Ear Training - Chromatic Solfege

In this episode we explore the two methods of Chromatic Solfege Singing and how they apply to Ear Training, Music Production, Performance and overall development as a musician.
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[@Shinryakugun]

Rick, I often wonder if you realize how much good you're probably doing for a generation of musicians. You give out so many hours of great information in the pursuit of education. You're a man to look up to.

[@BandHanana]

Seriously though this channel is a gem

[@Producelikeapro]

Rick, this is extremely helpful!! Exactly want I need to hear! Thanks for posting

[@NahreSol]

Yes!!!!! Super helpful. I learned solfege in Juilliard but with fixed do and sharps and flats. This system is much more applicable. Thank you!

[@Mr.Wonder-u8y]

Ms Nahre Sol my beloved pianist

[@iagmusicandflying]

I'm 50 and have been using solfege on and off since grade school, and you finally answered the question about why the 7 was sometimes "si" and other times "ti". It never rose to the level of researching it myself, but it was always a question in the background. Mystery solved!

[@joelhageman1903]

Yeah, don't drop your music fundamentals courses, just because they might have fewer views. They really are a big part of what fo what makes the channel what it is. If there are fewer views from me, it's the same thing I mentioned above with the Beato Book. It's a stack of things to get to. A lot of work. Takes time. Plus, I'm figuring out Sonar. No, I'm making a noise here, but I agree. There's some cool stuff. Looking for that solfege course.

[@Lamadesbois]

I have read that Sarah Ann Glover introduced the syllable “Ti” instead of “Si” in the 1800s. The goal was to make every note of the diatonic scale start on a different consonant : D R M F S L T. She then developped the Norwich Sol-Fa scale which helped to visually climb up and down the scale, including the alteration.

[@seiph80]

In Spanish, that's the only way to call the notes. For example, "C" is always "Do" in Spanish; however, in general speak, if we are to say "C sharp" we say "Do sostenido"; the word "sostenido" is sharp, while "bemol" is flat. So if we want to say "A flat" we say "La bemol." Keys are the same: to say the "key of G major," we say "clave de sol mayor," again using the solfege names, in this case, "sol" for G; to say "key of D flat minor," we say "clave de re bemol menor."

[@dmx707]

In Russian we call the notes in a solfege style as well. For example: Bb is "Si bemol", C# is "Do dièse" and G natural is "Sol bécarre". Those terms like many others where historically borrowed from French language, and became standard in russian music tradition.

[@mckmurkles]

I've been using the Spanish system but always wondered why the words "sostenido" and "bemol" have to be so unfluid when trying to sing a fast passage.

[@simonryr]

In fact in France if you get only classical music lessons and no jazz/funk or anything like that, you'll most likely never be told what C D E F G A B mean. We only use do ré mi and so on, and don't sing the sharps (dièse), flats (bémol) or natural (bécarre)

[@seiph80]

dmx707 Interesting! "Becuadro" is natural in Spanish, so there's a nice connection, but would've never thought Russian used the French forms. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheLuizSouza]

It's the exact same in Portuguese, with different spellings, of course.

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Bitcoin is my moveable dough. Thank you, Rick. I’m constantly astounded at how much musical information your brain can contain and explain.

[@thorarthur66ddz]

W•.H•.A•.T•.S•.A•.P•.P +•1•8•1•6•4•0•8•0•0•2•6 I•n•v•e•s•t•inC•r•y•p••t•o B•T•CA•N•D•E•T•H.....

[@splashesin8]

Most my life I had known solfege, but never caught on to the movable way of using it until I was maybe about 23. No one had ever mentioned it to me as a movable concept before, and one day something another guitar playing friend said, just instantly made it all click together for me, making sight reading infinitely faster and easier, even though I did sight read, before. This made sight reading and singing never before seen music a cappella much much faster going, as well as transferring my keyboard brain into fret board brain without the difficulty I once had switching back and forth. It now had become seamless in that one moment, instead of wading around. It was like a whole set of cross pathways in my brain lit up! That is when I really grasped the plasticity of the brain. I always knew it, just not how powerful it could be, in an instant. Changed my life in so many ways motivationally, as things became more challenging.

[@lxf9914]

Best Solfege explination I've seen! Never understood the sharps and flats/ascending/descending words. Just the 7 notes of c major. I will look forward to you ear training course. Thanks Rick!

[@DavidDiMuzio]

180 Likes and 0 Dislikes ...You're the KING!

[@jeffirwin7862]

6 dislikes now. Fuck those 6 people.

[@matthewmcgrath5479]

@@jeffirwin7862 No dislikes now!🤔

[@kaylasings8122]

Rick, I'm trying to get ahead at school in learning my solfege before I take a musicianship class. Your videos have been so helpful and simple enough for me to understand. I see some of my peers in choir class also struggling so I'll send them to these videos. Thank you so much!

[@ylonmc2]

Awesome to see you back with the whiteboard Rick. Cheers!

[@wendolienkrulmuziek]

Thanks for the video Rick! I've never figured out how you sing the notes in English. I'm learning solfège in Dutch and we have note names that are easier to pronounce ('bes' instead of 'b-flat' and 'fis' instead of 'f-sharp' for example). I'm practicing the fixed method with exact note names, so your tip of practicing with the circle of fifths is really helpful. Thanks!

[@treborselarom7652]

Man Rick You are like the coolest older brother that knows music! You make our life easier and so much a blast. You turned me onto "Dogman" and now I can't get enough of King's X....Thank You so Very Much!!

[@josephdculp]

Haha just came across this comment, he totally turned me onto Dogman and Kings X too, 5 or 6 years ago!

[@wishnewsky]

Thank you for this translation (C#=Do# for example), with my russian training (Do-Re-Mi... style) i have had hard time with terminology being different. They trained solfege the heck out of me since I was 4 years old, until the end of music school and it was all Fixed Do (never knew the movable one exists before this video!). Jack-pot: with that, also now having this great concept with syllables, thank you Very Much! :-)

[@andreacassano3991]

Hi Rick, time has come for me to tell you about my musical ear. I learned pitches and notes from the very first day in my life, because my mother used to sing me the do re mi song. But I somehow set myself in the movable do system. Now you understand that in Italy that is a real nightmare because DO is what we say meaning C, and so the sentence "in movable do, you say do even if it is not a C, but in fixed do you call do only the C" translates in something absolutely nonsensical. And that's why I struggled all life against my natural attitude to feel pitches as well. Note that in italian language we have no word to say 'pitch', as we say 'note' the same. Thinking about all this is quite unbelievable how many good Italian musicians are around lol. Greetings from Italy! And please give me some feedback about this topic. Thank you! Ciao

[@jrosales976]

cool just got to learn this in 20min for my sight singing test

[@davyydsummers]

I'll be... your hybrid approach is how I learned it in college (early 90s). I didn't know it wasn't movable solfege (never learned to state "sharp" or "flat" to the syllables). This was another outstanding video Mr. Beato; thanks so much for all of your work!

[@SongBirdCrawford]

Thank you so much for explaining this. In college I just learned the basics but no one ever explained the chromatics. I clearly understand now. Thanks again.

[@billholden20]

I certainly understand your inner need to have every pitch have its own syllable. When I was taking solfege, the method used was to sing the pitches with the sharp or flat modifier if you were simply singing an ear training exercise. However, if you were singing musical lines in tempo and the rhythm mattered, you would simply omit the modifier. Your method is certainly more exact regarding pitch names. The way I think of it is that fixed do is a translation of the note names, commonly used in Asia and romance languages. The Germanic languages have their own system (using the syllables like fis and the note H for B natural and B for B-flat). One bit of advice I would add to your video is to start practicing in both directions (up and down) as well as starting on notes besides do. You mentioned modes which are very useful if you are using your hybrid method. However it is also useful to do patterns in thirds and fourths, and of course you mentioned the circle of 5ths. Great video, Rick. I enjoy them all, as well as the Beato book!

[@lordofnesss]

Rick Beato is knowledge and quality !!

[@WassylAldais]

As a french musician, i've always used Do ré mi fa sol la si, and movable do "Do ré mi fa sol la ti" has always been so confusing to me , thanks you so much !

[@playguitar2476]

"ti" a drink with a drink with jam and bread makes more sense than " si" lol. now somebody needs to make the "do re me" song in half steps. haha. Rick you're videos are a breath of fresh air, thank you. The Beato book is awesome now I don't have to take notes on all your videos

[@FranciscoHernandez-xp9yi]

Super useful stuff! I went to community college for my first couple years of ear training and they also didn't teach solfege that much. They taught Movable Do for maybe half a semester but then it quickly shifted to using numbers instead. When I transferred to a four year school I found that they only taught Solfege so the ear training placement test was a bit tricky. Both methods can be very useful depending on the situation, so I'm glad you did a video on this.

[@garagiolasvegas8509]

Thank you for all you are doing. You are an excellent teacher.

[@miguelbaldi]

Rick, once again you put on the best content! Thanks!

[@tokyotoad81]

Great you covered chromatic solfege! I am losing my rudimental perfect pitch kind of thing and struggling w/ Modus Novus but your circle of 5th based practice will definitely help! Thanks always for precious information!

[@jerryharbin305]

Very good! I heard my mom and dad sing solfege but I never knew what the altered tones were called. Thank you, Rick!

[@rahulsarma5495]

Ya I knew something excellent was coming up.. I can apply the same concept to the Sargams in Hindustani music as well. Thanks Rick.. 🤘

[@rahulsarma5495]

George Kormendi wow..!! Thanks for the insight. Appreciate a lot.. 👍

[@gabriele8ne]

Good one! I was thought solfeggio cantato in Italy when I was a kid, and it has been a great tool to have throughout my musical life :) I have been struggling with finding a teacher for my offspring that uses that here in Atlanta ( I do not want to be the one that teaches him music until he is older), his current piano teacher has been open to it, but I will show the little one this video as a complement. Thanks for posting this. Ciao.

[@adamhajduch]

Looking forward to course on ear training, Rick. Great job!

[@JasonM96]

Thanks for another insightful video, Rick. I came across your channel last year and have been hooked ever since. Although some of your material is over my head (I'm an English teacher by trade, singer-songwriter by invested pastime), I still enjoy even the most esoteric lessons as your lessons have expanded my understanding and enjoyment as a writer, performer, and listener.

[@RickBeato]

Thank you Jason!

[@miguelfelix9749]

THANK YOU RICK! MY SINCEREST GRATITUDE FOR THIS VIDEO

[@yougoseo1580]

Thanx Rick! Great work as usual!

[@jbcraipeau]

In France I always been taught with fixed Do. Never been an issue but I like the concept. Too late for me to change though :)

[@music41912]

Thank you so much for this super clear explanation and great tips 😊

[@theblackcircle6648]

Very helpful , even with me having perfect pitch this definitely helps!!

[@batner]

Pls. correct me if I misunderstood. There 2 exercises suggested in this video. One is singing the chromatic scale from Do to Do up and down and the other is going over the circle of Vs. In any case, thank Rick! I'll give it a try.

[@marcio62091]

You're the best! Saluti dall'Italia!

[@phoenixjones7191]

I'm a rapper and a producer but these videos are great Rick. Ugh I would kill to work with a producer that knows as much as Rick on a weekly or even a monthly basis.

[@BillDeWitt]

Great info, thanks so much for posting it. Following and promoting you.

[@enricasasma]

Here in Europe we must do the opposite way.. learn American notation after learn standard solfege as guitar player is very useful . thanks for the new perspective..

[@Geert.Van.Boxelaer]

Funny. We learned sharp "...is" and "...es", as in c# = "cis" and db = "des". I guess there are different systems :) (Music school in Belgium.) Fixed Solfège names are most common for us. Letter names for notes are not used, letters are major chords. Good video.

[@kipling1957]

The point about solfage is that the "words" represent note intervals of the major scale, and are therefore independent of key. By learning the word intervals the notes of a particular key can be recognized from where they fall on a score, or a piano keyboard for instance. This is the simplest point and rarely made clear by music teachers. Actually, there is an even more glaring point, which is startlingly at the bottom of the list of how things are usually taught: That the Western major scale is based on uneven note intervals, e.g. for C major: C whole, D whole, E half, F whole, G whole, A whole, B half C. I never got this for ages, but once I did, things fell into place. Until this is understood devices like "solfage" make no sense whatsoever.

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

Man, you bring me back when I was 10!;) Though, I never did sung solfege but only spoken - which was hard and boring enough - yet so useful. Just a nerdy sidenote: in Italian # = diesis (deeaysis) and b = bemolle (baymolle). So it's even worse than English because we have more syllables - hence all the TE, RA madness ;)

[@VictorCM]

Great content as always!

[@this.is.imagine]

Rick, thanks for the inspiration!

[@nick_guitarist]

Here in Russia we call notes that way (Do, Re Mi and so on) and study solfege system at music school, anyway thank you, Rick, great topic to talk about.

[@bassmaiasa1312]

Yes. In Japan, they use fixed solfege to name musical notes. Obviously the Western alphabet doesn't apply to Japanese or Russian. So what I think of as 'C' is always 'Do' in Japanese. The third in an A minor chord is still 'Do.'

[@guspolinski777]

Love your videos!

[@dosgos]

Great fast summary!

[@Chilajuana]

Great tutorial Rick!!!!!!!!!!

[@maxmadro]

10 years that i m looking for a system ..... Thanks from paris man

[@DennisStonenightsky]

This was great. Thank you!

[@guidum9]

This combination of moveable and fixed do is actually called Tonic -Do method. Just you need to get "u" going down with flat's. That way you don't collide with Re. You just sing Ru.

[@Balidor]

As a European , listening to the word "Solfege" it was...music to my ears! ;)

[@oluwadamilolaadeyemi5871]

Thanks a bunch!

[@Meg16ju]

Singing solfeggio parts to practice listening: 3:17 4:05 4:16 4:41 5:07

[@baseket2ball12]

Yeah I was taught fixed do with ‘di’ ‘ri’ etc...at Towson university circa 2010-2011. I never knew some people said “do sharp”

[@frederickthorne2496]

dude - this is great!

[@samzero6795]

Rick, thank you for your efforts your videos are useful, but can you make a series about analysing music pieces. imean i f u could teach us how to analyze a sonata maybe.

[@Pastorwalrus]

I appreciate you, Rick! (:

[@GianlucaFraccalvieri]

Hi Rick, which are the correct syllabes for Cb (Day?) , Fb (Fay?), E# (?) and B#(?) ? For example, if I want to sing the F# major scale... I sing... Fi Si Li Ti Di Ri... which syllabe I should sing for E#? And for the double sharp or double flat? If I want to sing a B aug triad... Ti Ri... and how do I sing F##? Thanks for your time :)

[@AmandaKaymusic]

Good question.

[@GianlucaFraccalvieri]

@@AmandaKaymusic no reply sigh :(

[@mathias5618]

Hey Rick, could you explain why you prefer this mixture over plain moveable do? I know it kind of depends on the application but couldnt you use c sharp, d flat etc. in the (rare?) cases where it's really necessary to have absolute pitch and use moveable do for the rest?

[@RickBeato]

I actually prefer both and think that they can be used in different situations. I will talk more about that in future videos. Thanks

[@mathias5618]

cool! thanks

[@mathias5618]

Yeah thats what I thought

[@johnmatthewtennant]

Have you spoken about this in any more recent videos?

[@ZackBeca]

In Romania we use latin notes so do re mi fa sol la si do, and for sharps and flats we say do diez(diez means sharp in our language) bemol(bemol means flat) however when we do solfege we are not saying Do# we are just saying Do and sing the pitch for C#. I think that is easier than moved solfege and it also makes more sense for us since we are calling notes do re mi fa sol la si and not C D E F G A B, so we are not using them just for solfege so it would be pretty confusing to use Do and sing F in the key of F

[@MiguelBassist]

Eres el puto amo, estaba buscando como pronunciar las alteraciones de las notas cuando solfeo y tu me diste la respuesta... Gracias 🙂

[@paddycautela]

Wow ...... just wow !

[@potaylo]

I would be very interested on your take on solfege with Charlie Parker and a variety of songs that use mixed tonalities. Specifically Choice of syllables in a variety of harmonic situations.

[@Reformed_Hamburglar]

I don't even remember how/where I learned it, but have been using Do, Ri, Re, Mey, Mi, Fa, Fi/se, Sol, Ley, La, Tey, Ti for about a decade even though I also didn't get any solfege training in music school. Hell no I ain't gonna re-learn the syllables!!!!!!

[@Nivenization]

Thank you.

[@GOTRAVlogs]

It’s how they still teach music theory in Russia(fixed Do). Now it’s a little bit of a struggle to get used to the western system

[@bickydas4471]

Rick, do you recommend using solfege for chord training?

[@FreddyVizzel]

For me it was always natural to sing in my head the melody of a song with the fixed do system. I never learned the letters (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) in school and I wonder if people who only know letters sing along with the letters in their head.

[@Lukegord]

Rick! the "what makes this song great 12" isn't available in brazil! could you solve this? thank you for your knowledge, expirience and effort. you own one of the best channels on youtube!

[@Lukegord]

Actually warner music group blocked the video in brazil... i can't believe them... they are so stupid!!

[@nissearkevid1995]

Luke Gordilho It dissent seem to be a geographical issue. It's blocked everywhere due to copyrights.

[@ellemeek3075]

I was just explaining this to someone yesterday.

[@MichaelGawesebmainone]

What program can I use to write solfege on computer?

[@Guilherme-nc5li]

Is there any chromatic solfegge that stays the same regardless of wether you are going up or down? Because that seems much more useful to learn and identify intervals.

[@JAFOpty]

In latin America this is the norm. Using letters is rare, mostly for writing the notes faster.

[@Diegoyoutube24]

How would you solfege a Mi#? Anyone knows? Also, what about double #'s or b''s? Thanks!

[@dmosey604]

bump

[@dmosey604]

Yes, for example if one is singing in F# major, is there a Mi# or would you just sing Fa?

[@mariahlarsen3102]

Same question!!

[@rogueworldmusic1157]

Yes! chromatic solfege works great with modes. To me, chromatic solfege with moveable do is a completely sufficient system. I'm not sure I quite grasp the need for the "fixed do" aspect in this explanation.

[@Natyelvertonmusictuition]

Sightsinging chromatic music with no obvious tonic?

[@gabrieletrovato3939]

Is it possible (and convenient) to use an absolute way of naming notes? I mean, instead of using two names for black notes using only one name. I've invented this simple system: the note between do and re takes the first letter of the previous note and the last letter of the next one and becomes de, then the note between re and mi becomes ri, then fo, sa and li.

[@aalvim27]

Could you explain why not to use movable Do? It seems easier to solfege than fixed Do.

[@jmagemusic]

Rick, I wonder if you are aware of the german note naming system? Uses very similar vowel changing for sharps flats...

[@1099231]

Hi Rick, What about using numbers instead? Isn’t that easier?

[@jonazalez1588]

I can’t wait till the ear training app comes out. My ears needs music theory rehabilitation therapy. Lol.

[@makauyole]

He nailed the A and the D, without perfect pitch! How?

[@gabrieletrovato3939]

Is it better to use "Sil" intead of "Si" (for G#) to avoid to get confused with the note B?

[@antmanlittle2322]

When it said ' Fixed do ' I was gonna rewind cause I thought Rick interrupted the video to fix his hair, and then I remembered it is a musical do

[@cbmtrx]

Never seen Si...always Ti

[@martinrusso409]

Rick, can you reupload the video where you play jazz solos and explain them? (The one you removed because of UMG) I'd really like to see a vid where you explain how to construct jazz solos and jazz vocabulary, that sort of thing.

[@RickBeato]

I have a hundred videos of me teaching jazz on my channel. Literally

[@thomasmcgill6918]

All of Rikcs videos on everything Jazz are amazing. Must check them out...

[@martinrusso409]

@@RickBeato I never saw your response back then but what the hey, I'll answer now lol. You clearly didn't understand my comment. What I meant was the video where you explain learning solos by ear. Yes, I know you have "hundreds of other videos" bla bla bla, but at the time I needed help on this specific topic which your other videos didn't talk about

[@JamieOngVoiceCreatorStudio]

Hello Sir, I was wondering how can solfege work effectively for us to listen harmonically? I practices solfege for quite a period, and I think I am good at understanding a melody with the skills. However, I find that solfege cannot help me much to identify a chord nor chord progression. May I know if you have any insight about the problem?

[@timlappin8959]

Im still a little confused with this approach, and would gladly take any clarification. With this method is C always Do? So just to be clear, if you were singing an F Mixolydian mode, would the syllables be: Fa, Sol, La, Te, Do, Re Me, Fa? Thanks for any help!

[@shaneffrench]

Interesting I always learned the sharpened notes adding “Ee” and the flat solar adding “aw”

[@SyntheticTree]

How to remember exact pitch assigned to each syllable? That is not clear to me. Should I Just play the piano and sing hoping it comes someday?

[@Shuzies]

Ron....Thanks Rick

[@grizzlymartin1]

Sweet.

[@gabrieletrovato3939]

I have a question: can one use a suffix to make them more regular? For example instead of -e one could add -n, so "ra" becomes "ren".

[@xTheSebi96x]

Hey Rick, what do you think about Man Of The Woods by Justin Timberlake ?

[@ronhammett2635]

I cannot play by ear ,I think this is a good foundation.

[@boriss.861]

Just as a laugh Percy Grainger Immovable Do!

[@edthewave]

Ok hear me out, I know this sounds crazy, but what if you combined this Chromatic solfege with the Indian Sargam system? Why sargam? Because some would say that the syllables are easier to pronounce than the "do, re, mi..." of Western music. As an amateur musician, I tend to agree. The Indian sargam system is based on a movable root note, with the root being "SA". So in say, C major, it would be: C D E F G A B C SA RE GA MA PA DHA NI SA' sa ree gah ma pa da nee sa These syllables are slightly easier to vocalize than DO RE ME FA SOL LA TI DO (in my opinion, but of course this varies). The main challenge with the Indian sargam system for western music is modulations and chromaticisms. Whatever pitch the notes are are based on whatever raga is being sung, so "GA" could be a major third or a minor third above "SA" (the root note), depending on the raga or musical piece. So how about combining the chromatic solfege with sargam? Like this (with C as "SA" or our root note): C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C SA SI RE RI GA MA MI PA PI DHA DHI NI SA' With flats: C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C SA RAY RE GAY GA MA PAY PA DAY DHA NAY NI SA' What do you think? Best of both worlds? Or too cumbersome?

[@sismoyosore3886]

Concept seems the same and for one who is somewhat familiar with moveable do, it's not that hard to pronounce.

[@RoyMaya]

Is it just me or does Solfeggio seem like it's a skill that would be on the bottom of your lists of things to learn? Just humming pitches has worked well for me when transcribing or working things out. I guess it's a good skill to learn if that's what you want to do, but from a practical point of view I would rather spend my time getting better at composing, playing and production. I'd probably feel differently if I was a classical singer, though.

[@RickBeato]

You would be better at composing and producing if you had advanced solfege skills. Just sayin :)

[@RoyMaya]

Well I must be missing something, then - I'd love to believe it. Isn't Solfeggio just a standard way of naming notes? In which way would it help me compose better melodies or harmonic ideas? Humming seems to work just as well. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the reason John Lennon and Stevie Wonder were great songwriters was because of there Solfeggio skills. I'm all for education, but I think it's best to focus on things that give you more bang for you buck. ;)

[@bassmaiasa1312]

I think 'solfege skills' means the ability to sing or hear any interval up or down in the chromatic scale, not just name them? I'd like to be able to hear any melody or chord progression and play it instantly on my instrument, not by trial and error. And I bet you Stevie Wonder can do that in his sleep.