melody
rap/chant/sing-song/Sprechstimme • arrepentido • can i kick it • life during wartime • the magnificent seven • therefore i am 4 pitches l d r m • narino (non-Western) d r m f • eh, la bas 5 pitches d r m s l' • las vegas tango D r f s l • oye como va R F s t r • tomorrow never knows 6 pitches D r m f s l • good times D R m f s l • mundian to bach ke (non-Western) d r m f s d' • santoki m f t r m'f' • knight rider s l t d r m • fire on the mountain S l t d r m • ceniv se u popa • gusta mi magla padnala • nonesuch S L Tə d r mə • achy breaky heart S l d r m si • life during wartime S d r m f s • tenement yard l t d r m l’ • joshua fought the battle at jericho l d r m l' m' • ramblin' man T d r m f s • skip to my lou 7 pitches d m f fi s l ta • reuben's train R F s l t d r • river come down M s l t d r m • electric avenue M S l t d r m • lady in black M S l d r m s • big mistake S L TA d r (ri) m • rockin' pneumonia S L T TA d r m • can i kick it S T d r m f s • clementine/found a peanut 8 pitches R F s l t d r m • arrepentido M SI l t d r m f • los chucos suaves F s l t d r m f • the house carpenter S L T d r m s l • bling blang SI l t d r m f l’ • fidel castro l t d r (ri) m f s • therefore i am 9 pitches d r m f s l d’ r’ m’ • everyday people D r m f s l t d r' • drunken sailor D S L TA d me m s l • the name game M FI SI l t d r m f • istanbul S l t d r m s l' t' • omie wise s t d r m f s’ l’ t’ • paperback writer 10 pitches d r m f s l t d' r' m' • jambalaya (DI) R m f si l t d r m' • lebedik un freylekh M S l t d r m s l’ t’ • let's get together S T d r m f s l t d' • day-o L T R m f si l t d r • shimke khazer L D r m f s l t d r' • rocky road to dublin T R m f si l (li) t d r • ohridska devetorka oro 11 pitches d r m f s l t d’ r’ m’ f' • here's where the story ends d r (ri) m f s l (li) ta t d’ • you never can tell T D r f s l te t d r' f' • use me T (DI) R m f si l t d r m' • yismekhu l t d r (ri) m f l’ t’ d’ r’ • start wearing purple 12 pitches l (li) t d r (ri) m f s si l’ t’ • hell 14 pitches S TA d r me m f s l ta d’ m’ f’ s’ • feel like jumping
Here I explain why I am using the system — moveable do solfege, la-based minor — I am using. If you prefer a different system, you do you. There are pros and cons to all ear-training/pitch naming systems. I actually learned fixed-do first, then moveable.
Moveable solfege is useful for thinking of the individual tones as having a function, just like pairing names with scale degree numbers is useful for thinking of chords as having a function.
Moveable solfege is also useful if you are teaching multiple people who play transposing instruments (say, beginning band).
Solfege syllables are more singable than numbers and using chromatic solfege allows you to sing non-diatonic tones in one syllable.
"Do-based" and "la-based" and other "bases" jive with the fact that we don't perceive sets of pitches that are different from major as being a modification of major. In other words, major is not the norm that everything deviates from. That said, I totally understand using scale degrees with sharps and flats or "do-re-me"-based minor as a mnemonic device for remembering how they are constructed. Much of how we teach naming these phenomena is grounded in the fact that most people learning orchestral and band instruments are learning to play via reading notation and explicit ear-training happens later, if at all. I don't totally advocate the French way, which is to teach reading and ear-training simultaneously first before one touches an instrument, because it seems to be mainly a head-hunting exercise for future orchestra members. If it's done in a supportive way, as opposed to a separating the chaff from the wheat way, then I think it's not terrible.
How I'm using solfege:
do-based major, la-based minor/aeolian, sol-based mixolydian, etc.
mi-based freygish/lydian dominant.
do- and la-based blues, depending on whether the tonic is accompanied by a major or a minor chord. (I also made up some alternate solfege for blue notes.)
chromatic solfege used for non-diatonic pitches or in minor, freygish, blues, etc. that need alternatives for an expanded sense of diatonicity.
lowercase used for the general tessitura; uppercase used for below the tonic of the general tessitura; apostrophe used for above the general tessitura.
the tonic is bold.
non-diatonic pitches are in parentheses.
For music from non-Western traditions, I indicate a pitch set in solfege, just to show a pitch set and range, but of course, these other traditions often have their own ways of talking about such things. I don't always have the resources to find out what should be there instead (obviously, those pedagogical materials are in languages I do not speak), so if you know, do share and I can point people (including myself) in the right direction.