Tonality
Solfege | Tonal Patterns | Modes
SOLFEGE
Do-Re-Mi…
Solfege is a pitch-labeling technique that helps anchor students to the tonality of the music they are learning. Gordon recommends using moveable Do and La-Based Minor (see examples below) because it reinforces tonality while being flexible for modes beyond major/minor. Solfege also helps teachers communicate with students as they develop audiation. Rather than relying on written notation, solfege provides the words to talk about tonality and intervallic relationships. (e.g., “Start on So…”)
Learning Sequences in Music (pp. 60-74)
In the key of F major, F is Do. If I had written a scale in D major, D would be Do, etc.
“Si” is the raised version of “So” because in Harmonic Minor, the 7th is raised.
Notice how “Do” is not always the resting tone. Rather than altering the solfege to keep Do as the resting tone, it’s more intuitive to learn that any syllable can be the resting tone depending on the mode.
TONAL PATTERNS
Just as we discern meaning in language by reading groupings of letters (words) instead of one letter at a time, we similarly read musical passages in groupings of notes (tonal patterns) instead of one note at a time. Developing a vocabulary of tonal patterns—two, three, or four pitches in a given tonality—prepares students to read music with harmonic and melodic comprehension.
Learning Sequences in Music (p. 155)
Here is an example of a tune in F major, Londonderry Air.
I’ve written tonal patterns based on the chord structure of Londonderry Air so that students can learn the harmonic content separately from the rhythmic content of the melody!
Advanced Technique: Modes
A mode is a tonality. In the key of C, the major (or Ionian) tonality starts on C, with “Do” as the resting tone. Keeping the keyality (or key signature) the same while starting on D instead of C, the resting tone is “Re,” and the tonality is D-Dorian. Learning tunes in alternate modalities is incredibly beneficial to students’ musicianship development. Mixolydian (starting on the fifth scale degree) and Dorian (starting on the second scale degree) are recommended starting points for new modes to introduce after major and minor.
Learning Sequences in Music (pp. 161-162)
