-based minor scale because the primary chords remain similar (“Do-Mi-So” becomes “Do-Me-So” and “So-Ti-Re” remains the same).  This reinforces harmonic concepts learned in music theory and form.  Having the “I”(Roman numeral one) or “i” (lower case denotes a minor key) chord begin on “Do”, and the “V” chord always begin on “So” is a great advantage for composition and theory students.

It is also interesting to note that in early sight singing history, the scales’ defining characteristic was not the tonic, but instead the half-step between “Mi-Fa”.  Others prefer the “La”-based minor scale because “Mi-Fa” remains a semi-tone (half-step).  Guido D’Arezzo’s original scale was a hexachord consisting of “Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La”.  There was no “Ti”, and “Ut” has since changed to “Do”.   

Traditionally his hexachord was placed over a broad range of notes, called the “gamut”.  To idium “run the gamut” comes from this part of music history.  A singer who could sing and internalize all of the notes of the gamut with their various solfege names had “run the gamut”.  Now “run the gamut” means to include everything within a group or type.

Traditionally solfege was done with Movable “Do”.  Fixed “Do” is relatively new, and came about when France decided to assign solfege to specific pitches.

Coming back to the different systems of Movable “Do” for minor keys, I will state my preference for the La based minor.  Why?  Simply because it is harder to remember to change the syllable when there is no accidental before it.  My ear will know where “Le” is in the second example, but without an accidental, I intuitively want to sing “La”.  In the first example, the sharp before “Si” helps me keep my solfege on tract.  That’s just my preference.

The “La”based minor also sets the stage for easier modal reading.  Most western music is the Ionian (Major) or Aeolian (Minor) modes [1], but the Dorian[2]and Mixolydian[3]modes are also very popular.  Most singers find it easier to adapt the tonic to a different syllable, such as “La” or “Re”, then to memorize a new set of chromatics for every different mode.  Keeping the primary chords of “I, IV and V” with the same syllables becomes a mute point in modal music because the primary chords are simply different.  The Dorian mode often employs a VII (Major seven chord), which is practically unheard of in traditional harmony.  For your own trivia enjoyment, I have included the seven different modes.  Each mode is written as relative to “C Major” in that there are no sharps or flats.  The first version allows the tonic to move to keep the syllables “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La,” and “Ti”, respectively, as well as keeping the “Mi-Fa” semitone.  In other words, they are all relative to “C Major”.  The second version forces “Do” to be the tonic, and instead alters the syllables.  When considering modal music, which mostly manifests itself in folk music, the La-based minor clearly becomes the preferable method.

A lot of tension can result in music schools over which of these minor-systems to use.  In some schools it will vary from teacher to teacher, and in others, it is the privilege of seniority to decide.  Ultimately, a singer trained in Movable “Do” will get a flavor of both anyway, depending on how the minor passage presents itself.

Going back to the advantages of Movable “Do” (modal music was most certainly a tangent), it removes a student’s dependency on the key of “C”.  It happens all too often:  A beginning piano student begins their study in the key of “C”, and when they start to learn to play in other keys, it suddenly becomes difficult, and many students quit.  Later they join a choir, and all they know is how to play is “C”.  Most other keys are considered “hard”, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Training in Movable “Do” can help this singer branch out and feel more confident with reading in other key signatures, or, in other words, reading with the tonic (key note) located at different points on the staff.  Because all music is not in C major, our students need a learning system that helps establish relative pitch, and eliminates that dependency on “C” major.  Movable “Do” is a fantastic tool to accomplish that goal.

Students trained in Movable “Do” are often able to learn to read on new clefs, like the Tenor Clef, easier than those trained in Fixed “Do”.  Likewise, instruments based in other keys, such as the “F” recorder, or the “B-flat” clarinet are better served by a relative pitch system, as even the letter names become relative to which instrument is used.  For example, a clarinetist on a “B-flat” instrument will need to play a “D” if the orchestra director asks for a “Concert C”.  On an “E-flat” instrument, they will need to play an “A”.  There is the standard “A=440”, which is scientific, and called “Concert A”.

Unless you have reference to that pitch when you practice (there are many ways to accomplish this), you will not be developing perfect pitch.  If you don’t have access to “Concert A”, Movable “Do” may be better for you.  I have a clavinova for my reference, but I like to practice with my children when we walk down the stairs, when we are driving in the car, or any other time that the mood strikes me.  It is nice to incorporate ear training exercises at the same time, without having to use a pitch pipe first.  My children will always have access to their voices, even if they won’t always have an instrument.  This is part of the philosophical foundation of Kodaly- build proficiency in the instrument all citizens will have in their homes, their own voice.  Singing with solfege is a tool to develop the ear and the body (voice), and not necessarily an instrument. 

There may also be cultural advantages to using Movable “Do”.  For example, in the United States, most music programs will use Movable “Do”.

Disadvantages to Movable “Do”:  The biggest disadvantage to a Movable Do system is for those who live in a country where the absolute names of the notes are “Do, Re, Mi” instead of “C, D, E”.  France, Italy, Spain, much of South and Central America, Japan, and Korea are key examples.  It is wholly incompatible for students in these countries, and should be avoided.  Some argue that when a student begins to study a-tonal music, Movable “Do”, with its strong emphasis on a tonic note, become especially difficult to sing.  Me?  I say that a-tonal music is hard to sing no matter which system you use!

A-tonal music does not have a tonic, but it will often have a tonal center, and if there is one, there will be a key signature to show what it is.  Otherwise, there will be no key signature, leaving “C” on “Do” and giving the singer the use of chromatics.  When I was in college, we switched to Fixed “Do” during the a-tonal semester of study, and I was grateful.  Not because a-tonal music is easier to sing with Fixed “Do” per-say, but because I was able to essentially abandon solfege analysis altogether by simply substituting my letter-note-name knowledge with solfege notes.  It was an easy-way out for us, while simultaneously teaching us how to use Fixed “Do” should we ever teach in a conservatory that used it.  I’m sure our musical understanding would have been better improved if we had learned a-tonal music in Movable “Do”, but Aural Skills was only a one-credit course and we all had a lot of other things on our plates.  Besides, how often does a performing musician really need to transpose a-tonal music on the fly?  Yuck.  That’s what music software is for.[4]  Yes, I just offered an apologetic for movable do, but this fixed-do proponents often cite a-tonal music as a plus.  Honestly, I have rarely sung a-tonal music outside of my ear-training courses.  20^thcentury music, with it’s sharp dissonances and unusual harmonies, yes, but a-tonal music, not so much.  Acting as an instrumentalist, I find that a-tonal music is much easier to reproduce and enjoy when I use letter-names.  A-tonal music is most certainly easier to plunk out on the piano than it is to sing.

The other disadvantage to Movable “Do” is the need for a different system for minor keys.

Application of Movable Do for young singers:  Back to square one.  I encourage you to emphasize is in-tune singing.  The ideal key for young voices to be singing in is “D” major.  Hence, if you have a piano or other instrument for reference, the best pitches to use is “A” for “So”, and “F#” for “Mi”.  This is because these notes are the easiest notes for children to hear and sing.  Again, Movable “Do” reinforces relative pitch.  This means that a song, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle”, will be sung as “Do, Do, So, So, La, La, So…” no matter what key it is in.  Learning to recognize the intervals between each scale degree is also valuable.  For example, from the first scale degree (“Do”), to the second (“Re”), is always a major 2^nd.  As the student advances, the chordal harmony also becomes easier to sing in movable do.  For example, the primary chords of “I”, “IV”, and “V”, would always be sung as “Do-Mi-So”, “Fa-La-Do”, and “So-Ti-Re”, respectively.  Changing keys (a.k.a. modulating) is much easier to internalize when the same syllables and intervals are used.
 

By catering to the instrument they are learning, we can foster earlier and easier success.  The average child speaks at or around an “F#”.  For this reason, “Movable Do” is preferable for instruments that modulate the easiest, with the voice being the key example.  The Kodaly method uses Movable “Do”.
 

Advantages to Fixed Do:  Fixed “Do” can reinforce absolute pitch.  If a parent desires to teach a young child to have perfect pitch, Fixed “Do” is a great way to go about it.  Many young children struggle with the idea that the easiest key to play in is “C”.  Why not “A”?  By learning Fixed “Do”, they begin with “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti” instead of “C, D, E, F, G, A, B”.  This is more intuitive, and so it is easiest to learn in the beginning.  There is plenty of time to learn letter-names later.  Also, where Movable “Do” helps with sight-singing, “Fixed Do” can help with music dictation (writing down music that you hear exactly).  Personally, I am better at relative pitch, and so when I dictate music, I subconsciously compare difficult pitches I hear to the tonic note and then reason in my mind what that note must be.  I did well, but the process was more meticulous and slow.  My friend who had perfect pitch immediately knew what the pitches she heard were, quickly wrote them down, and generally scored very well.  However, while her pitches were always correct, she struggled more with how to spell the notes, for example, writing a Gb instead of an F# (different names for the same pitch).  She simply needed to apply more music theory to her assignments for a perfect score, but there is no doubt that straight dictation was much easier for her.

For a vocal student, using Fixed “Do” lets the singer sing with easier syllables than by simply using letter names.  Traditionally, all “C”s are “Do”, so “C#” and Cb” are all simply “Do”.  The sight-singer should know the difference and intuitively make the change in their heads.  This means that they have fewer syllables to learn- it’s simply “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La,” and “Si” (“Ti” is usually only used in Movable “Do”).  The reason why this system is more common comes back to the countries that use “Do, Re, Mi” as note names.  A song in France may be in “Do-sharp minor”.  They name sharps and flats, but for ease in sight-singing, the “sharp” and “flat” is taken off, leaving a simple syllable that is easier to learn.  All of these “Do”s are only a half-step off from each other, and this closeness helps to build an overall pitch memory for those without perfect-pitch.

The other advantage to using Fixed Do is that, while a student may learn to operate their instrument based on absolute pitch, they will not necessarily develop a perfect-pitch memory if they don’t reproduce those pitches with their body.  Consistently singing the same pitch with the same name can help develop perfect pitch.  Because of this, ear training practice should be done with a tuned instrument, whether you use Fixed “Do” or Movable “Do”.

Disadvantages of Fixed Do:  Unfortunately, by eliminating the chromatisisms (names for sharps and flats), the intervallic differences between two notes is no longer consistent.  In Movable “Do”, “Do” to “Mi” is always a major third, but it may be a minor third or major third, and even a diminished or augmented third with Fixed Do.  To eliminate this problem, there are some conservatories and methodologies that apply the same chromaticisims of Movable “Do” to Fixed “Do”.  With this method, “C” is always “Do”, and “C#” is always “Di”.  Now the intervals between the notes, or applicably, the solfege syllables, are always consistent.  “Do” to “Mi” is a major third, and “Mi” to “Fa” is always a minor second (half-step).  However, this creates a new problem; some keys become incredibly complicated to sight-sing by virtue of the syllables used alone.  Consider the difference between the “Ab” major scale and the “A” major scale:

If the singer was using “Movable Do”, the syllables to both would be “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do”, the singer only needs to hear the tonic note and know where “Do” is located on the staff.  If they used unaltered Fixed-Do, both would be “La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La”.  Singing with these chromatics, on the other hand, is a far more advanced study, but certainly one with merit.  They are, after all, different scales.

But while there may be conservatories that use this system in their ear training courses, the fact remains that there is not an actual culture that uses this system.  No orchestra in the world will tell you that your “Fi” in measure 7 is flat.  There are no “Te” clarinets.  In France there are “Ti-flat” clarinets (''une clarinette en si bémol''), and in the USA there are “B-flat” clarinets.  Fixed “Do” with altered chromatics is easier to learn in the beginning, but it becomes unnecessarily complicated when you start to sing in multiple keys.

Fixed “Do” also builds a strong connection with the key of “C”, but unless they have perfect pitch, a student may struggle with sight-singing in other keys because mentally they are relating every note in every key they are singing back to C, instead of the tonic note.  (In “A” major, the tonic note is “A”).

Ultimately it boils down to this:  If your country uses these syllables anyway, there is no debate, of course you want to use “Fixed Do”.  On the other hand, if your country uses letter names, can you not accomplish the same goals of pitch memory by using them?  Ear training exercises can be done with letter names!  Pitch memory can be built with letter names, and an instrumentalist will get plenty of exposure to them.  “A-flat” is not as easy to sing as “Le”, but it is consistent with what they will be hearing at orchestra rehearsal, and the method of naming the chromatics is more consistent overall.  Consider “C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#” as opposed to “Di, Ri, Ma, Fi, Si, Li, To”.  (“Ma” and “To” occur often for altered Fixed “Do”, and rarely for Movable “Do”) Instrumentalists do not even need to think “A-flat” when they are quickly sight-reading a piece, they only need to build a physical relationship with the black note on the page and the fingering/location of that note on the instrument.

By focusing so much attention on absolute pitch, with letter names andFixed-Do syllables, absolute pitch will certainly be reinforced, but often at the cost of developing a sense of relative pitch.

Application of Fixed Do for young singers:  On the piano, children often begin instruction in the key of “C” because there are no sharps or flats, making it the easiest key to begin with.  Children’s voices are a different instrument altogether, but if you have a piano in your home, Fixed “Do” on the piano can be used to reinforce your music lessons.  “So” is on “G”, “Mi” is on “E”, and “La” is on “A”.  For the beginner, Fixed “Do” has many advantages.  It gets your foot in the door, so to speak, and the value in that should not be understated.

In Summary:  What method should you use?  Well, it depends on what resources your students have, what your goals are, and what you feel most comfortable teaching.  There is no real right or wrong method.

If all of this talk of “Movable Do” vs “Fixed Do” has got your head spinning, I have some good news for you.  For both of these methods and all of their variations, the key of “C Major” is sung the same.  Put simply:

That’s right: No matter which system you use, this scale is correct for all of them.  If you are at all undecided, I recommend you start here.  Within the framework of the “C Major” scale, students can learn and master so many concepts, such as high and low, line notes and space notes, how to read music generally, and a host of other things.  The “C Major” scale is relatively easy for young voices to sing, and it is the easiest scale to play on the piano.

Then of course you can do what my high-school music teacher suggests, and simply use "Play Do".

For Further Reading:

Everything you need to know to teach your young child music (a free e-book by BrillKids, highly recommended)

Why do I have to sing in Solfege?

The Case for Movable “Do” in Classroom Musicianship

The Use of Solfeggio in Sightsinging: Fixed vs. Movable “Do” for People Without Perfect-Pitch

Solfege Battles (chosen for the lively discussion in the comments section)

Ear Training and Musicianship (written by a Fixed “Do” critic)

Perfect Pitch vs Relative Pitch (I have not used his product, nor do I necessarily endorse it, but this article is perhaps the best explanation I have read on the subject.  His object lesson is especially effective)

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[1]Technically, Aeolian only refers to the natural minor scale (no chromatic alterations).  When we raise the 7^thscale degree, it becomes the harmonic minor scale.  The harmonic minor scale is much more common because the raised 7^th acts as the leading tone.  Resolving that leading tone up to the tonic is very pleasing to the ear.

[2]Think “Scarborough Fair” or “Lovely Joan”.

[3]“Old Joe Clark”, or “Norwegian Wood” by the Beatles.  The nerd in me demands that I point out the “Star Trek” theme song as well.

[4] I only say that because I’m jealous of the musicians who can.  If you are one of them, I commend and admire you for it.  I know you put a lot of work into developing that ability.  Did you use Movable “Do” to gain that skill?

Christmas Update

Merry Christmas everyone!  It seems that my last post was made October 15th.  Well, I'm still here, and I've been busy working on two large projects, both of which will be ready for release soon.  One will be a surprise, the other is that I have been recording "Mother Play" with a good friend of mine.

"Mother Play" was written by Fredrich Froebel, who invented Kindergarten.  The music is charming, with an "art song" feel to it.  The original music consisted of unaccompanied duets which many teachers found hard to implement into their curriculum.  The book was widely distributed, but rarely used.  This is unfortunate as Froebel himself considered the music, and especially the moral lessons which accompany them, to be his crowning achievement.


In an effort to make the lessons more musically accessible, a new book, "The songs and music of Friedrich Froebel's Mother play", was published in English in 1895.  These songs have piano accompaniments, and we loved them so much that we decided to record them too.  Watch for our release soon!


Part of this project has been to make these Public Domain files more accessible.  Today I compiled information for the first song, "Play with the Limbs."  More updates will soon follow.

See the "Mother Play" page here.

Singing Solfege lesson one

Here is an introductory video to singing solfege with the Curwen hand signs.  This video outlines So, Mi, and La.  Why do I start with these notes?  Why not start with 'Do'?  Well, these three notes are the easiest notes for children to sing.  Think of "Ring around the Rosies", or the taunting melody sung around the world, "You can't catch me!"  'Do' will come soon enough, but this is the best place to start.  This video is in the key of "D", which is also the easiest key for young children to sing in.  Even though the video is homemade with less than optimal lighting, it shows exactly what I would do with your children if they came to my home for a singing lesson.



Special thanks to the Anderson family for their help in creating this film. Stay posted for more videos!

Children’s Opera, Part V, Rehearsal and Performance

Click here for part I

Click here for part IV

And now we reach our final chapter in which the children rehearse and otherwise prepare for the glorious occasion of performing their masterpiece for friends and family.  In this final stage, remember that it is still the children’s work, so trust them.

Costumes

With the homeschool music group, I let the children and their parents come up with the costumes.  Parents are a fantastic resource for costumes.  In every children’s musical production that I have done, I have always been low key about costumes and let the parents do it.  I realize that the audience at the performances are mostly comprised of friends and family, and that tickets, if any, were free and not $50 each.  For me the emphasis is on giving the children a good learning opportunity, and wearing a costume is a fun part of performing, and it shouldn’t be stressful.  If the costume is good enough for the parents, it is good enough for me. 

When I did the children’s opera with the Cache Children’s Choir, I was very impressed with the costumes and I want to share some pictures to give you some ideas to work with.

The youngest group of children, ages 3-5, sang a strophic song about Sleeping Beauty.  Most of the children wore the traditional CCC attire of black pants and a red shirt.  There was a girl dressed as a witch, a boy prince on a cock-horse with a toy sword, and a princess in a tower, made of a large cardboard box that had been painted.

The raggle-taggle group, ages 5-7, wore the traditional CCC attire with face masks made of foam for the donkeys, cats, dogs, roosters, and robbers.  The robbers had black-knit hats, pictured here with the wealth of gold that the robbers had stolen.

The oldest group, ages 7-9 did an opera about a boy and a girl who went through a magical mirror and had to collect musical chimes to be able to get back home.  They went to a fantasy land where there was a dragon, mermaids, a unicorn, and a fairy.  They met cave people, ghosts, and stinky socks (pictured).  There was a lot of work that went into these costumes and they were fantastic.  It all depends on what you are willing to do, what sewing skills you or those you are working with have, and the time-frame that you have to work with.

Scenery and props

Don’t stress it, it isn’t that important.  The more you let the children (and audience) use their imagination, the less work that you will have to do.  If you do want to have scenery, tempera paints on large cardboard boxes from the appliance store are a cheap and effective way to go.  You can also borrow, shop in your attic, or work with items from the local thrift store.

Staging

The larger the cast, the more you will need to direct the children on where to stand and when to do what during the performance, but allow the children to give you their input and advice.  With a smaller cast, let the children decide where they will stand and what they will do during different parts of the opera during rehearsals, but then remind them what they decided afterward and have them practice that way.  There should be at least one rehearsal dedicated solely to practicing the staging with the music.  In other words, hold at least one rehearsal where the children are not creating anything, but are purely practicing.  More are optimal for a better performance, but that may or may not be your purpose.  Are you a performing group, or is this an opera workshop to teach children about opera?  Maybe it is somewhere in between.   Adjust you schedule to accommodate your purpose.

The Performance

 
Be flexible and focus on the children.  The audience knows that your cast is not professional, and are most likely family and friends of the children.  They are there to be supportive, so don’t worry about what they think.  Chances are that they will be very impressed and pleased with the results anyway.   How do you focus on the children then?  Give them a prep-talk before going on stage.  Tell them how proud you are of all of their hard work.  Tell them to have fun, and that you will be there to help them.

It is appropriate to say a prayer before performing too.  I know that this is controversial in some areas and to some people, and I am a religious person and am inclined to suggest it.  However, as a performer I have almost universally seen it done.  A simple prayer that the children will remember their lines and music, and that they will have a good experience will do much to comfort nervous children.

Oh, and be flexible.  Really.  Children may forget their lines, come in early or late, and a myriad of other things.  Stay calm and the children will too.  Work with the challenges that come, for “the show must go on”.  In the performance of the homeschool opera, Rapunzel didn’t show up.  To this day, I don’t know if there was a family emergency or if they just spaced it, and it doesn’t really matter.  Things like this happen and you need to work with it.  I told the children that we would just skip her lines, but in retrospect, this was unfair to Sleeping Beauty because Rapunzel’s lines were her cues.  I should have sung Rapunzel’s part at the piano, but I didn’t.  You learn as you go.  When it is over, praise the children, graciously accept any compliments but then direct them back to the children because, after all, this really was their work.

Children's Opera, Part IV, Composing the Accompaniment

Click here for part I

Click here for part II

Click here for part III

Note:  This portion of the series assumes that you have some basic piano and composition skills.  If not, you may want to hire or otherwise enlist the help of a pianist or composer.

At first the prospect of composing an accompaniment part for your melody may seem daunting, but you have a couple of things going for you.

1. A simple accompaniment is the best. 
2. You should reinforce the melody in your accompaniment.

Simple Accompaniment

It is not just convenient, it is imperative that you follow these two steps.  The younger your cast, the more you need to follow these rules.  If the accompaniment is too busy, it will distract the children, and maybe even the audience.  The emphasis during the performance needs to be the children, not the pianist.  But a simple piano part that reinforces the melody will give the children support, comfort, and even courage.

Here is the sample score for our homeschool opera.

In this sample the right hand plays the melody and the left hand supports it with simple chords.  If this is all you feel comfortable doing, it is enough.  You really don’t need to do more, and the opera will be a big hit.  Remember that the primary goal for this experience is to give the children an opportunity to create their own masterpiece.  It is an exercise for them.  If you want to stretch yourself as a composer, this is a fantastic exercise, but it is not necessary for the success of your opera.

Introduction

Give them a little bit of a prelude to springboard them into the opera.  I simply built a repeat into the score at the beginning.  It sounds obvious, but don’t forget this important step!

Bells and Whistles

What you do with your work is up to you, and of course it will vary with your characters, the scenery, and the time period.  Providing a plethora of examples for varying circumstances is beyond the scope of this article, so I am going to stick with my example and share some of the things that I did to dress it up.  Each character in my small cast had their own style that served as a cue to remind them that it was their turn to sing.

Themes for each character

If one of your characters has a well known musical theme, you may wish to incorporate Musical Quotation when the character is singing.

Rapunzel featured arpeggiated chords like a harp.

Sleeping Beauty featured broken chords. 

 

The girl who played Sleeping Beauty was the most musically advanced in my cast.  The melodies that she sang when we were recording were the most complex, and I had a lot of fun playing with her accompaniment to let her shine.  For myself, the most memorable line in the opera is “I’m homeschooled because I want to learn to be more like a princess.”  I love it!

For our Ninja I used parallel fifths and pentatonic motives for an Asian feel.  Spider-man and the Ninja were the youngest members of my cast, and both greatly benefited from having a distinct accompaniment to tell them that it was their turn.  They loved having their own theme!

If the cast has some action to perform, the accompaniment can reflect that movement or task, as in the crawling music.

As you play with the score, you may have some silly ideas as your creative juices star flowing.  Have fun with them!  If you think something is funny, chances are the children and your audience will too, so find a musical way to express the idea.  For example, when the children expressed how much they love to play the computer when they are done with their school, I thought of the old-school computer games that were around when I was a kid.  The first time they heard the robotic computer sound in this excerpt, squeals of laughter filled the room.

Curtain Music

With or without a curtain, you need to come up with something for the children to bow to.  My curtain music is not written in the sample score, but I simply played each child’s theme song for their personal bow and the main theme for a final bow at the end.  After all of their hard work, children need a chance to say, “Ta-da!”

Final Notes

When you finish your accompaniment, make a recording of it for the children to practice with ASAP.  Not only will it help them practice, it will build their confidence in the music and give them a springboard to help them if they lose their place.  However, during the performance, the accompaniment should be live because it gives you the flexibility to improvise and follow the children.  I have accompanied two children’s operas where disasters were averted because the I have a brain where a recording does not.  Trust me, you need that flexibility in a performance with small children.  Good luck, and have fun with this one part of the opera that is truly your chance to shine!

Click here for part V

Children's Opera, Part III, The Vocal Score

Click here for part I

Click here for part II

This is the rehearsal that the children have been waiting for!  Today they will compose the melody for the opera.  

Materials for the teacher

• Script from last week
• A voice recorder (highly critical!)
• A notepad and paper for changes

Step one:  Review and revise script from last week

Read the script you created last week to the children.  Ask for their stamp of approval, and if there is anything that they want to have changed.  The children have likely been thinking about the opera during the week and they may vote to improve some element of the story, especially when they hear it in its whole for the first time.  This is their last chance to make any changes.

Do not skip this step.  It may be tempting to plunge forward with the music, but this process is important because

1.                  Children see the whole picture for the first time

2.                  They are empowered by the teacher putting the script back in their hands

3.                  Improvements to the opera can be made

4.                  By voting the script in, they children will own the opera

Step two:  Composition

This is the step that most intimidates teachers and children who have never done children's operas before, but it is actually very simple.  With the recorder on, read one line of the script to a child and have the child sing it back to you any way that they please.  If you are working with a large group of children, go through the script giving every child a turn.  For a small group, let the children take turns with the chorus parts, but let each child sing their solo parts to you.  Skip the repeated chorus parts because you will be using the same melody every time that they sing it.  Go through the entire script, and the children are done!  That's it!  Really, the composing process is done and they can go home now.  Ta da!

Follow-up work:   

Ah yes, there is the arranging work to do, and this can be tricky.  This is one of the most time consuming jobs for the teacher.  You are forewarned!

Step one:  Initial notation.  It helps if you are at a piano when you do this part.  Listen to the first line of music sung by a child.  Sing it yourself.  Depending on the child, it may be more probable than possible that the line may have been sung off-key.  If you work with a group of children without this issue, hats off to you.  Do your best to sing the line yourself the same way that the child wrote it.  Now play it on the piano and notate it on staff paper.  When I did the homeschool opera I did not confine myself to a meter yet, but let every line sung by a child become its own measure as a way for me to keep each idea separate.  For now, notate each line where the child sang it, with the rhythm that they sang it.  Finish the script, do your best, and let that be good enough.

Step two:  Determine the key and meter.  Play through the entire opera as written.  Is there a natural flow?  Probably not yet, but you will get a general idea where to start.  For meter, 4/4 or 6/8 are likely choices.  For the key, C will probably be the easiest for you to work with when you arrange the piano accompaniment.  The key of D is the easiest key for children to sing in.

Step three:  Arrange the initial notation to fit the new key and meter.  It's okay, you are arranging, not composing.  It is still the children's work, but let's face it, they are going to need a little help from you.  Treat each line sung by the children individually.  You will need to transpose many of the lines that the children sang to make it fit within your new framework.  Some children when shy will sing their lines very low- too low for their own comfort.  Some children will show off a little bit, and sing their lines very high.  No matter what voice range the children have, the personalities often determine where they will sing.  Isn't that interesting?  The initial notation should reflect these pitches, but now you need to make all of the pieces fit.

Here are a few guidelines to help you:

• Most, if not all of the notes should be between middle C and treble C.
•  F-G are the most natural notes for young voices to sing- keep coming back to them, and let them guide you.
• If a child sings a complex melody and it is their solo, leave it intact and let them shine.
• The easiest intervals for children to sing are the minor third, and intervals in the pentatonic scale.  In solfege talk, this would be Sol and Mi, and for the pentatonic scale, Do, Re, Mi, Sol, La, Do.  In the key of C, these notes would be G and E, and for the pentatonic scale, C, D, E, G, A, C, respectively.  If that was way over your head, skip this tip, you will be fine without it.  I only bring this up because it will help children who have a hard time singing in tune to master their part in the opera.
• Step-wise notation is also easier to sing.
• It is okay to use your judgment during this stage.  Don't be afraid to make the raw material that you have to work with sing-able for the children.  In fact, it is your job!

Step four:  Convert your penciled notation to either a music notation software program, or a legible hand-written version.  The children need something to practice with.  If you don't have a software program, try http://musescore.org/.  It's completely free, and it is a fantastic program.

Here is the finished homeschool opera vocal score

Step five: (optional)  Create a practice CD of the final draft for the children to practice with.  You may be able to finish the piano accompaniment before the next rehearsal, but if not, the children will need to be able to practice the melody.  If you have created the software on the computer, you can use the playback controls to help you.  However, I highly encourage you to make a singing recording.  It will help them to memorize their lines and remember the context for the melody.  If you are working with another music teacher, it may be helpful to take turns singing on the practice CD to help the children know when someone else should be singing.

Click here for part IV