Solfege

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I would like to start this discussion on the use of solfege in studying the harp. I am especially interested in the experience of harpists from France and other countries where it is taught from an early age, as I’ve heard.

My first teachers taught me to say the solfege syllables as I played the left hand, as the bass was always first to be forgotten, not the melody, and it worked pretty well to prevent memory slips. I use it irregularly now, as one tool among many, and prefer to use either fixed “do” or to simply say the English note name. Do you find any difference between using English and Italian/French names? I suspect that using the foreign names adds to the effort, therefore making it more effective. However, I am rather dyslexic when it comes to using them, so it might defeat the purpose when it comes out do re mi fa do la si sol or some such farrago. (North Dakota.)

[mr-s]

ok its easy to me to use do re mi , i used to use it.

[carl-swanson]

Saul- What a wonderful discussion topic. This should be interesting. My greatest regret is that I didn’t learn solfege much much better than I did.

The solfege that is taught to French music students, from small children on up, goes way beyond simply using syllables to say the notes. The French use the syllables for absolutely everything. When they study rhythmic exercises, they say the syllabiles. They learn to read 15 clefs as part of their solfege graining(C clef, F clef, and G clef, all on every line of the staff!!). Where American musicians will sing a melody just saying la la la… the French always solfege it. When I began studying the Ravel Introduction and allegro with Pierre Jamet, he solfeged the opening arpeggio- the entire thing- at tempo! It’s the rigorous training in solfege that allows them to be such fantastic sight readers, and for the piano majors at the Conservatories to be able to transpose to any key. Kousavetski was the conductor of the Boston Symphony for something like 25 years, and he was very much into new music and commissioned a lot of new works for the orchestra(the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra being the most famous). But Kousavetski, a double bass player, could barely read open score, and it was Bernard Zighera, the harpist and pianist with the orchestra for 54 years who played the scores(open scores) for Kousavetski so he could learn them. That’s the huge advantage of that training.

There is an interesting aside to all of this. Jamet once told me that when foreign conductors conduct a French orchestra for the first time, they are astounded at how well the orchestra plays at the first rehearsal. “The tragedy” Jamet told me,”happens at the second rehearsal. Because that rehearsal sounds just like the first one, and the musicians are now bored with the music and want to move on to something else.”

[Anonymous]

My first teacher

[Anonymous]

Postscript:

I hear that all this is

[sherry-lenox]

Players of pitched instruments don’t use solfege as vocalists do. For vocalists who receive intensive training in solfege, the intervals between sounds assist in identifying melodies without playing them on an instrument. To this day, I can figure out the melody of what my fingers will need to play before I play it.

Another job done by solfege is to develop awareness of pitches within the scale. For example, the seventh note of a major scale (ti in movable do) favors up to the tonic. Just sounds better in choral singing or even solo singing to do that. Fa favors low. This is by just a teeny bit, but trained singers hear it and do it.

You may have seen some of my questions about tuning a harp. I don’t really get how a harp can be in tune for all scales when tuned with a tempered scale tuner,

[diane-michaels]

When I was 6, I attended a music day camp at Montclair State University (where I first saw a harp, although that’s a different story).

[sherry-lenox]

HOW COOL IS THAT! (MSC- that’s what it was when I went) is my Alma Mater. You were probably learning an adaptation of Kodaly. They used to teach all the levels but from what I can see in the catalogue, unfortunately they no longer do. I would be pleased to be corrected on that if someone knows.

When I attended, harps and harpists were so rare that the occasional orchestra part was played on a keyboard. At the time, the Ridgewood Symphony had someone who played harp for particular pieces but not on a regular basis, so that was as close as I got to the real thing. It was directed by Arthur Christmann, who also did the college orchestra at Montclair.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

My next question is, which is more important: facility in reading any music vocally, or facility in reading at the harp? I suspect it is reading at the harp that is more important, because of the coordination involved. Sight-singing is perhaps a separate skill altogether.

[kimberly-houser]

The Solfege system is fascinating to me.

[carl-swanson]

Kimberly- If you find yourself in Paris, the good music stores there have whole walls of Solfege materials. Writing melodic and/or rhythmic exercises books was a whole industry in France. I don’t know if any of that stuff can be found on line. I studied solfege privately many years ago, and my teacher had a number of these books. I’ve got a few of them and I honestly don’t remember where I bought them. Maybe you could look on line or check a university book store to see what they’ve got.

[patricia-jaeger]

Sometimes the half-step syllables are not given to a student. I had these when quite young and feel it was an advantage to be able to solfege more complicated music.

[vincent-pierce]

I think solfege is very helpful, especially in that it helps to internalize the written music, rather than just reading the note and playing the corresponding string and not already knowing what it will sound like. I think it is more useful for wind and string players (and of course, vocalists), since they (we) have to adjust pitches to other voices or against the scale or tonality in which we are playing. But it’s good for any musician to be able to look at a piece of music and, without an instrument, be able to have an idea of what it should sound like.

And that is an interesting point about tuning – I have noticed the same thing. When I tune the harp at A440 with a tuner and check all the octaves and fifths, I still find that I want the thirds of major chords lower. Maybe that comes from being a wind player and being accustomed to adjusting that way.

Anyway, I wish I knew solfege better, as I only began to learn it in college and I only had to take four semesters of aural skills. I don’t know it well enough to apply it to my playing (only singing). And I did learn movable do (and the chromatic syllables – do-di-re-ri-mi-fa-fi-sol-si-la-li-ti-do-ti-te-la-le-sol-se-fa-mi-me-re-ra-do).

[vincent-pierce]

Oh, and I also use clarinet fingerings when I’m trying to solfege something or hear it in my head or anytime I’m singing. That’s really funny…in fact, my clarinet teacher suggests doing that to improve clarinet playing. I didn’t know anyone else actually did it, though!

[kimberly-houser]

Carl,

I would love to find myself in Paris…sigh…

But you gave me an idea, kind of a no brainer but, use the internet!!!!
Silly me.

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